The Jewish child, adolescent, and family

This brief review addresses the history, beliefs, and practices of Jewish families that have implications for clinical management of the problems and disorders of children and adolescents. It focuses primarily on the problems of the Orthodox family due, in part, to the limitations of space. There remains, however, little doubt that the clinician must be aware of the impact that Jewish heritage may have on the clinical issues at hand. This impact is significant whether the worldview of the family is characterized by strict Orthodoxy or is primarily that of an ethnic identification with less concern for belief and practice.