This series is sponsored by our friend, Danny Turkel.

This episode is sponsored by Camp Morasha in appreciation for Rabbi Rothwachs's tireless dedication to his family and ours.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Larry Rothwachs and his daughter Tzipora about the relationship of a father and daughter through distance while battling an eating disorder.

Larry is the rabbi of a congregation in Teaneck, New Jersey, and sees himself as someone who is sort of in the business of helping people. His daughter Tzipora was diagnosed with an eating disorder as a pre-teen. As Tzipora’s disorder got more severe, she was distanced from her family—both physically and emotionally. During this time, she and her parents were forced to redefine and strengthen their relationship in ways they couldn’t have otherwise.

- How can absence become a relationship in and of itself?
- What did this journey teach Tzipora about being a daughter, about family, about her relationship with her father, and for Larry as a parent, how did this change his relationship, not just to Tzipora, but his relationship to being a parent in general?
- How can parents and children remain connected even when so far apart?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how distance can make a relationship grow stronger than it ever was before.

Interview begins at 11:43.

Rabbi Larry Rothwachs (father) serves as rabbi of Congregation Beth Aaron in Teaneck, NJ, and is the Director of Professional Rabbinics at RIETS at Yeshiva University. Rabbi Rothwachs has served as president of the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County and on the executive committee of the Rabbinical Council of America. In May 2016, he was named by the Jewish Forward among ‘America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis.’

Tzipora Rothwachs (daughter) grew up in Teaneck, NJ, and studied Business at Yeshiva University. After graduating from Yeshiva University, Tzipora Rothwachs began working as a property associate for JLL in New York City. She enjoys running and the outdoors and lives in Bergen County, NJ.

References:
The Fifth Son by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Top Five Pictures of the Four Sons by Dovid Bashevkin
The Animated Haggadah by Rony Oren
Father of the Bride
Here Without You by Three Doors Down
Little House on the Prairie
Far From the Tree by Andrew Solomon