Thank you for making our event a success!

Over 70 men and women attended last night’s informative panel discussion at Beth El Temple in West Hartford addressing all aspects of healthy skin -- head to toe -- personal harmony and balance within one’s own body.

The panel included Dr. Jane Grant-Kels, University of Connecticut Health Center -- Dermatology, Jessica Fish, skin care specialist and Rabbi Ilana Garber, Beth El Temple, West Hartford.

The discussion was an education blend of physician’s advice on sun protection, behind-the-counter insight on cosmetic product choice and rabbinic reminder, “Thou shalt not covet your neighbor’s skin tone.”

Dr. Grant-Kels urges all to follow her Ten Commandments as studies report 1 in 5 people are diagnosed with skin cancer annually:

1. Avoid indoor tanning.
2. Apply sunscreen.
3. Wear protective clothing.
4. Use mild soap to wash your face and then apply moisturizer.
5. Stop smoking.
6. Maintain a healthy – and consistent – diet.
7. Stop looking at every inch of yourself! Throw out the magnifying glass.
8. Use topical retinoids like Vitamin A.
9. Use antioxidants like Vitamins C and E.
10. Use Alpha and Beta hydroxy acids.

Rabbi Ilana Garber concluded the evening with a faithful reminder of skin care:

1. I am the Lord your God – and this is your face.  Thou shalt have no other gods before Me – and no other skin care products other than the natural ones I created.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image – no tattoos, no piercings in cartilage, and nothing your mother wouldn’t approve of.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain – beauty is vain too, a person who fears God is one to be praised.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy – skip the beauty parlor and come to shul instead.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother – and the face they gave you.  It’s a shayna punim!
6. Thou shalt not kill thyself to achieve someone else’s perception of beauty.  Love the skin you’re in.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery – be faithful to your whole body.  Not just one part at the expense of another.
8. Thou shalt not steal another person’s image.  Your face takes first place.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness – I want to see only your face, not one botched up by botox or elective plastic surgery.
10. Thou shalt not covet – your neighbor’s skin tone.

This event was presented by the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford’s
Women’s Philanthropy as a service to the community. The Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford is the region’s leading authority on Jewish education, heritage and social commitment.

Sponsored in part by University of Connecticut Health Center.