Putting smiles on those they visit

Lev Leytzan clowns provide therapeutic healing for all ages

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Lev Leytzan, which means “to the heart of a clown” in Hebrew, is a therapeutic clowning program that originated in Lawrence 12 years ago and officially became established in 2004.
Last year, Lev Leytzan clowns in the nonprofit organization provided therapeutic healing to about 8,500 people. The clowns even made special trips to nursing homes in Israel, Hungary, Germany and Romania.
Neal Goldberg, one of the founders of the program, said there are four main programs within Lev Leytzan. Lev Leytzan trains youth and adults in medical/therapeutic clowning to work with people in hospitals and other medical facilities. Lev Leytzan’s ElderHearts is a specialized program targeting people challenged with Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias as well as hospice care. Lev Leytzan’s Clowns on Rounds is a program that deals with homebound people that are isolated, convalescing or in home-based hospice programs. Their Lev Leytzan Ambassador program is an international program.
Goldberg, a psychologist, emphasized that the medical clowning is not performance-based, but rather client-centered tailored to individual and family need. “They receive 60 hours of training, and an additional 60 hours of medical supervision,” he said. “We train them, infusing youth with purposeful activity. It builds identity and character. Clowning is the vehicle for medical intervention.”
Yitzy Biderman, 17, of Cedarhurst, is a senior at Mesivta Ateres Yaakov Yeshiva High School is a Lez Leytzan clown. Several longtime members of the program came to his school to give an open house, when Biderman was a freshman. They shared some of their stories and experiences with the program and encouraged the youth to join. He joined along with three close friends.

“As part of Lev Leytzan’s unique therapeutic clowning program, I take part in weekly ‘Rounds,’” he said. “On these rounds, which take place in several local hospitals including South Nassau and Mercy Hospital, we interact with adults and children of all ages in an attempt to brighten their day with our own form of medicine — laughter.”
What Biderman enjoys most about being a medical clown is that they are able to help patients without being doctors or nurses. “When we go into these rooms we can give them a break from whatever their situations are,” he said. “In just the short time we visit each patient, we can really change their entire stay in the hospital, whether it’s a day, a week, or a month. I find it amazing and inspiring.”
For Jacob Goldsmith, a 16-year-old Woodmere resident who attends Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys, his experience in clowning involves encouraging the patients’ family members in the room to also participate in the clowning activity.
“The main part to being a medical clown is involvement and trying to let the patient feel like he or she is in command of the situation at the moment,” he said. “The thing that I enjoy about being a medical clown is that I have the ability to bring a smile to the faces of the patients in the room. A lot of these people, for all we know, have not smiled in a week. And the opportunity to give a bit of happiness to their lives is an opportunity like no other. That’s the reason I clown.”
Goldsmith’s favorite memory of his clowning experience is a trip to Israel. “We visited a family whose father had been killed in the Har Nof synagogue massacre,” he said. “The children of that family had literally not smiled in a month. When we went in to their house and made them smile for the first time, it was an incredible feeling!”
For more information about Lev Leytzan, visit http://www.levleytzan.com/index.html.