ABOUT

Mission Statement

Together in Happiness (B’Yachad B’Osher) is a resource center promoting awareness, recognition and advocacy of the critical importance and benefit of marriage education and enrichment at different stages of the life cycle for Jewish couples in Israel and English speaking countries.

This includes providing marriage education and enrichment resources, courses and workshops.

Susan Barth – Founder and President

Our focus

Our focus is primarily on newly married couples (shana rishona), new parents and engaged couples, where through tools and activities, couples:

Enhance their communication and conflict resolution skills
Better understand their partner’s needs
Focus on many other practical aspects of maintaining a strong marital relationship

Our activities include participation of the couples, and simultaneously creating awareness, collaboration and engaging support from the public.

Our Partners in Advocacy include: Parents, grandparents, educators, Rabbis, Rabbiniot, chatan and kallah teachers, professionals, synagogues & government via seminars, house meetings and conferences in order to:

Encourage couples to build a stronger foundation for their marriage and relationship
Increase the number of couples who participate in, and see the value and benefit of marriage enrichment education
Help foster and nuture a healthy and happy marriage
Prevent divorce
Increase the number of children growing up in stable, healthy families, thus benefiting future generations

Our Story...

Aliyah

After making aliyah in 2003 and following the death of her parents, inspired by the strength of their 52-year long marriage, Susan Barth searched for a way to memorialize them. She chose marriage education as a meaningful way to perpetuate their names.

2003

Chesed Committee Simcha Gemach

Barth began by establishing the Givat Sharett Chesed Committee Simcha Gemach (of Beit Shemesh) in memory of her mother as an adjunct to the Givat Sharett Chesed Committee. Its flagship product is a Wedding Guide, published in Hebrew and English which has resonated strongly among couples preparing for marriage. She then collaborated with Anglo religious organizations to offer community wide forums featuring prenuptial agreements and premarital education.

2007

Together in Happiness - B’Yachad B’Osher

Barth founded Together in Happiness - B’Yachad B’Osher, the Israeli nonprofit organization, whose goal is to advance marriage education for Jewish couples in Israel and Western countries. She has written extensively on the topic, which focuses on preventative and non-therapeutic approaches for encouraging and nurturing healthy, fulfilling marriages, and to inspire and mobilize support and involvement in the promotion and provision of marriage education and enrichment in Israel and Western Countries.

2011

The First International Conference on Marriage Education in Israel

Together in Happiness spearheaded The First International Conference on Marriage Education in Israel, attended by top international leaders in the field and 360 professional and lay persons. This was the springboard for the organization’s long-term strategy to advance marriage education in Israel. In pioneering the initiative, Founder & President, Susan Barth, gained international acclaim.

2011

2nd International “Historic” Knesset Seminar on Pre-Marriage Education

For the first time in the nation’s history, the concept of integrating pre-marriage education as a formal and potentially legal component of Israeli marriage as a preventative response to the rising number of divorces was discussed at the highest levels. The conference featured prominent MKs from across the Israeli political spectrum, Israeli & international experts, who along with the Knesset members discussed the impact of family breakdown in our economy, our society and our future. The necessity for government involvement in educating the next generation of new couples was demonstrated by expert presentations.

2017

The Case for Marriage Education

Barth authored the Case for marriage education, a 45 page monograph detailing the societal need for marriage education, which has becoming increasingly popular in the United States, consisting of a variety of classroom-based curricula to teach couples the characteristics of a healthy relationship and communication and conflict management skills that will equip them to maintain it.

2020

In Loving Memory of

Feigel bat Tuvia Nisan (Florence) and Esir ben Avraham Benyamin Tobolowsky, the parents of Susan Barth, in whose memory her organization, Together in Happiness was created, and the First International Conference on Marriage Education in Israel was dedicated.

Growing up in a home with parents who listened to understand and not to just respond, impacted Susan so greatly that when her parents passed away it was an obvious decision to honor their memory by sharing their influential teachings.

Feigel and Esir, whose marriage spanned 52 years, were role models of a marriage built on the foundations of mutual respect, trust, communication, shared goals, love and commitment to each other and their family values and appreciation for the gift each had found in the other.

Despite physical challenges in their older years, the support that they gave each other was inspirational. They advised couples to find ways to grow together and deal with adversity with a positive outlook. Together in Happiness is a fitting tribute to the attributes of this modest couple. Their home was an open house of hospitality and their kindness endeared them to all who crossed their paths.