For the Sake of Fun

Lisa Stern, a Hancock Park attorney and mother of three, has identified a syndrome afflicting women that she thinks is just as real as postpartum depression — post-Yontiff exhaustion.

As the Days of Awe come to a close, women who have spent a month entertaining are feeling the wrath of tired feet and mental burnout.

“We live to entertain guests and make the holidays festive and joyful; we live to bring family and friends together and put on a good show, all at a great expense,” says Stern. “Instead of a spirit of renewal, it’s the exact opposite.”

Stern, in her role as director of the Orthodox Union’s Institute for Public Policy, has put together a 24-hour retreat to refresh women with a hefty dose of plain old fun.

The Oct. 31-Nov. 1 retreat at the Summit Bel Air Hotel will create a “setting that is secured and dignified, where women can come and let their hair down and sing and listen to stories and cry and enjoy, and be together in song and dance,” says Stern. “These are things you can’t do in mixed company or with kids around, or in a business day or in a normal learning program.”

Highlights of the retreat include a kumsitz, complete with smores and a weenie roast; lectures by educator Shira Smiles; and Israeli dance for everyone, from professionals to the “coordination challenged,” Stern says.

“Any woman who thinks that fun has faded and that days of camaraderie are bygone, is wrong,” she says. “They are invited to come and have a good time just for the sake of fun.”

Cost of room, meals and program is $109. For more information, call (310) 777-0225, ext. 3. — Julie Gruenbaum Fax