Substance abuse education is vital to prevention and sometimes provides an easier, more acceptable path to introducing the problems of alcoholism and addiction to the congregation. But if we think of drink and drugs as a “teen problem,” we are closing our eyes to the truth. Although alcoholics and addicts may begin their substance abuse …
The challenge of serving Jewish alcoholics and addicts and their families reaches far beyond the world of addiction, testing our communal faith . As Rebecca Ehrlich, Director of Religious Education at JBFCS and a member of the United Synagogue Commission on Substance Abuse and Teens in Crisis, comments, “Contemporary kids don’t have a concept of …
Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent Persons and Significant Others (“JACS”) bridges the gap between recovery programs and the Jewish community. Founded in the late 1970s by Jewish alcoholics and family members under the auspices of the UJA-Federation, JACS is now a program of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services (JBFCS) in New York. Similarly, …
by Susan J. Cole From United Synagogue Review, Fall 1995 Reprinted With Permission As I write these words, a nice Jewish boy sucks on a crack pipe. In twenty-five seconds, freebase cocaine will sear his brain, firing the neurons that signal intense pleasure, the visceral excitement of food or sex. A few minutes later, he …
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