By Beth Fishman, PhD
Imagine a situation in which thousands of Jews all over the world are sitting in churches every week. Every kind of Jew, sitting in every kind of church. Many of them are wishing they could be sitting in a synagogue instead, but they can’t. It is hard to think of another situation for which the organized Jewish community wasn’t actively seeking a solution so those Jews could come into synagogue instead of church.
So who are these Jews? These are Jews in recovery from addiction of every sort: alcohol and other drugs, compulsive overeating, gambling …the list goes on. These are also Jews whose loved ones are struggling with addiction, because addiction is devastating to the family system. These are all Jews attending 12-Step meetings.
They sit in church basements and classrooms, church libraries and studies. To some it doesn’t matter, and to others it matters a great deal. Yet they all understand Pikuach haNefesh, even if they don’t know it as a Jewish concept. The belief that saving a life … in this case their own … is more important than any restrictions on or discomfort in entering a church. And make no mistake, these meetings can and do save lives. Hundreds of thousands of lives, many thousands of Jewish lives among them. These Jews know that the meeting is saving their lives and they had no Jewish alternative to the church because so few Jewishly-affiliated sites rent meetings to 12-Step and other peer-support recovery meetings.
12-Step meetings take place in many venues. The two most common locations are churches and Alano clubs, which are public spaces rented exclusively for meetings of 12-Step fellowships. Meetings also take place in hospitals and homes, community centers and treatment programs, schools and offices … any space where two or more individuals who want to be free of addiction can talk confidentially together.
JCA applauds those forward-thinking synagogues and other communal organizations that rent space to 12-Step meetings. Yet despite the heroin crisis among our community’s Jewish suburban youth, Narcotics Anonymous, Heroin Anonymous, and Nar-Anon meetings are virtually nonexistent in Jewish locations. Other 12-Step fellowships such as Overeaters Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, or Marijuana Anonymous are rarely held in Jewish locations despite the community-wide impact of overeating, gambling and marijuana misuse. We are not aware of any SMART Recovery meetings, a CBT-based peer support recovery program, in Jewish locations.
Historic and current reasons exist for this trend away from synagogues and other Jewish spaces renting to 12-step meetings. The misperception that addiction does not exist in the Jewish community is certainly chief among them. There is a longstanding myth that Jews are somehow immune to addictive behavior. Remember “a shikker is a goy”? or “the Jewish community has its issues, but thankfully addiction isn’t one of them”? If only that were true. Our best understanding is that the Jewish population is affected by addiction at roughly the same rate as the general population, about 10%. For example, the total Jewish population of Chicagoland is approximately 250,000. There could be upwards of 25,000 Jews struggling with addiction in the Greater Chicago area, and four times more who are impacted by the addiction of a family member.
Safety concerns are also prominent; the worldwide Jewish community is well aware of the threat of violence against us. Will being open to public meetings compromise our security measures, making us more vulnerable to attack? Beyond the general concern regarding anti-Semitic violence, there is fear of the participants themselves. Are those who need 12-Step meetings inherently dangerous to others in the building? Concern for children’s safety is most commonly mentioned.
There are responses to and resolutions for such concerns. Some responses are easy, some are more challenging. Yet all concerns have been overcome by Jewish organizations that are committed to addressing this community need. As a first step, educating Jewish communal leadership is crucial. Many Jewishly-affiliated sites are unfamiliar with the dynamics that surround addiction and recovery. For example, one often hears of a congregation choosing not to rent space to recovery meetings in the belief that its members would not attend. Through education it can be explained that welcoming 12-Step meetings is not necessarily for the benefit of one’s own membership. Rather, doing so provides a Jewishly-identified meeting site for Jews from other congregations or areas. Some individuals do not want to attend meetings in their own neighborhood due to confidentiality concerns, but do want to be in a Jewish space. Since anonymity and confidentiality are common concerns in a tight-knit community like ours, Jews can and do travel to more distant congregations to attend 12-Step meetings. Therefore, any Jewish site that welcomes 12-Step meetings is doing so for the greater good of the Jewish community, not necessarily or exclusively for their own members.
Additionally, each congregation or organization that welcomes 12-Step meetings is helping to spread the word that addiction is a Jewish issue and recovery is a Jewish value and priority. The more such Jewish sites there are, the less shame and stigma this issue will have. Reducing shame and stigma has a direct impact on the likelihood that Jews who are impacted by addictive behavior will come out of isolation and look for support. Addiction is a chronic, progressive, ultimately fatal disease unless treated, and like other such illnesses, early detection and treatment can make the difference between a life saved and a life lost.
Finally, welcoming a 12-Step meeting into one’s building sends a message to current and prospective members. There is meaning in making this decision. Taking such action says that this congregation or organization is willing to do something new for the wellbeing of its members and the Jewish community as a whole. This congregation or organization is thinking creatively about what the Jewish community needs. This congregation or organization understands the very real challenges Jews face today. This congregation or organization takes the mitzvah of tikkun olam seriously. This congregation or organization cares … and wants to attract members who share these values.
Together we can encourage more Jewishly-affiliated sites to welcome recovery with open arms and for the right reasons. If you are active in a congregation or Jewish organization, please consider approaching your administrators or clergy about renting space to a 12-Step or other peer support meeting. If you are one of the decision makers, take action. Contact one of your local 12-step fellowship service offices to let them know you are interested in renting space to a recovery meeting. The Jewish Center for Addiction can help get the process started; contact me at bethfishman@jcfs.org. Please help increase the number of Jewish organizations that are ready to say “Yes, we want to be part of the solution to addiction within the Jewish community!”
Beth Fishman, PhD, is Manager, Jewish Center for Addiction at Jewish Child and Family Services of Chicago.
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Thank you for this article. In my opinion, many synagogues are contributing to the problem rather than the solution, by promoting so many alcoholic-related activities.
I agree with the messages in this article that addictions of various kinds are clearly present in the Jewish community, and that Jewish institutions should support efforts to de-stigmatize these (and other) mental health concerns and the availability of appropriate treatments, as we understand them. However, I also think it is important to consider that no institutions, including synagogues and other Jewish institutions, should actively support programs or services that might be contra-indicated by empirical evidence. Specifically, in the case of “12-Step” programs, there appears to be increasing evidence that there are far superior medically-based interventions for alcohol and opiate addictions than the 12-Step approach. Entrenched program providers resist evidence that suggests there are perhaps better ways to treat the problem, and I do not want my synagogue to be a co-conspirator denying or discouraging best practices to anybody afflicted with these diseases.
This is equally true of bereavement groups.
Great piece!
Regarding Yehudah’s comment above, it is important to understand that there is a considerable body of research on the the correlation between Spirituality and addiction, see the book “Addiction and Spirituality: A Multidisciplinary Approach” or “Addiction and Grace” by Dr. Gerald May. Unfortunately, it has become en vogue in the medical community lately to bash 12 Step programs and insist that medication is the sole answer (one has to question the pharmaceutical companies’ influence).
The truth is that there are only TWO of the many forms of addiction that have medication assisted treatment: opiates and alcohol. Not for amphetamines, marijuana, nor any of process addictions, including eating, gambling, and sex.
Moreover, Dr. Fishman also noted science-based groups such as Smart Recovery and CBT.
It’s hardly a debate among any actual addicts that there is a spiritual component to addiction and if our communities don’t include them and serve their spiritual needs, Judaism becomes stale and irrelevant to them, and so they leave.
Thank you Beth for your continued effort to get 12 step meetings going in the Jewish community, and the importance of support.
So well written.
Carla
Beth, anonymity being a major concern for many in recovery, the fear of bumping into Uncle Moishe at the shul can keep some away.
Your intentions are well placed considering denial by clergy and community.
Who knows what previous 12 Step commenters intentions are?
It works if you work it. It won’t if you don’t.
Great Article and a very important point
I have attended Al-Anon meetings in churches and it makes me uncomfortable. It would be much better if there were more meetings held in synagogues. Also, the Jewish Community needs to do more to acknowledge the addiction issues in our community, educate the community, and provide support to addicts. We need more Beit Teshuvah’s (Jewish rehab facility in Los Angeles).
Paul- I don’t think we disagree, really. With all due respect, my comment was specific re: the likely superiority of medical interventions as part of the treatment for opiate and alcohol addictions, as compared to 12 step programs. I am also confident, as you point out, that there are spiritual dimensions that might affect the treatment efficacy of interventions, medical or otherwise, for mental and/or physical health problems. I do think that if you re-read the article it’s fair to say CBT is mentioned only “in passing” while there are numerous references (at least a dozen) to 12-step programs; this article really is primarily about getting 12 step programs into synagogues. Our areas of agreement support the “legitimacy” of the involvement of synagogues and other Jewish agencies in trying to connect more Jews with treatment. But my point is that depending on what is being treated, some interventions appear to be more legitimate (valid, research-based) than others.
Please understand that I think it’s a great idea for synagogues to encourage, support, validate, normalize, and even provide (or facilitate the provision of) spiritual/psychological/medical interventions for addictions. But when “These Jews know that the meeting is saving their lives…” and what they “know” might be wrong, or (far) less than best practice, I think it is wrong to look the other way and ignore the research. And it does appear that might be happening now in the treatment community, specifically in the cases of alcohol and opiate addiction.
Yehuda, long ago an addict learned that another addict seemed to speak the same language, and that if they followed a program which suggested a new way to live, and that life was enhanced by taking a personal inventory ( like a Chesbon hanefesh ) making amends to the people you have wronged,(like YK) surrendering your self will to a higher power, who we choose to call God, and continue through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God and try an fulfill god’s will for us- if we do these things and share them with other addicts we can find sobriety, serenity and maybe even our neshuma’s that we tried so hard to dispose.. And we share it with others who sometimes get clean and sober too.
Is it the only way to find sobriety? Absolutely Not but it has worked for 80 years and countless millions of people.
I am proud to say Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks California has opened their hearts and doors to 12 Step programs.
Every few years the pharma guys announce that 12 Stepping is obsolete and taking a magic pill will do the trick. Gee, hasn’t methadone worked out just dandy? A problem with meds is that they get abandoned or abused if the addict doesn’t have a strong group for support. And science is never quite as spot-on as it would have us believe. For example, more than a century ago, Science announced that it had discovered a great cure for morphine addiction called heroin. Oops. What some scientists and social scientists find maddening is that 12 Stepping seems to be the inmates running the asylum. Results count–despite the often dubious statistics paraded for 12 Step programs, they have helped more addicts than any other approach–with side effects like camaraderie and friendship. Synagogues are a welcome addition to the 12 Step community.
Scott McWilliam: Excellent post; thank you for sharing your heartfelt thoughts. We have learned a lot over the past several decades about treating addiction, including the value of peer support programs to help find hope in the midst of despair and act in ways that improve and even save lives. Making such programs more accessible to our Jewish brothers and sisters is a mitzvah, to be sure. Your post describes this eloquently. And it appears that for some, complementing these programs with medical intervention might improve success; i.e.,sometimes a 13th (medical) step might be necessary (or highly beneficial) to support our intentions to fulfill God’s will for us. I would hope that our institutional efforts to perform this mitzvah would include supporting this as well, as appropriate.
Proud to say that Beth El Synagogue in Durham, NC is hope to a Narcotics Anonymous group and our leadership sees this as a priority even if it may impact some programming that we have on Sunday mornings within our facility.
In my 40 plus years of addiction and recovery I have never met an addict who’s spirit was not broken. They all chased that high by taking pills, drinking , smoking and using people places and things hoping that the fear and pain In their lives would go away. Recovery starts on the inside with spiritual growth let us start shining the light. Let us open our hearts and our buildings to help save a life.
I applaud Dr. Fishman for having the courage to write such an important piece. My take away being not so much the importance of having more meetings in Synagoges so that Jews can be more comfortable in meetings but more importantly, more meetings are available for those who need them. I am blessed to be a member of a very large congregation where we have 5 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings a week open to the community. The men’s meetings have on average 45 attendees and the women’s meetings 30. Our Synagoge also has an Addiction Prevention and Treatment advisory committee established by the Rabbi. As Scott McWilliam so beautifully posted, we will never know the true number of lives that have been not only saved but changed for the better as a result of the 12 Step process and program because WE are the “anonymous people”! I’m afraid that Yehuda’s post, while very well written, is slanted towards “The Emperor’s New Drugs”. Those of us who have been doing the deal day in and day out
For over 30 years know that there is no pharmaceutical cure to a spiritual problem. And that the terms, “Best Practices” and “Evidenced Based Practice” are buzz words that will fade into the sunset while time tested, life changing fellowships of AA, NA, GA, OA etc will always strive and prosper despite the Yehuda’s of the world who can not figure out why they work. My only hope is that we don’t continue to lose opiate addicts who buy into the idea that medications like Suboxone actually have a purpose when in my opinion they are adding to the problem. There have been no long term studies done on the effects of Suboxone on the young, still developing brain. Suboxone used at the beginning stages of withdrawal management makes sense, and were the original, supposed intentions for the drug but it is now being used for long term maintenance by the same money hungry folks that built and sold Methadone Clinic empires.
I digressed…
Having the courage to write this plea of appeal gives Dr. Fishman an incredible amount of credibility with me and I am proud to support her efforts to get more self help meetings in to Synagoges not only so that Jewish people will have another option to choose where to attend, and frankly one less excuse, but so that the 12 Step community feels the support of the Jewish Community.