By Simon Rocker
The Jewish Chronicle - September 14, 2007
A ground-breaking guide has been published in the UK
to help combat drug, sex and other addictions among strictly Orthodox
Jews.
Believed to be the first of its kind anywhere in the
world, the 130-page book, "Understanding Addictions" is trilingual, written
in English, Yiddish and Hebrew.
Ranging from eating disorders, gambling and
"shopaholism", to internet porn and gambling, it has been produced by Talking
Matters (TMA), a National Health-funded counselling agency set up in 2001
to promote stress prevention among the Charedi community.
Its purpose is to equip rabbis, teachers, parents and
youth and community workers with the knowledge to identify problems and provide
help in a "constructive and non-judgmental way". Its contents include an
illustrated guide to illicit drugs as well as an extensive list of Orthodox
counsellors.
In the introduction, TMA's founder and national director,
José Martin, says that in the past people with such problems would
be "shipped out" to other towns. "We pray that no child comes to harm in
his life, but if s/he stumbles, it is our duty to help them up, not push
them further into the quagmire."
She told the JC that one motivation for compiling the
book was learning a few years ago that an official Drug Action Team (DAT)
in Manchester had a record of 10 Orthodox Jews. "By the time, they get to
the DATs you'd never know they were Orthodox or even Jewish, it's too late.
Two or three died," she said.
A report on mental health in the Charedi community
that she helped compile earlier this year for the University of Central
Lancashire Centre for Ethnicity and Health also found anecdotal evidence
of drug-taking among strictly Orthodox youth. It recorded: "What has been
quite shocking, even for the researchers, is the frankness with which some
respondents said that`There are teenage girls and boys using drugs like
marijuana, cocaine and speed.' This is alarming as it was always thought
that the girls in particular, of Stamford Hill, were totally immune from
such terrible things."
Feedback from therapists also sheds light on what problems
need to be addressed. "Life has changed," Ms Martin said. "We didn't have
internet pornography 10 years ago."
The publication is endorsed by a highly-respected strictly
Orthodox rabbi, Dr Abraham Twersky, a psychiatrist with expertise in substance
abuse and author of numerous religious books.
"We must get our heads out of the sand and realise
that all social problems that exist in society at large may exist among Orthodox
Jews as well," he writes in the foreword, "and even if there may be a lesser
incidence, the prevalence is significant. Families are being ruined and children
suffer the consequences of parental addiction."
Other rabbinical backing comes from Rabbi Dr Chanan
Tomlin in Manchester, the chairman of Talking Matters, and Rabbi Azriel Schechter
in Stamford Hill.
Ms Martin said that 300 copies had so far been sent
out — mostly attracting positive reaction — "although there were
three negative responses, including one who sent it back".
No comments:
Post a Comment