JGA July-August 09 - The Jewish Georgian

July-August 2009 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN Page 15
Jewish Denial, Jewish Recovery
W
hen you get together with your
friends, we bet the biggest topic
of conversation is the economy.
Everywhere we go people are talking about
friends and family whose lives have been
tragically impacted by job loss. The current
jobless rate (as of May) in Georgia is 9.2%.
Why wouldn’t we want to talk about it? In
any room, almost 1 in 10 people are out of
work. We all talk about who’s out of work,
and how we can help them.
ALCOHOL & DRUG ABUSE IMPACTS
AS MANY JEWS AS JOBLESSNESS
Does the topic of alcohol or drug abuse
come up in the same conversation? We bet
not often. Did you know the incidence of
alcoholism and substance abuse is as pervasive
as unemployment? Ten percent of U.S.
adults have alcohol and substance-abuse
problems. The general assumption about
substance abuse among Jews is, “Not in my
house!” We assume our ethical values,
Jewish mores and religious beliefs prevent
substance abuse from impacting us. Not
true!
The reality is that alcohol and drug
abuse knows no demographic, racial or religious
bounds. Studies of drug abuse and
alcoholism within the Jewish community
show that substance abuse in the Jewish
BY Mark &
Weinstein
Jeff
Diamond
community is 12% in New York and an estimated
10% in the Seattle. It’s here, too. In
any room of Jews, 1 in 10 is suffering from
substance abuse in Atlanta’s Jewish community.
Yet, our Jewish brethren rarely
speak openly about helping our friends, colleagues,
and family nearly as easily or often
as joblessness.
A common cliché is that alcoholism is
“a disease of denial.” The Atlanta Jewish
community is denying this problem. We’ve
got our head in the sand! It’s a problem we
firmly feel needs to be addressed as openly
as possible. Imagine, if we come to terms
with the problem, speak openly about it,
and come together as a community, we
could help close to 10,000 Jews suffering
from alcohol and substance abuse right here
in Fulton County!
FAITH-BASED RECOVERY
Recently, there has developed a radical
new way of helping Jews work through
their substance-abuse problems that has
proven dramatically effective — “Faithbased
recovery houses,” such as the Jewish
Recovery Houses (JRH) in Baltimore. A
recovery house is a home for people in the
early stages of recovery from addiction.
Unlike halfway houses, which are “selfgoverned”
by their residents, recovery
houses are managed independently by a set
of working rules and parameters that are
developed by professional therapists and
recovery counselors.
House of Hope, a Jewish Recovery
House in Baltimore
The focus at JRH is to help people
learn how to foster a normal, productive life
- learning basic life skills that many of us
take for granted, like holding down a job,
managing household chores, lighting shabbos
candles, and how to interact with the
world around them.
“Before I came here, I really didn’t
know how to live on my own,” said Rachel,
a current JRH “graduating” resident moving
into her own house. “The focus on avoiding
idle time, simplified my life. Now, I have a
car, insurance, and a bank account. JRH
taught me how to take responsibility and be
accountable for managing my life.” The rigorous
expectations of residents at JRH
include documented attendance to
Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics
Anonymous meetings. Residents must get a
job or attend school. They have to pay rent
and they have to adhere to house rules pertaining
to random testing, visitation, chores
and curfews.
What is unique, since uniqueness can’t
be measured in degrees at JRH, is that the
“residents” are all Jewish. Addiction is a
disease of isolation. So, any method of
helping people with addiction connect with
other addicts is critical to the success of
recovery. JRH accepts this premise, and its
residents’ similarities are based on their
Jewish backgrounds, upbringing, belief systems
and sensibilities. So, they are more
able to offer and accept support to and from
each other.
Brett Goldenberg, a JRH chemical-
See DENIAL, page 16