UP FRONT Support Group Is Helping Jewish Alcoholics, Families ELIZABETH KAPLAN Feature Editor T he first step is overcoming fear. Alcoholic and chemically dependent Jews are reticent to seek help from a less than supportive Jewish community, according to a member o _ f the new JACS of Detroit, Inc. JACS, Jewish Alcoholics and Chemically Dependent Persons and Significant Others Foundation, Inc., of Detroit welcomes such individuals. The group is open to any Jewish in- dividual with an abuse problem — from alcoholics to overeaters. — and their family members. Participants have anonymity. The local chapter is affiliated with the New York-based JACS, a non-profit, volunteer organization with offices throughout the country. A spokesman for the local group stressed that JACS is not alternative but an adjunct program to Alchoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and other recovery pro- grams. It provides guest speakers, serves as a referral service for in- dividuals who want to join a 12-step program and support group for Jews with a substance abuse problems. "Three aspects — mental, physical and spiritual — must be addressed for a successful recovery:' a local JACS member explained. "Physically, you simply must stop abusing the substance; the AA meetings are for mental needs. But the spiritual aspect had always created a lot of confusion for me. JACS afforded me a place to go and deal with my spirituality?' One of the founders of the local group remembers his first experience with a JACS-sponsored group. Treated in New York for chemical dependency, he went to a JACS- affiliated group at the recommenda- tion of his physician. He needed "a spiritual connection" in his recovery, he said. "I'd always thought of myself as Jewish, but I didn't know what a Jew was supposed to be?' At the first meeting, he heard a rabbi speak about recovery from chemical and alcoholic dependence and the Torah. "It helped me put everything in perspective," he said. "And it helped me realize I wasn't the only Jew with a chemical dependency?' The local JACS group held its first meeting last summer at Temple Israel. Six people attended. Now, more than 60 often par- ticipate in the meetings, which are held at 8 p.m. the first Thursday of every month at the temple. But the group members aren't satisfied. They want to hold JACS gatherings at other area congregations. "We need more education," one group member said. "So many people are uninformed about the problem. They just don't know how to deal with it?' Another member of the group noted that most of the Jewish com- munity still regards Jewish alcohol and substance abuse as a shande — a shame. He found how strong that sense of shame runs when the group approached a major local congrega- tion and asked to hold a JACS group meeting there. "We were told no for two reasons;' the group member recalled. "First, the rabbi said the meetings would be `more appropriate elsewhere? Second, he told us 'There's no problem here? " Continued on Page 12 At the December convention of the Central Region of United Synagogue Youth, held in Detroit, region president David Tessler, right, explains some of the group's work to visiting Israelis Ronen Maital and, in back, Kinor Sheleff and Rivka Kossin. Rabbinical Institute Offers Aid for 'Frontline Troop& RICHARD PEARL Staff Writer S ome 32 rabbis from Conserva- tive congregations in the cen- tral United States and Canada have enrolled in the first Midwest Rabbinic Training Institute, schedul- ed Jan. 8-13 in the Butzel Conference Center at Camp Maas. The rabbis not only will study traditional Jewish theological sub- jects at the Ortonville site, but also will attend sessions dealing with a variety of professional skills. The institute, sponsored by the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York, is patterned after the highly successful rabbinic training institute held last January in upstate New York. "We are providing a major con- ference in which to work with people who are the frontline troops in their respective congregations;' said Steven Shaw of New York, JTS director of community education, adding that only Conservative congregational rabbis whO are also members of the Rabbinical Assembly may attend. Unlike such other professionals as physicians and lawyers, who are con- stantly updated on changes within their fields, "there is no comparable continuing education for Conser- vative rabbis;' said Shaw. "We are upgrading the skills of rabbis who are often dealing with pro- Continued on Page 12 ROUND UP Hero Dies In London Jerusalem (JTA) — David Delarosa, a 19-year-old soldier who tried vainly to rescue a woman and children from a firebombed bus near Jericho Oct. 30, died last week in London. He had sustained serious in- juries to his heart and lungs from smoke inhalation. Only a heart and lung transplant might have saved his life, and he was flown to London for that purpose. He succumbed while waiting for a donor. Delarosa was the fourth vic- tim of the worst terrorist act this year. The Egged bus became a flaming pyre after it was halted by a road bar- ricade outside Jericho in the West Bank and attached with a Molotov cocktail. Rachel Weiss, 26, of Tiberias, and her children, Netanel, 3, Rafael, 2, and Ephraim, 10-months-old, died in the smoke and flames. To Kasher And Not To Kasher Saturday, Beginning Dunkin' Donuts at Ten Mile and Greenfield in Oak Park will no longer be under kosher supervision of the Council of Orthodox Rabbis, according to Vaad Secretary Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg. Meanwhile, the Dunkin' Donuts on Northwestern Highway will soon be under the Vaad's kosher supervi- sion, Rabbi Goldberg said. He said the Vaad will kasher the store next week. Rabbi Goldberg said the Dunkin' Donuts in Oak Park lost its kosher standing after the store introduced meat- stock soups to enhance its luncheon menu. Shamir Halts Work on 'Amos' Tel Aviv (JTA) — Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has called a halt to further development of Israel's corn- munication satellite, "Amos," according to the daily Ha'aretz. Shamir vetoed the project when it became apparent that the government would have to invest $120 million over the next four years to get it off the ground. Gad Ya'acobi, minister of economic planning and coor- dination in the last gover- ment, was unable to reach an agreement with the Defense Ministry on the project. The Israel Defense Force objected to digging into the defense budget to pay for a corn- munications satellite. Soviets Approve Commemoration Kiev — For the first time, a Soviet newspaper has granted official support to the com- memoration of the slaughter of Jews at Babi Yar. The Evening News of Moscow covered a recent memorial program for the Jews killed at Babi Yar. An Israeli diplomat was present at the ceremonies. Almost all those murdered by the Nazis in 1941 at Babi Yar were Jewish. Between 33,000 and 70,000 Jews were said to have been slaughtered there. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 5