IT IS IMPORTANT FOR
TEE PEOPLE TO fa
THAT THEY OWN THEIR
OWN POWER. SO , I
ENCOURAGE HUMANISTIC
JEWS TO TAKE THE
PROGRAM AND
RECOGNIZE MAT THE
POWER IS WITHIN TO."

can
cm*

T HE DETROIT J EWI SH N EWS

PHOTO BY DANI EL LI PPI TT

en Monica was a child in the
1960s, her mother took her gro-
Wc1 ery shopping on Fridays. Her
mother would always purchase two bot-
tles of wine. The wine, she explained to
Monica, was for Shabbat Kiddush.
Monica never questioned her mother,
despite the fact that there were only the
two of them for Shabbat. Nobody was ever
invited over. Yet, the two bottles disap-
peared each week.
"There was no one to tell," she says. "It
wasn't until I met a rabbi in St. Louis and
was able to discuss my mother with some-
one that I even realized that my mom was
an alcoholic."
Arnold Rottenberg of Palm Beach, Fla.,
says that more and more Jews are finding
out that their friends, their neighbors and
even their rabbis are alcoholic or addicted.
Mr. Rottenberg facilitates a JACS get-
together in Palm Beach. "We work on sup-
plementing programs with Judaism," he
says. "We delve into aspects of our faith,
spirituality and understanding."
JACS, which has its roots with the Jew-
Right: Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine:
ish Board of Family and Children's Ser-
Finding power within oneself.
vices in New York, calls
itself an organization
of Jewish alcoholics,
addicts, family mem-
bers and friends ex-
ploring resources of
the Jewish communi-
ty "to promote and en-
hance recovery from
the effects of chemical
dependency."
Most affiliated with
JACS are active in 12-
Step programs. JACS
offers retreats, High
Holiday workshops
and seders. It publish-
es a monthly newslet-
ter and has its own
Web site and chat
room on the Internet.
Mr. Rottenberg's
JACS group is held
the first Wednesday
night of each month at
a local temple. Every
month, the group
takes a closer look at
Rabbi Levi Shemtov: Finding a friend for the Jewish addict.
a specific step.
"In our meetings, we work to supple-
ment treatment programs by tying Ju-
daism, spirituality and understanding into
the recovery process," Mr. Rottenberg says.
"Some of our participants have specific
questions about Judaism; others want to
talk about God. Recently, we talked about
the second paragraph of the Sh'ma:

"I MAKE IT CLEAR TO Eli

ADDICT THAT MY WHOLE LIFE

"Beware lest your heart be deceived, and
you turn and serve other gods and worship
them; for the Lord's anger will blaze
against you ...

"The response to this paragraph was: 'I
always thought God was loving.' We then
had an entire discussion on what God is

GOES UP AND DOWN WITH

HIM. YOU NEED A FRIEND TO

COME OVER AND SHAKE YOU."

in Judaism."
What happens if you
are a Jew who doesn't
believe in God?
Rabbi Sherwin Wine,
founder of the Interna-
tional Institute For Sec-
ular Humanistic
Judaism, approves of
12-Step programs. He
feels that Humanists
need to look at them a
bit differently.
"[A 12-Step program]
is obviously effective,"
he said. "One way to
handle it is to acknowl-
edge that the higher
power is in yourself. It
is important for these
people to feel that they
own their own power.
So, I encourage Hu-
manistic Jews to take
the program and recog-
nize that the power is

within them."
While Rabbi Twerski says it is often
tough for a Jew to attend a recovery pro-
gram at a church, having a meeting at a
synagogue has its own challenges, ac-
cording to Mr. Rottenberg. Jewish addicts
will shy away from the local temple be-
cause they don't want to run into someone
they might know. Typically, AA groups
held in Jewish facilities don't have a large
number of Jews in attendance.
"I have individuals who are very active
members of their synagogue and federa-
tion, and they will not come to a meeting

if it's in a synagogue," Mr. Rot-
tenberg says.
What happens at an AA
meeting?
People introduce them-
selves with the now-famous,
"Hi, my name is John D., and
I am an alcoholic."
People receive recognition for
the amount of time they have
stayed "clean." A great deal of
time is spent working on par-
ticular steps. Most important,
though, contacts are developed
into peers who will hopefully
help each other stay clean.
Arnold Rottenberg has wit-
nessed these meetings, many
of them. He remembers talk-
ing with a JACS friend after
her first AA meeting.
"[This] person in our group
never had a Hebrew name,"
Mr. Rottenberg said. "It both-
ered her as she searched for
spirituality. We created a nam-
FE ing ceremony for her, which
E symbolized an inner strength
;9_ for her. She said the name rep-
,c2 resents everything that was im-
• portant to her in her recovery.
We had an -Oneg in her honor."
Leslie is always frightened she'll drink
again. She is a regular at AA and says she
has been sober for 34 months. The fear
of losing Kenny has been a major motiva-
tion to stay clean. She hasn't remarried.
Kenny has a bar mitzvah coming up.
With a cigarette in one hand, Leslie rais-
es her arms as if she is performing a bene-
diction. She explains how nervous she'll
be when she blesses her son from the
bimah.
"I can't read Hebrew well. But for Ken-
ny, I've memorized: May the Lord bless
you and watch over you." She recites the
prayer in Hebrew. "May the Lord shine
His face toward you and show you favor.
May the Lord be favorably disposed to-
ward you and may He grant you peace."
"Peace," she says. "That's all I can wish
for both of us." ❑

11-STEP HELP:

Alcoholics Anonymous of Greater De-
troit (313) 541-6565

Alcoholics Anonymous World Services
(212) 870-3400

JACS Foundation Inc. (New York) (212)
397-4197

JACS of Temple Emanu-El in Palm
Beach (561) 832-0804

JACS in Atlanta at Congregation Beth
Jacob (404) 633-0551

Baltimore JADAS (410) 653-5714

Narcotics Anonymous 1,318) 997-3822

Overeaters Anonymous (212) 206-8621