arts & entertainment
The Nuns' Rabbi
Rabbi-psychiatrist Abraham Twerski's new book recounts his special relationship
with the sisters of Pittsburgh's St. Francis Hospital.
I
Sandee Brawarsky
F
Special to the Jewish News
r, ,
or a psychiatrist to question a
patient about her parents and her
past to gain insight into her anger
or alcoholism is commonplace. But when
the psychiatrist is a Chasidic rabbi, the
scion of a rabbinic dynasty, and the patient
is a nun, the scene is more striking.
Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski spent 20
years as the director of the Department
of Psychiatry at St. Francis Hospital
in Pittsburgh, run by the Sisters of St.
Francis. He treated nuns from the order
of St. Francis as well as nuns and priests
from nearby convents and seminaries.
St. Francis was unusual in that a large
proportion of its beds were reserved for
psychiatric cases; its policy was not to turn
anyone away.
While Twerski has written more than 60
books — including many works of Torah
study as well as psychology and self-help,
chronicles of his pioneering work with
substance abuse, and one novel — this is
one chapter of his life he hadn't written
about before. The Rabbi and the Nuns: The
Inside Story of a Rabbi's Therapeutic Work
with the Sisters of St. Francis (Mekor Press)
is a memoir woven with stories and teach-
ings.
"This has been on my mind for a while
he says. "It was too good an experi-
ence to let go:" When he walked through
Pittsburgh with the nuns, "heads would
turn:' he says.
Some nuns who had taken vows of chas-
tity, obedience and poverty came to see
him with questions about whether to stay
or leave.
He tells the story of a nun who had
severe dermatitis and could find no treat-
ment to ease her discomfort. After check-
ing in with her dermatologist, he met with
her and talked, and she mentioned that
the condition got worse when she had a
strict superior, that the last one "really got
under her skin:' The only time she felt bet-
ter was at the beach. He and a colleague
tried hypnosis and had her imagine being
close to the ocean. After several sessions
and then instruction in self-hypnosis, she
was much better and off medication.
In another case, he describes a nun
addicted to painkillers who faced either
arrest (for stealing prescriptions) or rehab,
where she sat with junkies and alcoholics.
Slowly she came to see that she was one of
them. She didn't object to them calling her
"the sister junkie:'
66
April 10 • 2014
JN
In an appearance in East Hampton, N.Y., Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski shows off his
necktie featuring Charlie Brown and friends.
On a visit to Israel, he sent
This wasn't a job that
Twerski sought.
them a photo taken at the Sea of
In fact, he tried
Galilee, where he is at the edge
to turn it down
but appears to be walking on
when it was
water. The sisters loved it.
He shared a friendship with
offered.
He told Sister
the bishop (who was later
Adele, who ran the
promoted to cardinal and
hospital, that he
moved to Rome; another
friend is now archbishop of
couldn't be on call 24/7
Washington). When the
because of Shabbat,
and she said she'd never
cardinal would visit, he
think of calling him
always ended their meet-
then. She told him, "The
ings with, "Bless me,
Holy Ghost sent you to us:'
rabbi:' In fact, many
When he expressed concern
nuns and priests would
ask for his blessing.
about not knowing details
"The Holy Ghost
of their religious beliefs, they
"They would put their heads
sent you to us."
assigned a priest as his special
down; I would put my hand on
consultant.
their head and say whatever bless-
ing I thought or
He agreed to stay for one year and then
stayed for 20. The rabbi and the sisters
Twerski had not planned a career as an
formed strong connections, based on
addictionologist, either.
their shared purpose and mutual respect.
He was first exposed to alcoholism at
Often, he'd kibitz with the nuns and would St. Francis, and he attended AA meetings
to get more information. Although he had
joke that he got along so well with them
because he reminded them of their savior,
no addiction problem, he began attending
regularly.
at least unconsciously.
"I realized that the 12-step program is
not about alcohol and drugs but about
making a personality change, becoming a
different person. The vehicle is getting rid
of character deficits and becoming more
spiritual. I took to it like a duck to water!"
Encouraged by Sister Adele,
Twerski went on to found the Gateway
Rehabilitation Center, now a leading facil-
ity in treating substance-abuse addiction,
along with a network of clinics. Gateway
admitted its first patients in 1972; he now
serves as director emeritus.
Usually, AA meetings entail a lot of
hugging. His religious beliefs don't allow
him to hug women, so instead he devised
a symbolic, touchless, virtual hug: He
wraps his arms around his middle and
hugs himself as though transferring that
hug to those he is talking to.
Twerski, now 83, had a pulpit
until 1959, when he graduated from
Wisconsin's Marquette University Medical
School. He almost had to drop out of
medical school for lack of funds, but he
received a personal scholarship from an
unlikely source: the Lebanese-American
television personality Danny Thomas.
University officials contacted Thomas
about the plight of the young rabbi, and
he agreed to give him $4,000. Later on
they met, and Twerski helped raise money
for a charity the actor favored.
Another unlikely person he made a
connection with was cartoonist Charles
Schulz. At St. Francis, the rabbi often
clipped Peanuts cartoons for the resi-
dents. Impressed by Schulz's ability to
translate profound psychological insights
into four frames, he called him. They
subsequently met and did several books
together.
As a writer, Twerski's style is straight-
forward and engaging, expressing pro-
found ideas simply. He has a genuine
confidence in individuals' resiliency and
ability to turn their lives around, recog-
nizing that some need more help.
He says that the rabbinic and Chasidic
tales he heard growing up helped him
to be an innovative practitioner. His
approach is closest to cognitive therapy,
which, he explains, posits "that a person's
problems are often due to his mispercep-
tion of reality:'
"My thrust in therapy has always been
[that] at the bottom of every psycho-
logical problem is the problem of low
self-esteem;' he says. "It's epidemic. The
therapist has to look for ways to elevate
the individual:'
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