By Beth C. Aplin
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN — Imagine being an alcoholic, an addict, or the mother of someone who is, and finally summoning the courage to go to an AA meeting or Al-Anon meeting. Then imagine that you walk into that room, only to realize that you are the only Jewish person there.

That’s part of “Alisha�’s story, just one of many moving accounts in “Jewish Sisters in Sobriety,� a book of first-person recollections and resources released last month by Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent and Significant Others (JACS), a program of the Jewish Board of Family and Children Services (JBFCS).

Part memoir, part self-help guide, “Jewish Sisters in Sobriety� is the first addiction-and-recovery-themed book calibrated to the specific obstacles addicted Jewish women and teens — as well as their loved ones — face.

From busting the myth that Jews don’t have alcohol and substance abuse problems to providing a platform for Jewish women to voice the shame and isolation they had to overcome to seek help, the book provides a strong, collective voice of a population long in the shadows

“Our mission is to fund innovative programs that provide a healthy, supportive environment for Jewish women and children in New York and beyond,� said Muriel Goldberg, a co-chair of the grant committee at Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York, which provided financial assistance for the book. “[The book] meets a need that has not been fulfilled in the Jewish community.�

“Laura� (her pen name) submitted a prose poem to “Jewish Sisters in Sobriety� about what it feels like to achieve sobriety. She is in her early 50s and is one of seven Brooklyn residents who contributed to the book. (There are 21 voices in all, including an excerpt from an autobiography by Lillian Roth, a famous singer/actress who struggled with alcohol addiction.)

“Being in the book is a way of getting the word out to other Jewish women, and that makes me feel I’m doing something valuable,� said Laura, via email.

“And for my own recovery, reliving my story keeps it ‘green’ for me, keeps it fresh in my mind. It reinforces what I’ve been through, and that it’s not over. Like the saying goes, ‘Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.’ I don’t want to repeat it.�

‘Substantial Progress’ in Brooklyn’s Jewish Communities
Jonathan Katz, director of JBFCS’s Jewish Connections Programs and an advisor to “Jewish Sisters in Sobriety,� was heartened by the healthy number of Jewish women in Brooklyn who contributed to their stories.

“I say this as a proud Brooklyn native myself: Brooklyn is home to an effective, mutual support network that encourages Jewish women in Brooklyn with addictions or loved ones who are addicted to be able to seek each other out and be supportive of one another,� he said.

“In the three decades that I’ve worked with JACS I’ve seen substantial progress in many Jewish communities of Brooklyn in acknowledging these problems and dedicating resources to it.�

In that regard, “Jewish Sisters in Sobriety� is on its way to achieving its primary mission: to raise awareness and get Jewish communities everywhere mobilized.

Muriel Goldberg, of the grant committee, said she recently learned that “Jewish Sisters in Sobriety� will be utilized for programs in South America and Israel. Katz noted that more and more, JACS is asked to export its recovery programs to areas as near as Westchester and as far as Arizona.

Here on a local level, Brooklyn residents like “Alisha� are finding that telling their story can mark a powerful step forward.

In “Jewish Sisters in Sobriety,� she recounts the heartbreaking loss of her only daughter after years of drug and alcohol abuse, and the guilt she feels as a mother in the aftermath. Yet, through the community she has found, she has discovered a way through her grief.

“The loving, respectful way JACS encouraged me to tell the story of what happened to my beautiful daughter was the start of my healing,� she told the Eagle. “And now I want to be there for other parents, as well.�

“Jewish Sisters in Sobriety� ($15.00, 190 pp.) is available through the Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent Persons and Significant Others’ Web site, www.jacsweb.org, or Choices Bookstore, www.choices-nyc.com.

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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