Jewish addicts helped in 12-step programs

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This article was published 08/07/2007 (6704 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LIKE many people of his generation, Monty Kane (not his real name) experimented with drugs and alcohol while growing up in Winnipeg during the 1960s. Unlike many of his peers, however, Kane had difficulty quitting the habit and became an addict. Both drugs and alcohol continued to play an integral and destructive role in his social and business life even after he was married and well into his thirties.

Kane’s life eventually turned around when he joined a local 12-step program. Yet, while this program was a life-saver for Kane, it also made him realize that there was a need for a recovery program geared specifically to addicts who, like him, were Jewish.

“Most addicts experience their first real connection with G-d in recovery,” he explains. “So logically, Jews should have access to a Jewish perspective during recovery.”

Now in his mid-50s, Kane is helping to set up such a program in Winnipeg.

With the support of the local social service agency, Jewish Child and Family Service, Kane is in the process of co-founding a chapter of JACS (Jewish Alcoholics Chemically Dependent Persons and Significant Others). This unique mutual help program complements traditional 12-step recovery programs within a Jewish religious framework.

“Most addiction recovery programs are Christian-based,” explains Merrill Shwaid, public relations co-ordinator for Jewish Child and Family Service. “This poses a problem for those who are not Christian. JACS, however, will fill this void. It is the Jewish take on the 12 steps.”

JACS was founded in New York City in the late 1970s to help Jews struggling with addictions connect with other community members, community resources and their faith. One of the main goals of the program, which has been adopted in communities across North America, is to enhance the Jewish spiritual dimension for Jews in recovery.

JACS supplements secular 12-step fellowships such as AA by providing a Jewish matrix for recovery,” explains Jonathan Katz, director of Jewish Connection Programs for New York City’s Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services. “The JACS texts, rituals, discussion and activities all promote core Jewish values.”

These values include, but certainly are not limited to, the concepts of Teshuva, returning to a life of good deeds, and Pikuach Nefesh, upholding the sanctity of life.

“JACS also offers regular 12-step-oriented meetings,” Katz adds. “These meetings follow 12-step principles, but include Jewish materials and conclude with the (Jewish prayer) Shema rather than the Lord’s Prayer.”

The first Winnipeg JACS public information meeting took place at the end of June and was attended by 15 people, among them both addicts and their family members. Those who participated expressed a definite interest in setting up a formal support group that will meet on a weekly basis.

This expression of interest is reassuring in a community that, like many other Jewish communities, tends to cling to the myth that addiction is not a common or a serious issue among its constituents.

“As a Jew, there can be some extra baggage attached to addictions,” Kane says. “Recently I heard someone state, ‘Jewish alcoholism? Like that’s a big problem!’ Well it really is! Jews are as afflicted by alcoholism and addictions as any other people.”

Jonathan Katz concurs. “While the exact prevalence of alcohol and other drug abuse and addiction among Jews has never been thoroughly and precisely studied,” Katz says, “the few small existing studies and a wealth of anecdotal experience indicate that this problem affects Jews in roughly the same proportion as it does other religious groups.”

General communal denial of this fact, however, may make it more difficult for Jewish addicts to admit to a problem and seek help. Many of them, according to Katz, experience great shame and a fear of discovery and rejection.

“It is not enough to simply provide services that help people stop using and abusing alcohol and other drugs,” he says. “It is essential to provide Jews in recovery with experiences that help them heal.”

Ideally, the new JACS support group will do just that.

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