Boca Raton, FL – Like most Chabad Shluchim, Rabbi Meir and Frumi Kessler went on shlichus with the goal of creating a Chabad house in their new hometown. Little did the former Crown Heights residents know that instead of establishing a facility that would serve as a synagogue and a community center, they would instead be creating an institution that would cater to members of the Jewish community who were struggling with or recovering from addiction.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The Kesslers were sent eight years ago to East Delray Beach, part of an area described by the New York Times as the largest community of recovering addicts in the United States which, sadly, contained more than just a few Jews.
“The New York Times coined Delray Beach as the ‘Mecca of recovery,'” Rabbi Kessler told VIN News. “There are so many detox facilities and rehab centers here and in nearby Boca Raton that addicts come here from not only Palm Beach County and the east coast, but from all over the world in order to recover.”
below video speech excerpts from last years speech by Rabbi Twerski at the Jewish Recovery Center.
Renting a tennis center for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur services, Rabbi Kessler quickly noticed that many of those who came to join him for davening were people who were going through the recovery process.
“At this stage in their lives, they are very open to spirituality,” explained Rabbi Kessler. “They are already undergoing a twelve step program, so the goal was to add some yiddishkeit to that.”
The Jewish Recovery Center was officially established six years ago and Rabbi Kessler, who also serves as a chaplain at the Palm Beach County jail and the Caron Renaissance Rehabilitation Center, estimates that hundreds of people of all ages have passed through its doors.
“We have had people here anywhere from age eighteen through fifty,” reported Rabbi Kessler. “We have had Zaidys who became addicted to alcohol through the weekly kiddush club in Shul. There are many Jews who come here seeking help for their addiction and we are here to help them throughout their rehabilitation and recovery process.”
“30 years ago, I began alerting the Jewish community that ‘shikker is a goy’ is a dangerous myth,” Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, renowned psychiatrist and author told IN News. “Some progress has been made in increasing the awareness of a variety of serious addictions among Jews. The Jewish Recovery Center provides community education, and a haven for people seeking recovery from addictions, and strengthens their spirituality, which is the backbone of recovery.”
Rabbi Kessler was quick to note that the JRC is not a treatment center but has a close working relationship with many of the programs in the area and provides ancillary services for recovering addicts and their families including placement services, crisis intervention and separate recovery homes for men and women providing them with a safe, supportive and Jewish environment as they prepare to transition back into regular life. The JRC also offers Friday night services and meals, lectures, weekly Kabbala classes, support groups both for recovering addicts and their families, group outings and spiritual retreats for the Jewish recovery community.
Currently running out of Chabad of Boca Raton, the JRC hopes to be relocating to an independent facility in Boca Raton in the near future and is preparing to host its second annual retreat, set to take place from February 8th through February 10th at the Boca Raton Marriott.
“Our first retreat last year attracted 150 people and was a great success,” said Rabbi Kessler. “We brought in noted speakers Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski and Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Jacobson and it was an unforgettable experience for everyone who attended.”
The theme of this year’s retreat will be “Happy, Joyous and Free,” and in addition to Rabbis Twerski and Jacobson, will feature Arnie Wexler, a noted gambling addiction counselor, well-known therapist Lew Abrams and several other therapists, speakers and addiction professionals.
Online: http://www.jewishrecoverycenter.com/
“weekly Kabbala classes”
does anyone know if food addiction (OA) treatment is also included in this program since OA is also a 12 step program, or is it not as serious as some say. btw, is ‘kabala’ part of the 12 steps? or is this treatment not 12 step based?
Too bad so many of us have gone this route. I hear about more and more each month.
Bh there r so many recovering yiddishe addicts. Nebech on the suffering addicts who haven’t found recovery yet. VIN should run more such articles.
“Recovering addicts” my a..! Men who have problem with drinking should just stop drinking alcohol. That’s all the recovery they could possibly need.
And just where do these recovering addicts go for all the other shabbatot in the year? Are they welcome only for an “annual shabbaton”?