Saturday, January 20, 2007

Rabbis must learn about addiction, expert says

Today's rabbis need to become knowledgeable about addiction in their congregations, a noted psychiatrist says.

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, a psychiatrist and internationally recognized expert in alcoholism and chemical dependency, observed that the Jewish community still is in denial, clinging to the adage “Jews don’t drink.”

While drinking among Jews may be less than in the general population, he says, the same cannot be said of drugs, particularly mood-altering substances.“It is clear that chemical dependency has become a Jewish problem. This is one of the many problems the community does not want to recognize it has.”

Read more from the New Jersey Jewish News Online.

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