There are no stories this week.
Just tears.
In a 24 hour time period, we lost two promising young lives in two completely unrelated tragedies. What makes their deaths even harder to accept is that on the outside, they looked like the last people you would ever think were drug abusers.
She was a young mother, just 27 years old. He was a 26 year-old college graduate who had a good job at a respectable firm. On the outside, their lives seemed perfectly healthy, but as we all know, looks can be very deceiving. Underneath the seemingly healthy surface lurked turmoil and the chilling truth. Compounding these devastating deaths is the reality that there were people close to these two victims who knew of their struggles, but kept quiet, afraid of the shame and embarrassment that could result if the truth were revealed.
So instead of getting help, these two young people struggled alone.
And this week we buried them both.
I urge you. I beg of you.
If you know someone with a drug problem, make sure they get help. Drugs kill people. Shame kills people. Secrets kill people.
And we just can’t afford to lose any more.
Zvi Gluck is the director of Amudim Community Resources, an organization dedicated to helping abuse victims and those suffering with addiction within the Jewish community and has been heavily involved in crisis intervention and management for the past 15 years. For more information go to www.amudim.org.
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11 Responses
This is a tragedy. People need to understand there is no shame helping an addict. Need to be treated as a disease which can be cured with help. So please help a loved one or friend save themselves and yourself.
The cliches are very nice but the reality is quite different don’t try to simplify how difficult it is to approach somebody in the situation and get them the help they need seeing a problem noticing it does not mean that you can snap your fingers and get a solution
There needs to be a major community effort, and it must include going after the suppliers in our midst with vicious resolve, these people are rotzchim!
I know for a fact that there are drug pushers in Yeshivos and drugs being sold by the Rebbes, Magid Shiurim and older Yeshiva bochorim to the younger ones. The Yeshivos should hire an outside supervisor/guard to discourage such actions and all Yeshivos should have qualified guidance counselors so that the students can go to them for private personal guidance, advice and/or help.
#4:If you know all that “for a fact”, who have you told?
Frankly, I doubt you know any of the above “for a fact” and in that case your posting is the worst kind of loshon horah.
#4 “drugs being sold by the Rebbes, Magid Shiurim”- so what drug are you on?
@eli willner
+1
Rebbis selling Drugs??? OMG
Another death, another article by Rabbi Gluck, but once again, missing substance. What is he suggesting? Who is he blaming this time?
Moderators Note: Perhaps you need need your eyes checked, or perhaps you have a vendetta (apparently, obvious as day). But here was the suggestion: “I urge you. I beg of you. If you know someone with a drug problem, make sure they get help. Drugs kill people. Shame kills people. Secrets kill people.”
תורה תבלין
Rikki if you know for a fact don’t complain on ywn. Complain to 911.