Even though one in 10 Americans will suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives, many of the affected feel ashamed and isolated. Temimah Zucker was no different when she developed anorexia at the age of 18. “I didn’t want anyone to know,” she said.

It wasn’t until Zucker, now 23, who lives in Teaneck, New Jersey, watched an Orthodox Union video about eating disorders that she learned she wasn’t alone — even in her own small, insular, Orthodox community. “I’ve been in this community all my life, and I thought no one had an eating disorder.”

From her recovery — which required inpatient treatment as well as supervised meals for several years — she learned that lifting the taboo was vital. In February 2013, she launched [her website, Tikvah V’Chizuk (Hope and Strength)][1], which provides resources for those affected by anorexia. It provides a Jewish angle on the disorder and its context, not least because Zucker said that her therapy made her understand how religion could help her. “I thought, ‘Why should I be blessing food? I don’t want to eat food,’” she said — until she shifted her perspective, and the blessing became an appreciation of being alive and healthy.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

This past July, Zucker completed an online crowdfunding campaign, raising more than $6,000 to relaunch her website and establish TVC as a not-for-profit organization. Zucker is in her last year at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University, blogs for The Times of Israel and the Huffington Post, and gives speeches about eating disorder awareness. No one need feel the shame that she felt.

[1]: Hope and Strength

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount