As a non-Jewish, Black multi-ethnic therapist, writing this piece was an eye-opening experience in understanding the parallels between the diasporas of the Black and Jewish communities. I’ve had more conversations with friends and colleagues about anti-Semitism and racism, which has built stronger empathy and a sense of action toward uniting in our work towards a…
In March while I was in Miami, I contracted Covid-19. I was put into an induced coma on a respirator twice, for nearly 30 days total. But by far the worst part of my experience was the dreams I had while under, my emotional and mental reaction to the drugs used to put me into…
Oniel Gilbourne was arrested in September after allegedly beating a 64-year-old Hasidic rabbi with a paving stone in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. While the community wondered aloud what was in Gilbourne’s mind, he likely heard a drumbeat of acronyms — MMPI-2, MCMI-II, WAIS-R — representing some tests used to assess mental illness. Violent attacks on the…
(Plus61.net.au) South African teen Adam Seef’s tragic death by suicide while on an Israel tour program last month has devastated not only his family and friends, but the Jewish community worldwide, raising questions about the Jewish community’s addressing of mental health in its youth and LGBT+ members. Remembered as popular, funny, and a high achiever,…
A media producer publicly shared the heartbreaking story of his father’s death to illustrate the mental health crisis in the United States. Andrew Kimmel, a former head of live video at BuzzFeed News and producer of ABC’s “The Bachelor,” began his Twitter thread with a disclaimer that the story of his father’s suicide, which happened…
We’ve heard about how Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony on Thursday was triggering for millions of women. I am one of them. I was attacked in a parking garage in Jerusalem when I was 23. It shattered my sense of safety, my then-idealistic image of life in the Jewish state, and for a time, my…
As a rabbi, I’m often tasked with helping others find meaning in suffering and hope in times of despair. Drawing from the wellspring of biblical and rabbinic wisdom, I frequently find support for a wide range of broken hearts, and I typically have a comforting text to point to. Existential loneliness? Turn to Psalms 23:4:“Though…
A version of this article originally appeared in Plus61J, an Australian-Jewish publication. In the first year of her daughter’s life, Dassi Erlich, the force behind the international campaign to make former Adass Israel principal Malka Leifer face child sex abuse charges, battled a furtive and destructive addiction. At the time she was a regular patient…
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