“In the winter of 2005 I arrived at the Zoharim Addiction Treatment center to take pictures. In order to get to know the center and the patients, I joined in with everyday life along with the patients at the center. During my time at the Zoharim, I took photographs and became close to patients who agreed to open up to me and tell me about their lives. The patients at “Zoharim” go through intensive physical and psychological therapy throughout their year program. In the program they learn to reacclimatize to society. I came back to the center after a year to document the success of those who had worked hard to escape the cycle of addiction and return to normative lives.

This is the story of the “clean addicts.” A “clean addict” is someone who has been rehabilitated and is aware of his or her struggle with addiction.

The essence of this struggle is the ability to abstain from the use of mood altering substances such as drugs, alcohol etc…

I chose to photograph these clean addicts in the intimate atmosphere of their own homes, because I thought that this private space would help the viewer to understand more about the biography of those photographed.

The journey into the lives of these “clean addicts” revealed to me a strict lifestyle, one where the individual must persevere, in order not to return to drug addiction. The fact that these people agreed to reveal their life stories with such honesty, comes from a strong belief that they need to pass on the message that drug use can destroy lives to others and to discuss public apathy about this issue more openly.

This work is dedicated with great love to the clean addicts who worked with me, and to those who are still on their own journey, those who are still looking for hope and who need to get help in order to escape the cycle of drug use. ”

For two years, the photographer Chaim Biton worked on a project to document people addicted to drugs at the Ramot Yehuda (Zoharim) Addiction Treatment Center.  Initially Biton spent time at the center without a camera and took part in therapy sessions along with the addicts. Those who agreed to participate in his photography project were those who had finished an in-depth therapeutic process at Zoharim and who had returned home to “normal” life. Biton photographed these clean addicts at home in their private space and these compositions they show the homes of these rehabilitated addicts, including the living rooms, kitchens, backyards and bedrooms. The houses are very well kept. It is as if the addict replaces drug addiction with addiction to normative life. On the walls there are pictures of happy families, of children, of loved ones. The walls show the promise of a life without drugs, the promise of happiness, of building a new future. Biton’s photography gives the subjects light, a hallo among the shadows that continue to lurk in the back, always threatening to come out whenever someone is not paying attention. There is no such thing as a former addict. To be clean for an addict is an endless task, an eternal guard against the ghost of the past.

The short biographies that are attached to the photographs teach us a lot about how a lifecycle can be affected by social and economic circumstances. In many cases, the use of drugs was unavoidable. Most of the time, these people come from lower socio-economic backgrounds but at the same time, the phenomena of drug addiction does not ‘pass over’ those who come from stronger economic backgrounds.

The State of Israel has a hard time dealing with this issue. For example, the Zoharim Addiction Treatment Center where Biton did this project, closed a few months ago.

Chaim Biton is a Memizrach Shemesh facilitator in Sderot and at the Sapir Academic College in Sderot.

From the exhibit:

Name: Hannah Avichzer

Born: 1962

Marital Status: Divorced with three children

Grew up in Beit Shemesh, 9.5 years sober

“Everyone gave up on me, and the truth is, I also gave up on myself. I didn’t want to take care of myself. But then everything changed when the social worker came over and told me that they would take my child away to foster care if I didn’t get clean. I felt like my entire world fell apart then and there.

At the welfare office they told me that if I wanted to hold on to my daughter, I would have to get sober and stop taking drugs.

Keeping clean has become a daily struggle for me, a battle for my child. I joined an outpatient day program for women and tried many different kinds of therapies that didn’t work. I thought about my daughter all the time and I knew that I could not break down. They already took my son from me many years ago and I am still waiting to hear from him until today. I couldn’t imagine the thought of loosing my daughter too.”

Passover is upon us, the Jewish holiday which commemorates the exodus from slavery to freedom. During Passover, it is interesting to examine the character of Moses, the first labor leader and to ask ourselves if the slavery we celebrate escaping is really a thing of the past.

Moses was taken from his parent’s house, the house of Hebrew slaves, to the palace of the king where he witnessed the wealth and abundance. He lived for many years in this affluent context and then one day, something changed,

“And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown up, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens; and he saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. (Exodus, 2:11)

Moses grows up. His maturity encourages a determination to go outside, to physically leave Pharaoh’s palace. What was he looking for out there? Who was he ‘going out’ to? The verse tells us that he goes out to see his brothers; the text could have easily described them as slaves but instead seeks to emphasize their closeness to Moses. When you go out into the world, you are able to see things you may have not been aware of before.  This action of seeing is not obvious. How many times have we overlooked the security guard who stands at the entrance to a shopping mall? Sometimes we look but we don’t see.

Moses sees. He sees their pain and suffering and this encounter motivates Moses to act:

“And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown up, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens;”

What is “looked on”? That he used to see them suffering and cry…and he would take them on his shoulders and would help each and every one of them… “and looked on their burdens”- He saw that they had no rest. He went and said to Pharaoh that whoever has a slave if he does not rest for at least one day a week he will die, and these are your slaves and if you don’t let them rest at least one day a week, they will die.  And he said to him “Go and do what you said” and Moses went and he made the reform and gave them a Sabbath a day of rest.

(Exodus Rabbah, 1:27-28)

During the first days of the second Knesset in 1951, the Bill for Work Hours and Rest was passed. The law determines the times in which an employer can employ his worker and the worker’s rights for a weekly rest period. The law also stipulates the requirement to pay workers overtime for additional hours worked. Was this law inspired by Moses? Thousands of years ago, Moses understands the need for a day of rest. He becomes the first labor organizer, initiating the first worker’s struggle, to free the slaves in Egypt.

Rabbi Moses Chalfon Hakohen (1874-1950), who was a Rabbi in Gerba, Tunisia refers to Moses’ leadership role:

“These four actions that Moses performed in the Palace of the King are referred to in the Parsha: he went to see how his Hebrew Brothers were doing, he struck the Egyptian that hit one of our Hebrew brothers, he reprimanded the evil Hebrew who struck his own brother, another Hebrew and he saved the seven daughters of Jethro, the Priest of Median from the thieving shepherds.

These actions teach us about the great and noble soul that Moses had…and from this, all those who have a heart and a precious spirit will learn to stand up for their brothers and protect them from those who abuse them. One should do whatever the law allows, to bring these cases (of injustice) before the (great and worthy) government. If one is unable to do this, one must find someone else to advocate for those who are exploited, before the time of the persecuted runs out. And if this is impossible then one must stall or postpone the actions against those exploited from happening, in any way one can. This is true, especially in places where our brothers are oppressed and tortured, where they have no allies. In addition, one should learn that even if one is content, with a life of peace, prosperity and dignity, with connections to the government, one should not feel like he doesn’t care about his brothers or the whole world. Also, from this one views the basic elements of human society, that every man is obligated and commanded to protest and object (to injustice), as it is written: “… thou shalt exterminate the evil from Israel.” (Deuteronomy 17:12)

Moses’ actions invite us to look outside ourselves and our private lives where we are introverted and at times, self-centered. In our individualistic world, it is not obvious that we should go out and see that there is a reason to go out and for whom. Just going out is not enough. The question is, where do we go out? Who are our brothers? In a country where the term “achi” or “brother” is overused, feelings of brotherhood and solidarity are not measured by words but by everyday realities: by our ability to take off the judgemental screen that causes social alienation, by the feeling of identifying with others, with empathy and understanding, by the value we give leaders within their own communities, those who are happy when the community is happy and sad when the community is sad.  Often times we look but do we see?

During Passover about 4 years ago, during a struggle he lead for the contracted workers at the Dead Sea factory, Jackie Edri a social activist and community organizer of workers that lives in dimona, spoke about this modern day slavery. Sadly his words are still relevant, four years later:

“In our day and age, Moses’ struggle described in the book of Exodus is a metaphor for the actions of a leader of workers who is attempting to lead them from slavery to freedom. This Passover everyone must ask himself if there is modern day slavery in the State of Israel, and more importantly what are you going to do to fight this slavery.  On the eve of Passover, the holiday of freedom for the Jewish people, it is appropriate to reread the story of moses who redeemed the people of Israel from the hands of pharaoh.two thousand years have passed since then and today we need to ask ourselves about the workplace and employee-employer relationships in modern day Israel- are they not a kind of modern slavery?

Chapter 5 in the book of exodus describes the beginning of the struggle of the Jewish people to escape slavery to freedom. “And afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh: ‘Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Let My people go, that they may hold a feast unto Me in the wilderness.” (Exodus 5:1). This verse can be a metaphor for the first actions of an organizer who wants to free his fellow workers from slavery… this chapter is represents the beginning of a difficult social struggle….

In recent years we bare witness to the continuous deterioration of the employer-employee relationship, we see that workers are prevented from unionizing, from realizing their rights, from strengthening their position in the workplace. During Passover 2006, everyone man should ask himself if there is modern day slavery and more importantly, what he can do about it.

Jackie Edri, Alternative Passover Seder, 12/04/06, ynet

In Exodus Rabbah it says,

“And Pharaoh decreed, “Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river…”

Amram said: Should the people of Israel lay with their wives for nothing? And immediately he separated himself from his wife Yocheved and he banished his wife when she was three months pregnant. And all of the people of Israel banished their wives. And his daughter (Miriam) said to him (Amram):  Father, your decree is more severe than that of Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s decree is only against the males; your degree is against both males and females. There is still a doubt if evil Pharaoh’s decree will come to pass, but you are righteous and your decree without a doubt will come to pass. He stood up and called for his wife to come back. The people of Israel all called their wives back…”

-Exodus Rabba, Chapter A

Here we see Miriam’s clever technique at standing up to her father on the one hand and at the same time guiding him to make the right choice.

Last week, Iris Levi Lifshitz, parent leader and participant in the CEO- Community Education Organizer’s Program, at Memizrach Shemesh facilitated a session about Miriam’s leadership role, modern feminism and women’s roles in social struggles. This session was one of many Iris has run since December when she set up a local student leadership group in her neighborhood of Kiryat Shalom Tel aviv, as part of the Community Education Organizers  program at Memizrach Shemesh.

The Community Education Organizers program aims to develop communal leadership responsible for the improvement of education in disadvantaged communities in Israel by training parent leaders to organize around local educational issues using beit midrash (Jewish text study) as a community organizing tool.

Iris saw that there was a need to support and encourage young students who grew up in the South Tel Aviv neighborhood of Kiryat Shalom.  May of these students are the first in their family to go to university. Iris decided to develop a student leadership group aimed at giving students in the neighborhood tools for leadership, from identity development to how to organize community projects. She made sure to forge strong relationship with community organizations and the municipality when setting up this leadership group. The students meet with Iris 15 times throughout the year to study Jewish texts about relevant social issues. Student participants also complete volunteer work within the community. The aim of the program is to strengthen young local young people to become the next generation of community leaders in Kiryat Shalom.

This is Iris’s first time facilitating a long term Beit Midrash program. She participated in the Kemach Parent Leadership Program for 3 years. Her experiences in the Kemach Beit Midrash helped her realize the great need to take action within her community, especially around educational issues, issues that directly affected her 4 children. She sees the Beit Midrash as a tool to use to raise awareness and connect students to local social issues. Iris says that she enjoys leading the student group and that it is challenging, “I now have to think about what questions I ask, and how they deepen the understanding of the issues and texts that we learn. Leaving them with questions can empower them to take action in the future.”

Pazit Adani, Co-director of the CEO program and Iris’s supervisor compares Iris to Miriam the prophet. ‘She is so inspiring, she stands up for what she believes in and people listen, just like Miriam. I am very excited to see her continue to flourish.’

*The CEO Community Parent Organizers Program is supported by the generosity of Jonathan Lopatin, the New Israel Fund and the Braunschvig family

It is almost midnight at Penn Station in Manhattan. The station is full of people that are rushing to catch their train; they are in coffee shops or watching a street performer sing a Bob Marley song. And there are those who you can tell who live in the station- this is their home.

These people, for different reasons, some because of the economic downturn which led to massive unemployment in the US, are homeless and they find refuge here at Penn Station, from the freezing New York cold.

We walked around the station with big bags filled with packed-lunches that we had prepared earlier. We tried to understand if that woman with a green coat and a big suitcase is waiting for the train to Long Island or if that suitcase is her entire world. We pass out the lunches that include a sandwich and a drink and soon the rumor spreads and people come up to us, asking for food and thanking us with a smile for providing them with dinner.

We spoke to some of these people about living in New York, about how easily you can find yourself homeless. One college-educated young man told us about how he got married young and later divorced. This life change led him into poverty and homelessness.

You cannot ignore the gap between this scene of poverty and the enormous amount of wealth apparent in New York’s many stores, skyscrapers and financial centers. Some of these homeless people living in Penn Station are curled up in a corner, one hand extended, begging for food. How does this happen in America, where almost any dream can become a reality, where who ever really wants to succeed, does?

We were at Penn station as part of a Social Action Exchange program where we also studied about how we view those living in poverty and how obligated do we feel for these people. It was important to discuss this topic because we had been at Penn Station several times that week and we realized that we hadn’t really seen all of those homeless people who call the station their home.

The exchange consisted of three groups of Jewish young people in their 20s: Israelis, Hungarians and Americans. The group was very diverse: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Religious and Secular and those who recently discovered their Jewishness. All of these young people share a responsibility to the Jewish values of social justice and a will to connect these burning social issues to their Jewish identities.

This Memizrach Shemesh program is in its 7^th year and it is a partnership with Partnership 2000 New York. The program introduces Israeli, American and Hungarian Jews to each other while teaching them about the Jewish values of community, justice and social responsibility. The New York part of the exchange was the final part of the three way exchange program, where the group met in Jerusalem and in Budapest.

*This program is supported by the UJA New York Federation and Partnership 2000.

Shimon came to the meeting at Retorno accompanied by his son, a young officer in uniform.  Shimon’s wife did not attend because she doesn’t believe in him anymore. Her faith in her husband’s ability to get rid of his drinking problem drowned long ago in that same bottle.

“I am here because of my wife” declared Shimon “She threatened me with divorce and this time she was serious because she sent me a summons for the rabbinical courts”

Rabbi Eckstein was surprised by the courageous move on the part of this woman.

Shimon has worked for years as a Bible teacher and is an ordained Rabbi. He is a kind man and learned torah scholar. His heavy aftershave and the mint he sucks on do not hide the fact that this happy, good-hearted Jewish man is absolutely inebriated, as we say during Purim, “ad d’lo yada” (So drunk that he is unable to differentiate between Mordechai and Haman).

Two months later, when he was already 30 days off the bottle, he sat with Rabbi Eckstein and spoke to him seriously about his situation. “How will the rest of the program help me?” He asked, “What can I learn from it?”

Shimon continued, “The counselor that runs our sessions reminds me of students that I taught when I just started teaching at the Yeshiva. They all of a sudden have discovered God. I lived with God for 50 years, I prayed to Him, screamed at Him, laughed at Him and He guided me wherever I went. I was so close to Him that I would even drink at his house…the synagogue where I would recite a hundred blessings just so I could get more shots of vodka…”

The people of Israel, while on the amazing journey through the desert to the Promised Land had all they needed. A cloud protected them during the day and a pillar of fire made light for them during the night. The Mana, the Godly food, nourished them unendingly. All of a sudden, “… the mixed multitude that was among them felt a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept on their part, and said: ‘Would that we were given flesh to eat! We remember the fish, which we were wont to eat in Egypt for free; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all; we have nothing save this manna to look to.” (Numbers 11:4-6)

A person, who is a guest at the Hilton Hotel and has all he needs, craves a falafel from the stand in the old neighborhood. There is no explanation for the power of this yearning. Only an addict lusts after these things in an illogical, addictive and negative way. The addict paints everything pink “and the food was consumed for free” (Who gave them food for free?) They want to eat meat and they remember their yearning for onions and garlic- total insanity!

It could be said that a sinner is one who is still in control, he still knows the difference between good and evil, he is still sane, despite the fact that at this or that moment in time, he chooses evil. An addict on the other hand has lost control; he will do anything to get his fix, which for him is a solution to his deep emotional pain. This is not a sin, it is a disease. A sin is a controlled, conscious act, addiction is an unruly illness.

If once we believed that addiction to psychoactive drugs was more common in disadvantaged neighborhoods, it is now known that there is no difference between a poor neighborhood and a wealthy suburb, when it comes to addiction to drugs. The difference will only be in the quality and price of the drug.

(-excerpts from Rabbi Eckstein, Director of Retorno)

Retorno is the International Jewish Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Addictions based in Beit Shemesh. Since 1990, hundreds of addicts have been treated at Retorno, more than half of whom are from the religious community. Individuals with drug, alcohol, sex and gambling addictions have sought help from Retorno’s treatment program. 70 % of Retorno alumnae continue to lead successful, healthy lives. Using a new Jewish spiritual path that integrates the well known 12 step program for addiction, participants fight addiction and seek to get well.

Memizrach Shemesh’s Rabbinic Program for Social Leadership (Merhav) visited Retorno recently. The 12 Merhav participants, many of them community Rabbis, learned about different aspects of addiction. They had sessions that discussed the difference between good and evil in relation to addiction, and they participated in a seminar to give them tools to grapple with these challenges of addiction within their communities.

The group also learned about the 12 step program where the individual is led through a spiritual process of introspection and self understanding. The rabbis also heard some ex-addicts speak about the processes they went through as part of their recovery.

It was emphasized to the group that addiction is not a disease but instead a medicine; a medicine for a deeper problem that the addict is trying to solve in the wrong way. The process of searching for the root of the pain and distress is how they begin to solve the problem of addiction. The Merhav rabbis learned about this deep emotional misery that can sometimes go unseen by rabbis and community leaders. Through discussion and learning, the rabbis understood the important role they can play by being sensitive about such personal challenges before they develop into an addiction.

The visit to Retorno touched our Merhav participant rabbis. The sessions they experienced discussed sensitivity, pain, successes and failures during work with addicts and their families. This gave Merhav rabbis the opportunity to look at those around them, their community members, through a different prism.

This process that deals with a person’s midot (attributes) and moral-spiritual work is part of several seminars that Memizrach Shemesh’s Merhav rabbis participate in throughout the course of the two year Rabbinic Leadership for Social Change program. The rabbis also participated in training on the topic of couples counseling. The aim is to expand the horizons of these rabbis and to improve their practice as a way of strengthening them as both religious and social activists within their communities.

Galit Greener Drori, Facilitator Acharai Youth Movement, Hadera and Netanya

Yuval Linden, Facilitator Acharai Youth Movement, Be’er Sheva

Amiel Lachmani, Facilitator Acharai Youth Movement, Ashdod

Oshrit Karity, Facilitator Tzameret Youth Movement, Jerusalem

Michal Aharoni, Facilitator Tzameret Youth Movement, Arad