Because Not All Stories Have Happy Endings – By Zvi Gluck, Amudim

amudimThe Jewish community is once again plunged into mourning, grieving the loss of a young woman from our community who died tragically this week.

There are so many dramatic statements I could make here, but you are probably as tired of hearing them as I am of uttering them.

And yet the nightmare continues as the death toll rises. 75 dead since Rosh Hashana. 23 suffered from mental illness. 52 were victims of drug or alcohol abuse. All were less than 35 years old.

There are no tears left. We grieve dry-eyed, as we try to abate the torrent of death that continues to sweep through our midst.

As a people, we are reluctant to admit weakness or to ask for help. In this latest tragedy, the young woman was getting help for the issues that plagued her and had a strong support system yet, here we are, once again, mourning one of our own.

We try. We try so hard. We do our best to get help for those in need, but not all stories have happy endings. It doesn’t mean that our efforts are pointless. It just means that we have to keep trying.

Amudim logoWe cannot throw up our hands in frustration and let the darkness win. We need to soldier on, fighting day by day, empowered by the knowledge that the success stories dramatically outnumber the losses, no matter how devastating they may be.

At Amudim, we have no choice but to keep fighting, hoping against hope that there isn’t going to be a number 76.

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBABOKQS5jc

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10 COMMENTS

  1. Mr. Clarify,

    You’re 100% right. “Our community”, namely Lakewood is way better than the rest of the “orthodox community” you refer too. There are absolutely no problems in this wonderful town. The endless amount of organizations like Minyan Shelanu, Regesh, Nesivos etc etc, those were all just created to provide you with enough parlor meetings and pre-parlor meetings that you should never feel deprived of entertainment living in Lakewood. Your attitude really stinks! Refuah Shleima to you.

  2. The first step is to teach these kids not to tell/show other kids how to get drugs. Lack of knowledge on how to get them will help others avoid getting into them in the first place.

  3. Lakewood Resident, thank you for clarifying, “Clarify”.

    He – or she – either just arrived on the shores of Lakewood or has his – or her – head in the sand so deep, that his – or her – head is probably somewheres on the other side of the Equator.

    Yes. This is an insult. Say what you want. Small town, small issues. Big town, big issues. We have got it all.

    And as the UNREAL video from Amudim so poignantly demonstrates, STOP SWEEPING THE GARBAGE UNDER THE RUG…

  4. To Lakewood resident, why assume the worst in Clarify’s comment and be so snide? He/she said nothing about Lakewood not having its share of problems – he/she is simply clarifying that it was not 75 people all from Lakewood. Sorry, but it seems to me YOUR attitude of assuming the worst in what someone says is the one that really stinks.

  5. Lakewood Resident

    I’m afraid you need the refuah shelirmah or perhaps anger management. Maybe you just had a bad day, and I’m sorry for that.

    Clarify clearly meant to imply that our community meant the entire Jewish community not just Lakewood. The numbers are frightening in either case.

  6. Nice article but no content. Maybe R’ Gluck could tell what to say or do to the kids we see around town so there shouldn’t be a victim #76. He says we should “soldier on”, and do what, exactly ? May H-shem help these poor, lost souls find some kind of meaning and happiness in their lives so we can all share in their successes.

  7. Let’s get real, folks. When you post a comment, make certain that you don’t miss a word. You see, had “Clarify” written one word, the word “only”, i.e., our community isn’t ONLY Lakewood, then we would all be sitting on the ground, hands on each others’ shoulders, singing Kumbaya.

    But since that key word was missing, it was open for interpretation. Glad to see that we are doing battle over the words of the Rosh Yeshiva shlit”a, Maran Hagan Reb Clarify.

  8. GEVALT
    We must band together with a new campaign
    NOT ONE MORE!
    We need an army to battle the fire that is raging within our streets .
    A fire is better beause you can smell it , here everyone is asleep at the wheel. WE need an army of people interested in helping every single child.

    MI LAH-ASHEM ALIAI

Comments are closed.