Q&A's - Torah Twelve Steps

How do secular rehabs teach the twelve steps which is a spiritual methodisn’t it contradictory? Moreover isn’t it illegal to force teach of G-d in government funded institutions?

The truth is that secular rehabs do not teach the twelve step method as it is supposed to be taught. They alter it to accommodate these laws. They teach the addicts that they can create their own imaginary higher power, it doesn’t have to be G-d, it can be whatever they wish. The wind, the...

If addiction is the chase to fill a spiritual void with physical pleasure, why can’t an addict just follow spiritual pursuits like Torah learning and enjoyment of doing mitzvos?

The answer is that the addict once experienced and chasing the high, is a being of total שלא לשמה , doing not for the sake of G-d, only to fill his own desire of fulfillment. He can learn twenty hours a day of Torah for his own ego, or to fill his own selfish desire...

What is the 12 step method and how does it work?

The 12 step method is a spiritual process to cure the spiritual malady of addiction. As we explained earlier the illness of addiction is the distorted longing of the soul for the relationship with his Creator and its intense pleasure of completion, masked in the form a drug, alcohol, or some other physical pleasure giving...

As is well known throughout the world of drugs and alcohol, the only known way to cure an addict is the 12 step method. Why do no other methods of therapy work?

As we said before, addiction is a spiritual malady. It is not a psychological or neurological disorder, so medicine can’t cure it. It is not simply a bad dynamic that can be changed. It is an illness buried deep inside the addicts will to live. No CBT can help him as he not in control...

What is the nature of the illness plaguing the addict which differs from the regular person who abuses alcohol and drugs?

Every person has a spiritual soul which has built into it the desire to feel alive, truly alive, by being in a close relationship with his Creator. This desire to feel truly alive gets distorted as it is filtered through the physical body. The person then imagines this desire for life as a physical desire...

What makes you say that addicts deserve a category of their own? What are the qualities that set the addict apart?

The primary characteristic which sets the addict apart from regular people with problems controlling themselves is that the standard person with a drinking problem retains a basic level of control over his life, despite his periodic struggles with his drinking intake. An addict on the other hand has lost control over his life to the...

What does it mean to be addicted to drugs and alcohol? Why is an addict different than any other person who runs after תאוה ; just learn mussar get a grip, and control himself?

The first thing to know about addictions is that “addicts” are not just regular people with a problem controlling their drive for drinking or drug intake. They are not individuals that simply chase תאוה . Addicts are a category of their own, it is a severe illness, a חולי נפש (inasmuch as the addict will...

Q&A’s