About JACS

JACS: Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent Persons, and Significant Others

JACS MISSION STATEMENT

JACS, an organization led by volunteers, is dedicated to:

Encourage and assist Jewish alcoholics, chemically dependent persons and their families, friends and associates to explore recovery in a nurturing Jewish environment by conducting retreats and other events that provide support to Jews in recovery;

Promote knowledge and understanding of the disease of alcoholism and chemical dependency as it involves the Jewish Community; and

Act as a resource center and information clearinghouse on the effects of alcoholism and drug dependency on Jewish family life.

JACS is one of the Rita J. Kaplan Jewish Connections Programs of the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services

JACS TRADITIONS

Anonymity is the Spiritual Foundation of All Our Programs...

Live and Let Live...

Take What You Like and Leave the Rest... [Read full traditions text]

ABOUT JACS

It can happen to Jews. We know, it happened to us.

Jews Helping Jews

JACS is a voluntary mutual-help group for Jews in recovery from Alcohol and other chemical abuse. Through JACS, recovering Jews and their families connect with one another, explore their Jewish roots, and discover resources within Judaism to enhance their recovery. Founded in 1979 by a group of less than two dozen, JACS has grown to serve thousands.

JACS supplies links to Jewish belief and tradition that enhance recovery and supplement the work most of our members do in 12 step fellowships. JACS members represent the entire spectrum of Jewish experience, background, affiliation and observance.

"The JACS retreat was a time of real joy and spiritual renewal. The feeling of kinship I now have with other Jews of all kinds, who have experienced our illness and its isolation, is a great blessing."

JACS provides:

Emotional support for addicted Jews & their families
Spiritual support from our Jewish roots to enhance recovery
Connections with other Jews in recovery
Encouragement and assistance to find additional help
Discussion and mutual support groups on the Internet
Warmth & understanding & a feeling of community
Weekend retreats and spiritual days
Educational lectures
Membership meetings
Study groups
Recovery seders, High Holiday and other workshops

We know that addiction is a physical, mental and spiritual disease - a disease that can be successfully treated with proper information and help.

"I denied for years that I had a problem with cocaine. I told myself that Jews did not become drug addicts, and that I, as a Jew was simply too smart for that."

"I never imagined a nice Jewish medical student could have this problem. I did drugs and alcohol for 13 years. It's hard for me to believe that I could have died from the one disease I never learned about in medical school."

"I'm the mother of a recovering alcoholic who sought help years ago from members of the rabbinate, who vehemently denied that there were Jewish alcoholics. She was fortunate that she found Alcoholics Anonymous and the help she needed. However, I'm saddened that she has turned from Judaism and found solace in another faith... Perhaps there is something more to do."

We know because it happened to us.

"My first drink came when I was 11 while making a "l'chaim" at the kiddush on Shabbat morning. Years later a Jewish therapist told me Jews don't have alcohol or drug problems. But even the most religious Jews can have these problems, too. Through JACS, I've met and come to love fellow Jews from all walks of life."

And JACS helped.

"The two things in my life that I had no control over - my Judaism and my alcoholism - no longer set me apart from everyone else. Alcoholics Anonymous taught me how to live as a sober alcoholic, and JACS showed me that our religion and our heritage could be used in our daily lives to help us recover and grow."

Jewish Community

Chemical dependency does not discriminate. It affects Jews as frequently as any other group. For many years, much of the Jewish community denied there was a problem, accepting the myth that few, if any, Jews suffer from addiction. As the pioneer organization dealing with the effects of substance abuse on Jewish family life, JACS helps to reverse the denial in the Jewish community by:

Conducting training programs for informing and sensitizing Jewish clergy, lay leaders and treatment professionals about addiction in the Jewish community.
Running an active speakers’ bureau that sends JACS members to synagogues, schools and youth groups to conduct educational sessions.
Providing treatment protocols for addiction treatment programs to remove barriers for observant Jewish patients.
Encouraging synagogues to host 12 step fellowship meetings.
Developing curriculum materials for Jewish schools.
Collaborating with community organizations to develop effective prevention and intervention programs.

Serving as a Resource

JACS serves as a resource center about addiction in the Jewish community. Each year, thousands of phone calls, letters and e-mail come from Jews in recovery or needing recovery and their loved ones, as well as students, scholars, rabbis, mental health professionals and members of the media. In addition, JACS reaches them by:

Publishing a newsletter, The JACS Journal, and fact sheets
Producing audio and video tapes
Maintaining an extensive site on the World Wide Web
Offering information about substance abuse from a library of articles, publications and audio-visual materials about addiction and Jews
Encouraging, conducting and disseminating research about the nature and extent of chemical addiction within the Jewish community.

Inspiring the Next Generation

"I had decided to go back to drugs again or even to kill myself. That day JACS came to my school." — A 16 year old Yeshiva student

"The JACS presentation sparked a great deal of discussion. The students were especially impressed with the personal approach to the problem that made them think of the consequences of their actions. We were all impressed with your commitment in the struggle to educate our youth to the horrors of chemical dependency - horrors to which even the brightest and the most talented in our midst can succumb." — Jewish Day School

JACS’ Teen Network for adolescents interested in prevention of and education about substance abuse among young Jews offers:

Workshops on self esteem, self preservation, peer relations, the effects of substance abuse and intervention.
Weekend retreats for mutual support, connections to Judaism and interaction with experienced JACS members.
Encouragement for teens recovering or needing recovery.
Information for teens concerned about the spread of substance abuse among their peers.
Support for teens who have grown up in a home with an addicted or alcoholic family member whether recovering or not.

Become a Member!