A young woman, 20 years old, born into a Hasidic community in New York, died of a heroin overdose. Her death reveals a troubling picture of the drug phenomenon in the Hasidic communities in the US, which have already lost 71 young people this year.
A letter in The New York Post shows that there are a number of young Americans who find themselves distancing away from religion and turning to drugs. Rabbis and therapists report a destructive phenomenon that has become a real blow to the ultra-Orthodox community, who is fighting addiction.
It was the young woman’s mother who found her daughter, unconscious with foam coming out of her mouth. Local Hatzalah members who were called to the family’s home in the Borough Park neighborhood of New York evacuated her to the hospital but she was pronounced dead.
“We’re losing more people to drugs,” the letter writer says. “It’s getting worse and worse in the United States, it’s getting worse and worse in the world, and it affects our community too.”
Zvi Gluck, who deals with the treatment of young people from the Hasidic community in the area, has witnessed many deaths due to drug use. In the beginning of the year, Gluck reported to the Jewish Voice website that there were no fewer than 71 deaths in the Haredi community – from the beginning of the year until June – all caused by drugs.
“Today I do not know a family that can say that no one in its vicinity was hurt by addiction,” he says. “Everyone knows someone … if it’s someone from their family, whether from their synagogue, or from school.”
The young woman’s friend, Leila Rauch, notes in the Post that the departure from the Hassidic framework creates a sense of isolation among those who leave. Rauch added that the young woman’s decision not to continue the community tradition led her to part with the community in which she grew up. She transferred from the school where she was educated to another school of formerly Hasidic youth, where she became addicted to drugs.
The young woman was referred to a rehabilitation center in California. In the family home there were drugs to treat overdose, but they were not used successfully to save her.
The Chabad Hassidim in Crown Heights are apparently at the forefront of the new struggle of the younger generation, and it is not easy for them. As a multicultural neighborhood, Brooklyn poses a difficult challenge when it comes to fighting drug-free Hassidic youth.
Retorno is all too familiar with this phenomenon. For almost two decades Retorno has treated addicts of all faiths, including men and women from Hasidic communities. In order to service this community, Retorno serves strictly kosher food, and there are prayers (minyanim) three times a day. On Saturdays and Jewish holidays there is a Sabbath-friendly schedule.
Addiction is present in every community. Every human being, no matter what their background or level of religious observance, needs a warm, familiar environment in which to restart their lives.
