Addiction

• Dedicate some time to learning as much as you can about addiction and recovery. Knowing more about what your loved one is experiencing can ground you in a deeper sense of empathy and can help you to better support them. 
• Commit to becoming a dependable listener for your loved one when they need someone to talk to, but be careful about overcommitting yourself beyond your own capacity. Be clear about your own boundaries, and the kinds of support you are willing to offer. 
• Support and encourage your loved one to seek treatment. You might offer to help them find a program or attend recovery meetings with them. 
• Recognize that recovery is a challenging journey, and commit to practicing empathy and understanding for your loved one across a variety of circumstances. 
• Take time to celebrate big and small milestones with your loved one, from completing a treatment program to staying sober for a certain length of time. 
• Make sure to take time for yourself—supporting someone in recovery can be difficult. Think about ways you can practice self-care and get support from others if and when you need it.

Like other healing journeys, recovery from addiction is a process, not a straight line. The following prayers for folks in recovery are designed to give you some comfort and company on that journey out of mitzrayim, the narrow place akin to Egypt in which you might find yourself at present.

“Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.” — Abraham Joshua Heschel

Healing and recovery are journeys, not fixed destinations or binary modes of being. They are not linear, but neither is Jewish time—just as each year brings a new cycle of seasonality, so does the path of healing and recovery. We may go through times when it feels certain that the sun will never shine again on our bodies and spirits, but sometimes stars still sparkle across the veil of the dark. 

This book is for you, wherever you may be on that journey, so feel free to take what works and leave the rest. May it serve and support you in all the ways you need. 

Master of the World, you have given us the blessings and challenges of life. Nourish us on our continued journeys of recovery. Help us grow closer to You, and help us live happy, joyous, and free, to the best of our abilities each day.

Give us the strength to persevere through our challenges, and to find support along the way. Be with us when our hearts break open. Walk with us as we travel the road of healing. Help us find meaning and blessings each and every day we are alive.

Holy One of Blessing, we ask You to hold us close, remind us that You are with us, that we are precious and loved, and that with Your help, we can stay clean and sober, happy, joyous, and free, one day at a time. May we do Your will, now and forever. 

May we all be blessed with happiness, holiness, healing, serenity, and peace. 

-by Rabbi Ilan Glazer

Dear One, you love me so much

you give me your Torah

for argument and play

waltzing and conversation

from one life to the next.

Your Torah nourishes me,

familiar as the womb.

Wrap me tight in your Torah

like a newborn. Laugh in delight

when I learn to break free.

Your Torah lights up my eyes,

fuses my heart with my choices.

Give me just one letter

to suck like candy, like manna

changing flavor on my tongue.

Tell me a true story again

about who I used to be

or who I might yet be

-- like you, always becoming

who you are becoming.

Beloved, draw me close.

I've been scattered:

melt me until we mingle.

I want to come home in you.

Choose me again. Don't stop.

Baruch atah YHVH, ohev amo Yisrael.

Blessed are You YHVH, Who loves Your people Yisrael.

-by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat of Bayit 

In the traditional text of Hashkivenu, we ask that a shelter of peace is spread over ourselves, our loved ones and people around the world. We ask for restful and restorative sleep, and for the gift of waking up to a new day. As you read, imagine a blanket covering your body and take a deep breath as you move closer to ending your day.

Hashkivenu by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat of Bayit 

The exterior's a little shabby,

could use a coat of paint.

A bit worn after a hard year:

not a lot of curb appeal.

Most people walk right by.

Not you: you see

the mezuzah in the doorway,

the light in the living room.

You see my heart, tender

and afraid no one will ever want—

Tell me again that I'm worthy

even when I feel most broken.

Tell me again that my strength

is beautiful, and makes me whole.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהו''ה, שׁוֹמֵר עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל לָעַד:

Baruch atah YHVH, shomer amo Yisrael la’ad.

Blessed are You, YHVH, Who keeps watch over Your people Israel.