IN his new book, G-d of Our Understanding: Jewish Spirituality and Recovery from Addiction, Rabbi Shais Taub explains in stunning and intricate detail how addiction is actually — at its core — a spiritual malady.
Rabbi Taub methodically disassembles myths and stereotypes about addiction in order to expose the hidden forces that drive the compulsive and destructive behavior.
During my 15 years of experience in the field of addiction treatment I have always been struck by how important spirituality is to the recovering addict.
Not religion — but spirituality.
The demands of recovery seem to create a great need to connect to something larger than ourselves that goes beyond religion. As Rabbi Taub points out in the book, “Religion . . . is for people who don’t want to go to hell. Spirituality is for people who’ve been there.”
He continues:
“All human beings have a deep-seated need for spiritual contact. But most people can also live their lives without it. An addict is a person who, for whatever reason, is unsettled to the core and cannot handle the business of life without maintaining a continual and acute awareness of the Divine. Absent of such higher consciousness, they are miserable and sick.
“What makes the dilemma fatal is that their drug of choice will actually produce in the short-term effects that simulate the release and relief that can only really be had through spiritual consciousness.
“Consequently, the only real treatment for their condition is to make sure they get the ‘real thing’ instead of self-medicating with the fake stuff, for if they do not get the real thing, they have no choice but to take the fake stuff.”
I have never read a more succinct and accurate description.
RABBI Taub’s approach to recovery is called the Twelve Step method, which was developed and made famous by the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous.
The book details the fascinating history of the originator of the approach, an alcoholic named Rowland Hazard, who was inspired to seek a spiritual solution to his problem through his work with the psychiatrist Carl Jung. The author reprints an extant letter from Dr. Jung that describes his recollections of Mr. Hazard.
Carl Jung writes: “His craving for alcohol was the equivalent on a low level of the spiritual thirst of our being for wholeness, expressed in medieval language: the union with G-d.”
He continues, “You see, alcohol in Latin is spiritus and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as for the most depraving poison. The helpful formula therefore is: spiritus contra spiritum.”
After establishing the spiritual nature of addiction and recovery, Rabbi Taub uses the rest of the book to flesh out what that process looks (and feels) like.
He combines primary sources from the Jewish tradition — the Torah, Talmud, and Zohar — with chasidic stories and teachings to demonstrate how recovery using the Twelve Step method fits perfectly with the Jewish worldview.
He demonstrates how Jewish wisdom deepens anyone’s understanding of — and experience in — the Twelve Step approach.
This leads to a question that the author brings up himself, namely, “Who is this book for? Jewish addicts in recovery who want to understand how the Steps fit in to their Judaism? Or non-Jewish addicts looking to incorporate a Jewish perspective into their recovery?”
Rabbi Taub seems to suggest that the book is for both — and anyone else interested in discovering “the essence of our humanity, the frailty and nobility of the embodied soul and how we imperfect beings can learn to live better by letting ourselves love and be loved by a Perfect G-d.”
Rabbi Taub — obviously a man who has been to hell himself and now knows the way back — has written a book that, I believe, transcends the confines of addiction and recovery. It speaks to our higher selves — that part in us that is always striving to go beyond physical limitations and reconnect with the Infinite.
For that reason, G-d of Our Understanding is for all spiritual seekers regardless of background or tradition. It is an extremely important book that needs to be read by a wide audience.
As the venerable Dr. Rabbi Abraham Twerski — himself a luminary in the field of addiction treatment — writes in his comment on Rabbi Taub’s work:
“‘Addiction’ and ‘spirituality’ are frequently used terms. Unfortunately, their real meaning is often misunderstood, resulting in much confusion and resistance to recovery. In G-d of Our Understanding: Jewish Spirituality and Recovery from Addiction, Rabbi Taub has masterfully elucidated these concepts. This is a book which should be read by all clergy, therapists, people in recovery, people who should be in recovery and their family members.”
Copyright © 2010 by the Intermountain Jewish News
Nachshon Zohari is a licensed clinical social worker who lives in Denver. He can be reached at http://zohari.typepad.com.