The secular press likes to say so. Then they add that the drug users are no longer religious. Meaning, there is a drug problem in the secular, G-dless community.
And that we know.... But go to the Mir and Lakewood and you are not going to have an easy time finding drugs among any of the 13-14 thousand students. Go to non-Charedi or non-Jewish schools and the reality is much different. I am not saying this to be triumphalist. Just to make the point that the press has a strong anti religious bias and that keeping the Torah keeps one clean, fulfilled.and without a need to resort to drugs. Leaving the Torah world is a destruction not only spiritually but emotionally as well.
From somewhere in web land:
Three unrelated suicides rocked the OTD (Off The Derech) Jewish sector in recent weeks. They are all reputed to be drug-related but it is not clear that they were all deliberate - some of them may have been accidental overdoses [so why did you start by calling them suicides??].
The first one was by Meyer G. He was born in New Square. It is not known when and what prompted him to leave the close-knit and tightly-restricted Skeverer village lifestyle, but his Facebook page shows that in recent years he had settled in California and become an avid dog groomer. He was in a loving relationship with a girl by the name of Smash Levy who was equally enamored with the dogs and the grooming profession.
There are no signs of any social or emotional distress leading up to his demise. Facebook-published photos show him blithely socializing with friends, trimming his beloved dogs, and optimistic about advancing his grooming career and even starting his business. It is therefore probable that his demise was the result of an unintentional overdose or a lethal combination of drugs.
Another drug-induced death happened in Flatbush to a litvish girl by the name of Faigy G. No Facebook account or further information is available at this time about her and the circumstances of her death.
Lastly the Charedi world was shocked to learn this past shabbos that a recently departed member of its ranks had now left the world of the living. Malki K. a young, woman in the prime of
her life [if it was so prime then why was she so miserable?] died suddenly on Friday night from a drug overdose in her parents’ home in Borough Park. Her father, Avraham K. claims that he had kept a close eye on his daughter to ensure that no drugs were in her possession, yet it’s possible that she had left the house that evening to obtain and ingest the drug elsewhere and then returned home with a ticking time bomb fatal overdose inside her.
The K. family is an affluent, esteemed, “baalebatisher”, Borough Park family. Avraham frequently travels to Beijing on business. He is an important adherent and donor to the Krulle hasidic sect in Williamsburg under the leadership of its Rebbe, R. Naftuli Horowitz, son of Reb Hershelle Spinker who is proud to count him among his adherents.
After Malka had abandoned the haredi lifestyle in her early 20’s a couple of years ago, the family had decided, as is common nowadays, to not disown her for it. It kept its house open for her and welcomed her to return to visit and hopefully return to the fold. It could not, however, track or control Malka’s whereabouts outside the home. She had travelled to California at some point, ostensibly for rehab treatment, but it may have been a social visit or to some other end.
----------------
Three unrelated suicides rocked the OTD (Off The Derech) Jewish sector in recent weeks. They are all reputed to be drug-related but it is not clear that they were all deliberate - some of them may have been accidental overdoses [so why did you start by calling them suicides??].
The first one was by Meyer G. He was born in New Square. It is not known when and what prompted him to leave the close-knit and tightly-restricted Skeverer village lifestyle, but his Facebook page shows that in recent years he had settled in California and become an avid dog groomer. He was in a loving relationship with a girl by the name of Smash Levy who was equally enamored with the dogs and the grooming profession.
There are no signs of any social or emotional distress leading up to his demise. Facebook-published photos show him blithely socializing with friends, trimming his beloved dogs, and optimistic about advancing his grooming career and even starting his business. It is therefore probable that his demise was the result of an unintentional overdose or a lethal combination of drugs.
Another drug-induced death happened in Flatbush to a litvish girl by the name of Faigy G. No Facebook account or further information is available at this time about her and the circumstances of her death.
Lastly the Charedi world was shocked to learn this past shabbos that a recently departed member of its ranks had now left the world of the living. Malki K. a young, woman in the prime of
her life [if it was so prime then why was she so miserable?] died suddenly on Friday night from a drug overdose in her parents’ home in Borough Park. Her father, Avraham K. claims that he had kept a close eye on his daughter to ensure that no drugs were in her possession, yet it’s possible that she had left the house that evening to obtain and ingest the drug elsewhere and then returned home with a ticking time bomb fatal overdose inside her.
The K. family is an affluent, esteemed, “baalebatisher”, Borough Park family. Avraham frequently travels to Beijing on business. He is an important adherent and donor to the Krulle hasidic sect in Williamsburg under the leadership of its Rebbe, R. Naftuli Horowitz, son of Reb Hershelle Spinker who is proud to count him among his adherents.
After Malka had abandoned the haredi lifestyle in her early 20’s a couple of years ago, the family had decided, as is common nowadays, to not disown her for it. It kept its house open for her and welcomed her to return to visit and hopefully return to the fold. It could not, however, track or control Malka’s whereabouts outside the home. She had travelled to California at some point, ostensibly for rehab treatment, but it may have been a social visit or to some other end.
----------------
There is much to say. One is that nothing could help us feel the nine days more. A world devoid of palpable השראת השכינה is a world in which these tragedies occur.
Another is that there is a very important lesson here [without judging any specific cases because I know none of the details of any]. Going OTD leaves one with NOTHING. No G-d, no community, a fractured family, emptiness, an identity crisis, limitless guilt and ultimately depression, drugs and all too often, suicide. All of those people and organizations who help people go off the derech should take heed.
All of those who are saving such kids are the holiest and greatest. Not just from a spiritual and religious standpoint but from a pure humane perspective. A person needs belief, a healthy sense of self, family and community. In their absence, the psycholgical toll is unbearable.
[See here to donate to a cause that was started in Malki's memory. My on-line appeals are usually completely ignored [really- not a cent!!:-)] or almost completely ignored but I can assure you that I have no personal gain. I just want to help these kids.]
[See here to donate to a cause that was started in Malki's memory. My on-line appeals are usually completely ignored [really- not a cent!!:-)] or almost completely ignored but I can assure you that I have no personal gain. I just want to help these kids.]
