12 Step FAQ

Someone wrote: The 12-Steps speak about how we are powerless. This seems to me to be ANT-TORAH!! It may SEEM like we're powerless, and it may be EXTREMELY difficult (like it is for me) but powerless?? The very first mussar shmooze in the Torah was given by the MASTER HI...

Dov Responds: There are two things here, as I see it: 1- the 12 Steps themselves, and 2- 12 step culture. The culture of the 12 step fellowships is described pretty well in the sefer "B'nei Machshovah Tova" by the Piasetzner hy"d even tho he surely never heard of AA...

Addiction Research Expert William White examines the data known today and suggests that after 5 years of recovery, things seem to stabilize for most people, requiring a greater force at that time to toss them into relapse. See from his blog below: For years I have b...

Dov Answers: I'm told by a CSAT friend of mine that the current opinion among many CSATs is that it's better to avoid using the 'addict' label and model with clients, at least initially, and that giving the label is potentially damaging for many who are not addicts (and c...

First and foremost it is a sign of humility for the newcomer to prioritize listening over sharing. New members generally know very little about living a healthy, sober life and the only way to learn from the experience of others is to listen to them. It is not appropriat...

"Powerless" has nothing whatsoever to do with 'ilmolei ozro, eino yachol lo' and is not the flipside of 'hakol bidei Shomayim chutz miyir'as Shomayim', at all. Whether I am in control or not is a simple fact: if I cannot stop having sex with myself (most folks call that ...

Our Reply: Dear Bewildered Tzadik, it is good that you are reaching out for help. Although we get tens of emails like yours every day, your email shook me up. Firstly, because of the statistics you quoted (75%!) and, secondly, because of how you make it sound: as if the...

RABBI YEHOSHUA KAGANOFF Passaic, NJ 07055 201-953-2703 20 Sivan, 5776 / 26 June ‘16 Below is the pertinent part of my responsum to a highly regarded, prominent Talmid Chochom Posek, which is found on pg 158 of my sefer on addiction and halocho. I have translated (and ann...

Rabbi Kaganoff's "Addictions: Halocho and Hashkofo." This book is a few hundred pages long, but if you have the time and the patience, you will find most of your concerns with the 12 steps, attending meetings, etc. adequately addressed. In particular, the question "Are th...

Many first-timers are amazed by the cordial, relaxed atmosphere of 12-step meetings and the eclectic mix of people in attendance. Firstly, you should know that are two types of "traditional" 12-Step support group meetings: open and closed. Open meetings are for anyone wh...