No, you certainly do not have to tell your parents. I do believe, however, that your making a huge deal about rejection and shame if you would tell the parents is just not accurate. If your parents love you and are not very screwed up in the head, they will sympathi...

GYE Responds: Thank you for this nice share. Yes, what Dov always shares seems to be the only way to beat the yetzer hara at the end of the day. I was thinking recently, we find by the story of the Meraglim, that they clearly saw that אל פי טבע (naturally) there was no...

Principle One: Acceptance Key Concepts We need courage to live changed lives of serenity and emotional sobriety. The encompassing umbrella of the First Principle of Acceptance is the integration of a paradigm shift, freedom, consistency and willingness to move into a ...

Question: You say that only Hashem can give us ultimate victory over lust. Then, where does human willpower and bechira come into play? Here are a few good resources that can help us understand this sticky topic: 1) This PDF booklet discusses the issue in depth. 2...

Everyone needs some sort of help to make it in life - even our tzaddikim and gedolim admit that they do. But... I keep hearing people asking in one way or another, "So how can I finally convince myself that I am really powerless/that I am an addict?" Gevalt. I do ...

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...

It is important that we differentiate between recovery work and “Teshuvah”, otherwise we are implying that addiction is essentially sinning, which is a Pandora's box, of sorts. I insist that addiction and recovery are Derech Eretz issues rather than Torah ones, and tha...

Rarely do climbers stare up to see how far away the top still is. Instead, when they rest, they look down toward the starting point of their journey. The view they see assures them that they have already come a long, long way. Like the climbers, we need to keep our eye...

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...

Remember that addiction is incurable, progressive, and fatal.