Dov (one of GYE's moderators and facilitator of a weekly call conference for many years) wrote to us from a recovery retreat he attended over the weekend (Jewish Spiritual Shabbos - JSS):

"I am meeting many former GYE members at the JSS Shabbaton now, with over 300 yidden from Israel, France, Canada, and the nation of California, as well. All are here recovering from sex addiction, bH. At least 50 men have come over to me to say they were on the Desperados call, or that they spoke with me for a few weeks and ended up in recovery and are sober now, bH. Many have come over to say they read the "Daily Dose of Dov" and other materials on the website. It is amazing to finally meet these people face to face after they, at first, have been hiding behind a pain-filled username, then have called to speak from an 'unavailable' number and under a fake name, and, eventually, have opened up their hearts to a real person on the other end. Finally, they were able to open up, telling others honestly what their addiction and recovery had been like. I know of many more who are not here, and of those present, only a fraction have come forward this Shabbaton.

Some wives, too, have come over to awkwardly say things like, "Thank you for believing in my husband and not giving up on him and for chasing him out of his shell." Beautiful testimonials have been given by many people describing their acting out, their famiy life before and after, and their crazy and destructive methods of trying to recover for many years - usually focused on misusing Torah and Mitzvos - and finally, how they eventually found recovery and the courage to participate in it. 

GYE has been the vehicle for saving these families from certain hell on earth, and that includes their children and future generations. An amazing thing is happening. "

The Lubavitcher Rebbe had always stressed that the main lesson of Pesach Sheini is "Nothing is lost" - "Nishto Kein Farfallen." G-d always gives us a second chance, as long as we ask for it, like the Yidden in the Midbor, who said, "Lomo Nigora" - "Why should we miss out."

Pesach Sheini is a GYE Yom Tov. It's all about a second chance. 

In 12-step recovery from sex and lust addiction, first step reads: "We admitted we were powerless over lust and our lives had become unmanageable." 

The way the first step is practiced is that a newcomer to the program writes down his sexual acting out history and shares it with other safe people. The many benefits or writing and sharing our "first step inventory," as it is commonly called, are to own our story, admit the exact nature of our disease, and see a tangible proof of the unmanageability of our lives that the disease of sexaholism brings in its wake.

Below, you will find a great example of an honest and introspective first step inventory, written by one of GYE members.

We hope that in publishing it, we can inspire others to take an honest look at thmeselves and provide a template for a written first step.

These 19 short videos clips are excerpts from a series on theshmuz.com by Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier called "The Fight - A Frank Strategy and Pan for Conquering Desire".

Gathering from the wisdom of chazal, this series presents a solid understanding of the mechanics of desire, and offers us a strategy and plan to winning The Fight of our Generation.

"We, who were brought up in Western Civilization, with modern thought, with the scientific method, are very reluctant and very uncomfortable with certain concepts. One of those concepts is that there are forces in the world that Hashem created with specific purposes. One of those forces is a malach (angel), the Soton (Satan), whose job it is to constantly bombard me, constantly challenge me, always keeping an even playing field.

The Chovos Halevavos explains page after page after page of deviousness, of trickery that the Soton will speak..."

Click the link above for the full story and video.

Email us if you don't have internet access, and we will send you the story by email. (sorry, we can't send the video.)