Teaneck—Members of two local synagogues took on a sobering topic this week as Efrem Epstein, founder of Elijah’s Journey, discussed the Jewish response to suicide awareness and prevention.
“This does exist in our community,” Rabbi Nati Helfgot of Netivot Shalom told JLBC. “Even in our community, we hear of instances involving people of all ages and it is always a tragedy for the whole family and the entire community.”
Elijah’s Journey was founded in 2006 after Epstein himself had undergone a difficult period in his life. After attending a meeting of the New York City chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Epstein realized that while the group did numerous presentations in various communities, there was no one addressing this very sensitive topic within the Jewish community.
“Having gone through an emotionally tough period myself, I was aware of how people struggle with depression,” explained Epstein. “We lose 40,000 people to suicide every year in America, nearly double that of the homicide rate.”
While there are no hard statistics documenting the suicide rate within the Jewish community, Epstein believes that it is proportionate to the national rate. Taking his cue from the Navi, Epstein chose the name for his organization from Sefer Melachim.
“After the big showdown on Mount Carmel, where Elijah convinces everyone to worship God, Queen Jezebel tells Elijah that she will kill him. Elijah runs out to the desert, feeling worthless, and God tells him to take a 40-day journey and then reassess his situation.”
This portion of Sefer Melachim is just one of several texts that Epstein discusses as part of Elijah’s Journey.
“There are characters in the Bible, like Elijah, who deal with emotionally tough times and we discuss not just what the Bible says, but what do we learn from it?” said Epstein. “How does God respond? How do people interact with Chana when she is depressed?”
The timing of the two events, one following the morning kiddush at Netivot Shalom and the other during Shalosh Seudos at Congregation Shaare Tefillah, was particularly auspicious, with the Saturday before Thanksgiving being designated annually as International Survivors of Suicide Day by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“People talk about the rare occurrence of Thanksgivukkah, but what is interesting is that we always read the parsha of Vayeshev on the Shabbat before Thanksgiving,” said Epstein. “We read about Yosef in jail and the dreams of the baker and the butler. Yosef was in the darkest place and may never see daylight again, yet he has the presence of mind to see two people who are upset and he asks them about it. That one act changed Yosef’s life and the entire course of Jewish history and this year we read about those events on a day dedicated to suicide survivors. The message here is that, like Yosef, we have the power to change the world and we need to be aware of the people around us who may be going through a tough time.”
For members of the Teaneck community, it was a timely opportunity to become more familiar with a topic that is rarely discussed.
“We thought it was worthwhile to devote one Shabbat morning shiur a year to learning about how biblical figures confronted very difficult situations,” remarked Rabbi Helfgot. “Hopefully it will spur conversation and encourage everyone to be sensitive to each other and be on the lookout for each other.”
Sixty people were in attendance at the Netivot Shalom lecture and over 30 people were present at Shaarei Tefillah for Shalosh Seudos to hear about Elijah’s Journey, more than double the number of people usually in attendance.
Rabbi Kenny Schiowitz said, “The program showed tremendous insight in dealing with general mental health and happiness and transmitted important messages about how each of us can help people who are suffering or seem sad. Hearing about how Yosef reached out to the baker and the butler, which became a turning point in the whole story, offered a great message: when you see someone who seems sad, it is important to reach out to them.”
“It is a hard topic for people to deal with,” added Dena Croog, a Teaneck resident who is a member of the Elijah’s Journey advisory board. “I never would have thought of looking into the Tanach to trace the history of certain depression or mental health in general. It was interesting to look into the text and find this extra layer of meaning.”
By Sandy Eller
