by Zvi Gluck is the founder and director of Amudim Community Resources

For most of us, the Ma Nishtana asked at the Pesach Seder is ages old, talking about matza, maror and other Pesach minhagim we enjoyed with our loved ones.  Sadly, there two families among us who buried their children over Pesach, lost to a disease called addiction.
The grand total so far for this year?  64 precious souls lost within the Jewish community to addiction, the oldest just 35, all since Rosh Hashana! An average of 2 a week!
For all those families, the questions at the Pesach seder take a different tone.
Did we do enough?
How did we miss the signs?
Why did this happen?
What could we have done differently?
The answers to these questions?  There are no answers.  Sadly, in my line of work, the questions always come to me but I don’t have the answers either.
There is no doubt that we all shed a tear for these poor lost souls and their loved ones, but then we move on with our lives. These families are plagued with doubt, leaving them mired in uncertainty and riddled with guilt.
We are living in a world where there is so much pain and suffering, and while the community is trying to take steps in the right directions, it simply is not enough. We need to do more.  We cannot allow more sacrifices to happen, not under our watch.   It doesn’t matter if the problem is mental illness, sexual abuse, learning disabilities or anything else.  We need to show more support to those who are failing and find ways to help, even if we don’t know what to do or how to do it.
I find it hard to believe that when a virus that kills three people gets exposed, we try hard to contain it, bringing in the best doctors and engaging top research professionals to work towards a cure, while here, we have 64 untimely deaths and we just wipe away the tears and move on?  What will it take for us to wake up? What will it take to prevent the next death? How many more have to fall before we realize what is truly happening here?
We speak of redemption, but on a personal level our words ring hollow. We cannot afford to sit by and watch anymore, because when we do lives are lost.  They are our brothers, our sisters, our neighbors and our friends and at this year’s Pesach seder, their seats at the table, like the hearts of their loved ones, remained painfully and achingly empty.
Zvi Gluck is the founder and director of Amudim Community Resources, an organization dedicated to helping abuse victims and those suffering with addiction within the Jewish community and has been heavily involved in crisis intervention and management for the past 15 years.  For more information go to www.amudim.org.

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