Foreword xi
Preface xiii
Introduction xvii
Part I A Judaism of Experience, Strength, and Hope:
A Rabbi's Journey through Alcoholism 1
1 Understanding Addiction, Jewish Spirituality, and Medicine 7
Addiction and Choice 8
Treating Body and Soul 10
Personal Reflections 11
2 A God and Religion of Recovery 13
Discovering God 13
Discovering Religion 18
Personal Reflections 20
3 The Dignity of the Self 23
The Dignity of Infinite Value 24
The Dignity of Equality 27
The Dignity of Uniqueness 29
Embracing Dignity 32
Personal Reflections 35
Recovery
4 The Evil Inclination 37
The Origin of "Evil" 37
Outside the Garden 38
Suppressing versus Repressing the Yetzer Ha-Ra 40
Identifying the Yetzer Ha-Ra 42
Elevating Evil 46
Personal Reflections 48
5 Judaism and Alcohol: A Complicated Relationship 50
A Source of Depravity 53
Getting Loaded on Purim 57
Personal Reflections 60
Part II The Covenant of Recovery—Spirituality in Action:
Aligning Jewish Spirituality with AA 63
6 Study—Talmud Torah 67
Torah Study as a Spiritual Practice 68
Study and AA 71
7 Prayer—Tefilah 74
Connecting I, You, and Us 76
Prayer and AA 78
8 Repentance—Teshuvah 81
The Process of Spiritual Transformation 82
First Comes the Awakening 83
Teshuvah and Steps 4 and 5 84
Teshuvah and Steps 8 and 9 86
Teshuvah: An Everyday Occurrence 87
9 Service—Tikkun 89
Healing the World's Brokenness 90
Broken Open 91
Service and AA 95
Part III 12 Texts for the 12 Steps 99
Step 1 103
Step 2 105
Step 3 107
Step 4 110
Step 5 113
Step 6 115
Step 7 118
Step 8 120
Step 9 122
Step 10 125
Step 11 127
Step 12 130
Gratitude 133
Glossary of Jewish Terms and Thinkers 135
Notes 143
Suggestions for Further Reading 149