A book in Hebrew called "The First Day of the Rest of My Life" has just come out in Israel. It was written by a frum Jew who suffered from a strong sexual addiction and who was able to break free with the help of the 12-Steps support groups. He wrote the book as a preventive measure, to try and help others break free from the vicious cycle of addiction. It is his hope that through his book, people suffering from this issue should not have to "hit the very bottom of the pit" as he did, before seeking and receiving help.
To order the Hebrew book (it has not yet been translated into English) click here.
In the coming Chizuk e-mails, I would like to bring excerpts from this book (translated or re-written from the Hebrew), as I think the book is a wonderful resource with lots of wisdom for people struggling with these issues. The lessons of the book apply to anyone working on this area, whether he has hit "rock bottom" or has only begun the decent into the cycle of addiction. In the coming e-mails, we will focus mainly on the lessons that apply to those who have not yet "hit bottom", since most of the members of this Chizuk e-mail list probably fit into that category.
To download the entire set of English translations as a PDF file, click here.
The book is written in the form of a fictitious story about a Rosh Yeshiva who was living a "double life", on the one hand leading a Yeshiva, and on the other hand caught in a vicious cycle of sexual addiction that had begun years before in his youth. He had tried countless times to break free but could not, until it reached a point where he stood to lose everything; his job, his honor and his family. He finds out about the 12-Step groups, and slowly but surely begins to rebuild himself and become a new man.
As the Rosh Yeshiva is well on his way to recovery, experiencing a new joy and freedom in his life, the Mashgiach of the yeshiva brings to his attention a boy named "Yerachmiel" that was caught having a sexual encounter with a boy from another Yeshiva. The Mashgiach is ready to throw Yerachmiel out of the Yeshiva, but he is shocked when instead, the Rosh Yeshiva calls Yerachmiel in for a long talk.
And so begins a saga of dialog between Yerachmiel and the Rosh Yeshiva in which Yerachmiel is transformed into a new person over the next year, through the Rosh Yeshiva's love and understanding, and the wisdom he had garnered from the lessons of his own bitter experience.
Tomorrow we will begin bringing insightful excerpts from the story IY"H. For now though, let me just leave you with one short excerpt from the book:
Every night, when his father would give him a kiss and tuck him in to sleep, he would say to him: "My son, Remember that tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life".