If the Torah Approach is a proven method, then why doesn't someone who has expericence and has seen success through it, make an official guide or handbook or Sefer with what the Torah Approach actually is. This would be a very VERY beneficial project for GYE because if some people refuse to use the 12 step approach, the Torah Approach is right there waiting. It would have Mareh Mekomos and Yesodos and could probably even easily get Haskamos from many major Rabbanim in every sect of Judaism. This even something that could actually get publoshed and formed into a sefer. Any volunteers? Not sure whos the bggest advocate for the approach but its probably either Yaakov Schwartz or Battleworn, but this could even be a project put together by many people who support this approach.

-Yiddle

"Barasi Yetzer Hara, Barasi Torah Tavlin."

See www.guardureyes.com/GUE/Time/TorahIdeas.asp

That's it.  The rest is commentary.

Yiddle2 wrote on 11 Feb 2010 17:09:


There is no "proven method" that I am aware of. There may be people here and there that developed their own approach to beating this by using Torah and mussar values. People like Battleworn, for example. And that is why Battleworn is such an important asset to our site. People like him can draw upon their own experience and give guidance to others. The GYE Attitude handbook contains many of these Yesodos... For more Yesodos along these lines, see the Torah Approach here - by Battleworn. Maybe one day Battleworn will write a book.

Speaking of Torah ideas... Here is something beautiful that Dov wrote to someone by e-mail (which I happened to see  ):

Dov discusses some Torah thoughts on: “Letting Go of SELF WILL”

The pivotal recovery point for me in the outside/giving-centeredness called for in AA (as opposed to self-centeredness), is that I slowly get used to living in accordance with the Will of my Higher Power rather that my will. To me, Orthodoxy and Halacha are great tools for this  - sounds like "asei retzono kirtzonecha - make His will like your will”...

It's basically all about the surrender of our greatest enemy in addiction: self-directed will - in the will especially - and less to do with the type of behavior itself. In some respect, we confuse ourselves with G-d, exemplified by the manipulation of others and our environment, self-pleasuring, and our typically hidden (but gargantuan) pride and fear. By the same token, the relevant/most important factor in my hiring of a sponsor is that he is not me. My sponsor taught me this based on the "12&12" (mainly spelled out in it's chapter on the 3rd and 4th steps) and I see the attitude in "AA" as well, over and over in the member stories (in the back of the Big Book).

A few Torah thoughts on this:

1) Why does Hashem give us lo sa-asei's? Shouldn't asei's be good enough? It's about the Solution, right? Not the Problem, for sure! To make matters worse, the first and only mitzvoh given to Adam and his wife was - a lo sa'asei! What the heck?!

It seems to me that negation of our will (the idea of a lo sa'asei, to me) is the ikkar of what Hashem wants, and all He really 'needed' from us to get the job done... It plants the seed for all good - His good. He would have made it all peachy for us humans (or whatever we really looked like back then) and we would have grown into whatever G-d-connected beings we "should" have become, it seems. And Shabbos is still mainly about shmirah (not doing, rather than doing)....hmmm...just an idea. Go with it wherever you like...

2) I firmly believe that the program ends where religion begins. Unfortunately, our recovery might end there, as well. That's why I stay in the program and try not to confuse the two. One makes me a man, the other makes me a Jew. Both a man and a Jew are servants of Hashem, whether they realize it or not. He has the right plan for me, in every respect. This idea does not make any sense to some people, and even upsets them, but nu, what can I do? I may not understand it, either!

3) "Hachno'oh". That is the Torah-word for exactly what the program talks about. I believe my program is about hachno'oh for hachno'oh's sake - while the Torah puts it somewhere and directs it. But no matter how you slice it, the ikkar (by far) for an addict is the hachno'oh. If he's got that, the odds are in his favor, for a change. And whenever it appears in davening (sfard elokai n'tzor, for example), I latch onto it as the ikkar of that entire piece, cuz I feel that it is what I need most. (Kind of like how refa'einu takes on 'new meaning' for someone who's got a disease, r"l).

Kedusha wrote on 11 Feb 2010 18:52:


Some of that commentary can be found in today's Shmiras Ainayim Chizuk e-mail (#346).

Good point, Kedusha!!

I bring this great e-mail (#346) below:

Rabbi Twerski sent us the following article:


Ulysses

Sixty-five years ago, in high-school, I learned a powerful mussar lesson, but I did not realize it at the time.

Ulysses was a hero and traveler in Greek mythology. He heard of the "music of the sirens." This was music that was heard at a particular harbor, and it was so enchanting, so attractive, that it drew sailors to the shore. However, there were sharp, ragged reefs in the harbor, and the ships would crash into them and were destroyed. Sailors knew this, and passing by the harbor, they would see the wreckages of the ships that had been destroyed, but once they heard the music of the sirens, they were helpless and headed into the harbor to their own destruction.

Ulysses wanted to hear the fabled music of the sirens, but knew that this would be fatal. He, therefore, stuffed his sailors' ears with wax so that they could not hear any sounds, and he told them that they were to sail by the harbor and pay no attention to anything he said. He then had himself tied securely to the ship's mast so that he could not move.

As the sailors approached the harbor, Ulysses began hearing the music of the sirens. He began shouting to the sailors to head for shore, but of course, they could not hear him. He began screaming at them, "I am your captain! You must obey my orders!" As he heard the music of the sirens, he struggled to free himself from the ropes. "Head for the shore!" he shouted. "I will have you hung for mutiny!" But the sailors rowed on.

After they had passed the harbor and the music was no longer heard, Ulysses fainted from exhaustion. The sailors then untied him, and he realized how helpless he had been, and had he not rendered the sailors unable to hear, they would have all been destroyed.

Much later I realized that the "music of the sirens" is the yetzer hara. It can enchant a person and render one almost helpless to resist its temptation. Seeing the wreckage of the ships did not prevent sailors from rowing to their destruction.

One cocaine addict worked in a mortuary, and buried people who were killed by cocaine, but that did not stop his use, and he died from cocaine at age 33. Cocaine, music of the sirens, lust, the yetzer hara - they are all the same.

There is no way we can "stuff our ears" to the "music of the sirens" that can be heard almost anywhere in our environment. The Talmud cites Hashem as saying, "I created the yetzer hara, and I created Torah as its antidote" (Kedushin 30b). It is our only defense. However, just holding on to Torah is not enough, just as Ulysses' holding on to the mast would not have been enough. We must tie ourselves so tightly to Torah that we can not break loose from it. This is why Moses repeatedly stressed, "But you who cling to Hashem-you are all alive today" (Devarim 4:4), "to Him you shallcleave," (ibid. 10:20) and "To love Hashem, to listen to His voice and to cleave to Him (ibid. 30:20). King David says, "I have clung to your testimonies (Tehilim 119:31). To cling and cleave means to be inseparably attached to Torah.

Learning Torah and doing mitzvos is of greatest importance, but does not yet result in the necessary fusion. The Talmud says that the single verse that the entire Torah depends on is "Know Hashem in all your ways" (Mishle 3:6, Berachos 63a). Cleaving and clinging is not accomplished by relating to Hashem just in Torah study and in performance of mitzvos, but in everything we do - eating, sleeping, transacting, socializing. The works of mussar tell us how we can accomplish this. It is this kind of observance of Torah that can save us from the destructive attractions of the yetzer hara.

When you pick up a fruit, think of what borei pri ha'etz means. Hashem designed a tree that would sprout from a tiny seed and produce succulent fruit, and feel gratitude to Hashem. When you say the beracha "poke'ach ivrim" think of the wondrous ability that Hashem instituted within protoplasm that it can have vision, and feel gratitude to Hashem. If we bring Hashem into all our activities, we are cleaving and clinging to Him, and when we tie ourselves securely to the mast, we can avoid the yetzer hara's "music of the sirens" that would pull us to our own destruction.

Thank you Guard for that unbelieveable post!!!

Did R twerski write this or was it from someone else?? Either way its quite powerful. Thanks again!

Rabbi Twerski wrote it... If I'm not mistaken, it was written specially for us!