It’s World Mental Health Day! (October 10th.) So I thought it might be useful to compile mental health resources for the Jewish community into one post. If you know of any that aren’t listed, please feel free to add them.
RELIEF – connects/refers Jewish people to therapists and other
mental health resources (focuses mainly on the frum community)
Elijah’s Journey – suicide prevention for the Jewish community (Facebook page)
The Aleph Institute – provides spiritual support for Jews in
institutional environments such as prison, health facilities, and
rehab
No Shame On U – aims to de-stigmatize mental illness by providing
comprehensive education
OHEL – comprehensive services for those facing mental health issues, with professionals fluent in English, Yiddish, and Hebrew
Yad Rachel – for mothers facing postpartum depression, also helps educate family and health providers
i’d encourage people to donate to HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, if able. they support refugees and immigrants all over the world.
the pittsburgh shooter allegedly posted on social media, claiming that HIAS are bringing in ‘hostile invaders’ that ‘kill our people’, before carrying out the shooting.
he will not silence us. now, more than ever, we stand with immigrants and refugees, and live our jewish values publicly and bravely.
There’s also a GoFundMe for the synagogue but I can’t get in – I think it’s too busy, it passed the $130K mark already.
*It’s customary in Judaism to make donations in multiples of 18 as to bless the recipient(s) with good health and long life (the numerical value of the Hebrew word “chai” which means “life”), but by all means, just give what you can.
to all of the jewish people that may be reading this, i hope you and your families are safe today. i hope that you are able to grieve with your community and hold one to each other and hold each other up.
i am thinking of you all. i am thinking of our communities and our people.
The internet went from showing food recipe videos to alchemy in less than a decade. There’s going to be a quick video on how to make the philosopher’s stone from tomato sauce next week.
you have this idea in your head that the only time you’re worthy of being loved is when you’re at your best. you’re still worthy of being loved when you’re at your lowest. you’re still worthy of being loved when you don’t want to go on anymore. you are still worthy of being loved even when you don’t love yourself. you are a human and therefore always worthy of being loved and don’t you fool yourself into thinking otherwise.
My mom set up a little GoFundMe to help with Charlie’s sudden vet care. I don’t like asking for financial help because times are tough all over, but his health issues came out of nowhere and at the worst possible time for me financially.
Aside from his head episodes, he has been having chronic tummy problems where he gets diarrhea and stops to stretch non-stop to alleviate the discomfort. He is usually a very food motivated dog but suddenly has little interest in treats, doesn’t finish a full helping of his meals but drinks excessively. He has now started to occasionally vomit foam. His metabolism has been wonky for awhile now in conjunction with an elevated liver enzyme which has caused him to lose weight (I take him him for check-up weigh-ins so the vet is aware of this) and I am concerned that he may have a liver or kidney issue. He will definitely need blood work to test his organ functions and likely an x-ray to try and figure out what’s going on, and then treatment for whatever tests turn up. My vet is pretty reasonable price-wise but they don’t accept payment plans and also don’t accept Care Credit and the costs add up quickly. He isn’t extremely lethargic (yet) but his personality, which is usually enormous, is suddenly subdued and I can tell he just doesn’t feel good.
Charlie is 14 and my time with him might be limited, but he’s my best friend and kept me going even when things were at their worst, so even if it’s a blow to my pride to have to make a post like this, for him I’ll do it because I love him.
I will get him in to the vet no matter what, but any help would be appreciated. Even if you aren’t able to contribute financially, reblogging this would also mean a lot to me.
willowfoot 