The upcoming Chanukah Telethon on December 22, 7-11pm, the first night of Chanukah, will focus on awareness and the nurture of inclusion of people with disabilities, mental health conditions and those who love them.
“We must start to think out of the box,” says Rabbi Anchelle Perl, co-director of Chabad Mineola, NY. “Most importantly we must overcome our associating a stigma with mental illnesses.”
Rabbi Perl shares, “When I was a young rabbi and I first encountered someone with depression, I vividly remember thinking to myself, why can’t he just snap out of it? What does he mean when he says he sleeps most of the day and can’t concentrate on anything? We are all tired and dealing with stress. Just resolve to get out of bed and get going. I remember not being able to understand why he was so depressed. After all, by all measures, his life was pretty good. If he were to just focus on the blessings and simply choose to be positive, he wouldn’t be depressed at all.
Looking back, I am incredibly grateful that I didn’t articulate any of these sentiments to him, but nevertheless, I feel ashamed and even guilty for having being so ignorant and insensitive to what depression is all about.”
The rabbi has produced a special video to deepen our respect on what we could all do to help those facing so many mental health encounters.
yeshar koiach gadol!!!!!!!