‘Near Death’: Activists Warn About Rise in Alcohol Consumption

By COLlive reporter

During the month of Tishrei two years ago, Hatzalah of Crown Heights received an urgent phone call from the NYPD alerting them about a situation in the neighboring Park Slope.

Hatzalah volunteers raced there and discovered a young Yeshiva bochur in the street, without clothes and barely conscious. He could not remember his name or anything about himself. The only thing the bochur remembered was a phone number.

Hatzalah proceeded to call it and reached the bochur’s parent. It turns out the bochur went Sukkah Hopping and was saying l’chaims at each stop. A friend had slipped “something” into his drink and that’s the last thing the bochur remembered.

This story was shared at a meeting last night, Motzoei Shabbos, attended by community activists, Shul and Yeshiva directors, members of Hatzalah, Misaskim, and the Chevra Kaddisha to discuss the consumption of alcohol in frum communities.

It was organized by Chevra Kadisha, Misaskim, and United States Chaplain Corps, as the launch event of the organization “Parents Against Underage Drinking” (PAUD, formerly Project Preempt).

The event was held with the support of the Crown Heights Beis Din’s Rabbi Avrohom Osdoba and Rabbi Yosef Braun, as well as Rabbi Levi Garelik. Rabbi Braun attended and addressed the event, decrying the fact that many Lubavitchers fail to obey the Rebbe’s clear directives against drinking.

“We are not talking about not drinking for ruchniusdike reasons,” Rabbi Braun said. “It’s about Venishmartem me’od lenafshosaichem, literally about saving lives,” he said.

Rabbi Mendy Coen, Director of United States Chaplain Corps, stated that drinking has crossed the line into “excessive” and called on parents and educators to educate themselves on the statistics and the dangers of alcohol. “It’s time to work together to do something to affect change,” he said.

He recalled scenes that he witnessed this past Simchas Torah at the main shul of 770 Eastern Parkway.

“Someone calls me over, asking if I am Hatzalah, ” he says. “There was a bochur on the ground and when I checked him, he didn’t have a pulse. It took Hatzalah a while to revive him.

“The next night, I witnessed the same thing. A bochur passed out with no pulse, and Hatzalah tells me that this happened many times throughout the night.”

Coen says that he cannot stand by and watch this happen month after month, year after year, and not do something.

Taking a walk into 770’s Main Shul on this past Shabbos, Coen says he witnessed dozens of drunk bochurim of all ages. “Not only are the Gabboim – the adults in the room – distributing the alcohol, they themselves are drunk,” he said.

“Are we waiting for someone to actually die, G-d forbid?” he asked emotionally. “I have taken this on, and this meeting will be replicated in many communities.”

Alcohol gets worse with medication

At the meeting, Rabbi Yaacov Behrman of Project Survival of the NCFJE spoke about his organization’s efforts to prevent excessive drinking on Purim.

Ahead of the holiday, they have launched an advertising campaign, reminding to drink responsibly, and a truck with a message on the dangers of excessive drinking will be driving through the Crown Heights neighborhood.

Behrman said the studies show that when it comes to prevention, conversations with children and teens have a great effect. “Give children the tools to being exposed to alcohol and explain why it is dangerous and what the consequences can be,” Behrman said.

Other speakers warned of the dangers of alcohol being mixed with many common medications for ADHD, as well as other medications, and said that doctors must be more proactive in warning parents and teens of the dangers of mixing the two.

“In some schools, 30 percent of students are on some sort of ADHD medication,” said Dr. Jordan Brodsky, a doctor who was in attendance. “Many parents are not aware that even one drink can cause serious health complications or even cardiac arrest for someone on medication. These children are in grave danger,” he said.

PAUD also has plans to work with schools and educators to inform teens about the risk of drunk driving. The plans include holding schools, shuls, halls or organizations liable for the illegal distribution of alcohol to minors.

Rabbi Coen says he has taken on to lead this initiative, despite his full and busy career as the director of United States Chaplain Corp, leading 600 chaplains.

Coen concluded with a  message to all schools and Shuls in the neighborhood. “Purim is coming,” he said. “And there will be fatalities. This is not an exaggeration, it is a reality.”

“To all schools and Shuls, we implore, do not leave alcohol unsupervised. Not in your school, shul, shabbos table, farbrengen, wedding hall or bar mitzvah. It’s like leaving a gun on the table,” he said.