For the first time in Crown Heights history, survivors of mental illness, addiction, and abuse were provided a real public platform to share their heroic stories on Monday night in Crown Heights.
It was the inaugural event of Neshamos.org, an organization set up by Dr. Eli Rosen, Aliya, Aliya Girls, Moishe Chanin and other concerned community members.
Their goal is to create a healthy inner life for our youth by providing the platform, resources, and education needed to empower community members to support our youth more effectively, transforming caring feelings into impactful actions, with inspired results.
All 500 seats were filled and there was a continuous flow of standing room only guests. Four speakers were chosen to share their courageous and heroic stories of how they survived and grew tremendously from their challenges.
Each one shared their own personal story which brought the crowd to tears an at the same time, left them uplifted. They spoke with unbelievable passion and eloquence, touching each and every person in the appreciative crowd in a very deep way.
After the presentations, participants were directed to the adjacent hall where a mental health resource fair featured a smorgasbord of local therapists and organizations that provide services for those in need.
Here is the video of the speakers as they open up and share their most personal stories with the crowd at the Neshmos.org inaugural event.
VIDEO
COURAGEOUS ppl, who are TRUE heros!!! You speakers are the light in our nation!! tizku lmitzvos!! May you be zoche to continuously see your greatness and the nachat hashem has from you!!
You guys are true heroes for sharing your journey with us…May hashem continue to bless you all!
Moshe
Los angeles
This is amazing! Way to go Lubavitch for stepping up and facing the challenges of our times head on. I would love to see an event like this with teenage speakers? One for girls and one for boys. Thank you!!
i just want to repeat even though it was already said… THANKYOU TO ALL THE SPEAKERS WHO SPOKE HERE!! YOU WERE SO BRAVE AND VULNERABLE AND IM SURE YOU HAVE HELPED SO MANY ALREADY!! THANK YOU!! MAY HAHSEM BLESS YOU WITH CONTINUED STRENGTH!!
-Sara schwartz
Thank you to each of the speakers! Your courage and strength to rise up from a very dark world is humbling and deeply inspiring. May you each go from strength to strength!
to all those that spoke and shared i am in awe and inspired by your courage and your stories. thx for sharing. u cant imagine the tiny sparks that you have lit in so many people .. sparks that will grow to fire … fire of action .. strength to each and everyone of you. wow!!
You can’t use the same brain that is causing your issue, to fix the issue. While I agree family and friends won’t usually ‘get it’ I hope you’ll continue therapy, be honest with your therapist and feel whole.
Go to neshamos.org they have a hot line, call and real people who have gone through it will connect you with the appropriate people or organization
Your speech was INCREDIBLE! I think it is a story that should be shared in Mesivtas and Yeshivas – urgently!!
Can you please please post your contact info or email.
-a fellow lubavitcher looking to get help
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! So SO SO courages, sooo brave!! Let’s shake the community at large and continue to talk about all of these issues! With positivity, support, and love! YOU ARE ALL SO INCREDIBLE!!
-Sefira Lightstone
https://releasingthepast.com/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/dr-michelle-miller-new-york-ny/143858
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/leah-strauss-new-york-ny/269990
there is so much help out there. please reach out. there are also lots of natural things that really work for depression/anxiety like zahlers PAS and Mindset as well as meditations, breathing exercises etc. do your homework and get the help you need and deserve
I’m grateful to all involved in facilitating especially the speakers.
To all the speakers. May you have continued strength going forward!
Thank you– I related so much to your story especially the part about not feeling like I belonged as a child. Thank you so so much for sharing it– you literally healed a part of me.
Your eidelkeit, your chassidishkeit, your refined demeanor, your depth really really touched me.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
i believe that only some1 thats going through these challenges will really get these ppl, the rest will never “get” them, and possibly even in the inside laugh off these issues or judge them.. yes! i have the right to say this coz im talking from experience! i was growing up with alot of psychological issues which caused me a lot of pain. i finally at 1 point decided to open up to my parent about it and it was the biggest mistake! not only did he not “get” me but he even gave me the vibe as if saying… Read more »
I’m suffering myself and this brought me some comfort. I cried and cried while watching the first speaker. Now I just need to work up the courage that these people have and go find myself help.
Thank you.
By telling their stories they are more free! May they all have continued healing, health and happiness!
to number 28
you can see it on youtube
search neshamos.org and it comes up.
I am so touched and inspired by these special and brave warriors who bared their souls for us. I’ve been in very dark places before and to see such an evening happen in Crown Heights with such a turnout, makes me so so happy. I watched the videos online as i live out of town and I’m very grateful that it was made available for all of us.
kol hakavod to all involved!!
Watching the video I am in awe of the courage demonstrated by the speakers and their willingness to speak up and share their painful stories. Kuedos to the organizers of the event and may the emes get out to the universe and help Am Yisrael
Thank you guys for sharing. Very inspiring.
Thank you. From a fellow survivor.
I’m
Sure most people can relate to something on any level as there are so many here ! Thankyiu for your honesty . Rest assured that you have touched many many people . Chazak !!!!!
I would highly recommend:
Gitty Bronstein, she is an excellent licensed social worker in the community
917 446 5444
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nZBYG8w4Gs
I am currently struggling with an addiction and I have been feeling pretty hopeless. The speakers at this event gave me hope that we will find help and that hope is not lost. The last speaker was especially inspiring bec she seems to have fully healed. Thank you to those who organized this event
your speech was incredible. the way you described your journey, your feelings and your lack of control. love how you brought it full circle with your fantasy. kol hakavod for sharing, watched it twice and will probably watch it again. much hatzlacha in everything you do
Than you all for sharing your stories
When I try to play the video, I am asked to log into Facebook. I don’t use Facebook. Is there any way for those without Facebook to view the video? If so, how? Thanks.
Wow! The amount of strength and raw emotion was literally palpable. I can feel every emotion, pain, and ultimate happiness of thes brave people. Thank you for telling your story for the benefit of others. This is real ahavas yisroel. Sacrificing yourself for others so they can know there’s help and hope out there. My question to those who have been through these situations and have come out Better because of it: who can one turn to when they need help? I keep hearing there is help… go for help… but who, what, when, where??? Please provide actual resources of… Read more »
chas v’shalom, speaking openly about your experience. If you effect even only one neshama it’s as if you saved a whole world, and I believe there’s probably more then a few worlds at stake here. You will always have that great mitzvah to your credit, כל הכבוד. I’m sure your speeches have made the Rebbe prouder than many things have done in a long time. G-d bless you and keep you, משיח עכשיו!
BS”D Dr Rosen, the Best of the Best. Great courage by the speakers
There are no words to express amazement for this initiative, keep it up and lets hope others will learn soon enough, stay strong!
shared stories cannot fail to help others in need. Hashem should bless you richly for your concern for others who are still suffering similar pains as you endured. Amazing and wonderful mitzvah on your part. G-d bless the 4 of you great champions!
Open, honest, beautiful
Your speech was incredible for its honesty and for the way you have risen beyond your circumstances to achieve personal and professional success. I’m in awe of all you have done and your bravery for sharing it with us.
Well done moish. Have Always loved you. Now love u even more
shauli minkowitz
I’m so glad I pushed myself to get out of the house for this. It was a wonderful, empowering evening. I am in awe of the four speakers who shared their journeys with brutal, uncensored honesty. It’s real, it’s happening all around us, and even those who are dealing with other challenges, I’m sure found things they could relate to. I know I did. The strength of these individuals to share so honestly, so publicly, cannot be understated. Thank you to Neshamos for organizing this ground-breaking evening. Thank you for including two women and two men in your lineup. Thank… Read more »
So incredibly moving! How brave!
May this event bring many to express their struggles and seek help in the right places.
Kol Hakavod to Dr. Rosen, Meir & Chaviva New and Moishe Chanin
Thank you for being so brave and vulnerable for the purpose of destigmatizing psychological challenges. Thank you for showing people that there is hope in the worst of situations. Thank you for being true pioneers. Thank you for your courage! May Hashem bless you, measure for measure, with everything good!
What stories. I cannot begin to describe how moved I am by the very notion that there are people in this world that are willing forgo their honor and humble themselves enough to share such personal stories with us, for the sake of literally saving other people. It is humbling and it is beautiful. It is absolutely incredible. Each one of you are warriors and I give each of you a bracha that you should have the strength and the wisdom to help other people and see the fruits of your labor and lead incredible, happy, fulfilled, sober, peaceful, beautiful,… Read more »
Can someone please post which therapists were at the resource fair?
It was worth every minute.
I salute all the speakers!!
and uplifting presentation. The רבונו של עולם, bless all of you with הצלחה רבה ומופלאה all of us with משיח כאו! Just awesome & beautiful!
This is much needed and i am very pleased this is being addressed.
It must have taken enormous courage to bare your issues with people like that, but it is great comfort to know that there are many who struggle with these issues and that there is a way out. Kudos to the brave souls who bared their lives so that other can be helped, you are a true inspiration!
Hard work and forward thinking, Watershed event!
Thanks Dr. Rosen, Meir & Chaviva New and others.
Thank you so much for sharing your stories. Addiction is real. Struggles are real. I hope your stories give others the ability to face their struggles and get the help they need from all of these wonderful organizations and those who have a friend or relative open your eyes and hearts and don’t judge or write someone off. BE THERE FOR THEM!
We love you and miss your smile. We would much rather you here with us. May this organization and all the others bring strength and healing to our community and shluchim around the world. And to those who bravely spoke last night, bless you and your courage for bringing the most beautiful out of such painful darkness.
Was such an inspiring event!! We need more!
there are so many torturous forms of mental illness.
we are so heartened to see that there is help for them. I hope so much that HaShem helps us eradicate this machla. and I hope that many more issues are helped by this.
This event is such a good sign for the Chasidic community — may it be replicated in many communities and may it bring much healing to Klal Yisrael.
Thank you to all those who made this happen!!! A much needed event that will hopefully raise awareness and assist those in need to get the proper help. We’ve had way too many tragedies in our community, finally somebody is doing something substantial about it. Thank you!!!
This was a much needed, and much appreciated event! Very well done!
I feel like i will need to re-watch this 10 times to continue drawing strength in my struggles from these incredible stories of survival and overcoming.
What a powerful and moving event. A must watch for anybody struggling with depression, anxiety, or other psychological issues or for anybody who knows somebody who struggles with these issues. Basically, this is a must watch for everyone.