I remember my last shabbos at your house.
I was sitting there, surrounded by teens just like me who were spending their time in recovery at Ignite.
The familiar Nigunim and company filled my heart with warmth, and surrounded me with a sense of calm.
I belonged. Recovery is a long and emotional process, but I never imagined I would grow so much spiritually from it. I can still picture the first time you walked in. I was so alone, in a place I didn’t want to be, far away from home, far away from anything I knew.
“The rabbi’s here,” one of the therapists announced, and all the Jewish kids flocked around you and your wife, laden with challah and Shabbos treats to lift our spirits. You were a familiar face.
Although everyone around me cared I felt like I could speak to you. You loved me unconditionally, supporting me no matter where I was holding in my Yiddishkeit or treatment. I was reluctant at first, I had a lot of resentment towards Yiddishkeit. We spoke, you listened, caring for me as your own.
I remember that first time you brought me into shul and showed me all I was missing. I hadn’t been in shul in 4 years and when we put on tefillin I felt as if I was born again.
It’s been a long journey and I have a long way to go, but those experiences and shabbos meals give me hope that family can be a beautiful thing. I just want to thank you. Thank you for being there and thank you for supporting me during treatment and up to this day.
You’re a friend and a mentor, I love you.
Rabbi Levi and Nechama Harlig and Rabbi Shneur and Chana Hayes are Chabad Shluchim in Las Vegas, NV and work with Ignite treatment centers and Eden center for eating disorders. They are the Jewish structure creating a fully kosher program and providing Jewish programming and support for the clients and their families.
They are the best!!