You Are Not Alone

Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic. About half of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced loneliness, Dr. Vivek Murthy said in an 81-page report from his office. “We now know that loneliness is a common feeling that many people experience. It’s like hunger or thirst. It’s a feeling the body sends us when something we need for survival is missing,” Murthy told The Associated Press in an interview. “Millions of people in America are struggling in the shadows, and that’s not right.” Research suggests that this “loneliness epidemic” has many causes, including the fact that people have become increasingly less engaged with religious institutions, community organizations and even their own family members. The crisis worsened during the COVID 19 pandemic when millions of people isolated even more from family and friends, and many have never resumed their previous levels of social interaction.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental health challenges are exacerbated when a person feels that s/he is alone, ie they are the only person in the neighborhood or in the shul that struggles with anxiety, depression, OCD, addiction, relationships strains, or any challenge that exists. I am proud that we are hosting Dr. Norman Blumenthal this Shabbat, in partnership with OHEL, as part of our commitment to bring awareness and provide education about matters related to mental health. This Shabbat will be a success if even one person comes to realize that 1) they are not alone in their mental health struggles and 2) there are resources and strategies available to help

Last week at the opening plenary of the World Orthodox Israel Congress in Jerusalem I had the privilege to hear Natan Sharansky. He mentioned that he really found religion while in prison in the Soviet Union. And it was in the gulag that he began to fully understand the verse in Tehillim Chapter 23:

לֹא־אִ֘ירָ֚א רָ֗ע כִּי־אַתָּ֥ה עִמָּדִ֑י, I will fear no evil for You are with me”.  Sharansky told us that in prison he understood “Ata” as referring to not only Hashem, but also to the Jewish People. He gained much strength when he realized that he was not alone, that he was never alone. Society is suffering from a loneliness epidemic. Our shul can provide an antidote for this loneliness; by providing opportunities to connect and by assuring each other that even when it feels like it, we are never really alone.