Addiction and Recovery: A Jewish Perspective

When a family in the Jewish community first reaches out about a loved one’s drinking or drug use, the questions often go beyond the medical. Yes, they want to know about detox and therapy. But they also ask whether the people caring for their son or daughter will understand what their faith and their community mean to them, and whether word will get out. These are not small concerns. For many Jewish families, the idea of recovery that ignores who they are simply does not feel like recovery at all.

At Freeman House Recovery, we treat addiction as the serious, treatable health condition it is, and we treat every client with dignity, respect and empathy, without judgment. Our founder, Alan Freeman, is in recovery himself and has deep roots in Johannesburg’s Jewish community, so this is a subject close to home for us.

Why a Jewish perspective on addiction matters

The science behind effective addiction treatment is well established, and the same core steps appear in any reputable programme: a medically supervised detox where needed, individual and group therapy, work on the underlying causes, and ongoing support after the residential stay ends. The National Institute on Drug Abuse describes addiction as a chronic but treatable brain disorder, one shaped by biology, environment and a person’s history rather than by weakness of character. You can read its plain-language overview in Understanding Drug Use and Addiction.

That clinical foundation matters enormously. But healing a person is not the same as healing a body. For someone whose identity is bound up in faith, family and community, recovery has to make room for the soul as much as the symptoms. Good treatment holds both: the rigour of evidence-based care and the meaning a person draws from their tradition.

A founder’s story from inside the community

Alan Freeman, founder of Freeman House Recovery, who is in recovery himself, started using drugs and alcohol at 12, for fun, and went on to run and own nightclubs from the age of 20 to 47. By the end he had lost his home, his marriage, his businesses and his car, and was living at his parents’ house, still drinking and still convinced he had everything under control. His turning point came at a school gate many Johannesburg Jewish families know well.

“My turning point was when my children were taken away. I went to King David Primary School to pick up my sons, and the police had taken them. My ex-wife had got lawyers involved and I was deemed unfit to be a parent. I broke down and cried, and I realised my life had fallen apart. It wasn’t a slow process. It was a white-light moment: if I didn’t get help and get sober, I was going to die.”

Alan Freeman, founder of Freeman House Recovery

Alan went into treatment on 19 February 2020 and stayed for 35 days. Our first client arrived at Freeman House on 4 January 2021, and by February 2027 Alan will have seven years of recovery. His story is a reminder that addiction happens in our schools, our shuls and our families too, and that it can be turned around.

Looking past the substance to the addiction itself

Most recovery programmes, ours included, help people change their habits, recognise their triggers and build steadier routines. That work is valuable. There is a risk, though, in framing addiction too simply, as if the substance were the whole problem and removing it were the whole solution.

From the outside, the assumption tends to be straightforward: the drug or the drink is the bad thing, and stopping it is the good thing. From the perspective of the person who is suffering, it looks different. The substance is rarely the root of the problem. It is the thing they have reached for to cope with fear, loss, shame or trauma. It has felt, for a long time, like comfort and like familiarity. To that person, it is not the cause of their pain but their attempt at a solution.

This is why treatment that only removes the substance so often falls short. There is an old saying that knowing the disease is half the cure. Once you understand the inner pain that drove someone toward addiction in the first place, the work of addressing the addiction becomes far clearer. It calls for skilled, compassionate therapists who can gently treat the causes and the condition together, which is the approach we take at Freeman House, combining the 12-step Minnesota model with CBT, DBT and trauma work.

Reconnection, community and belonging

Addiction isolates people. It pulls them away from family, from community, and often from the practices and beliefs that once gave their lives shape. A meaningful part of recovery is finding the way back. As Alan puts it, addiction isolates us, and “the opposite of addiction is connection.”

Jewish life is built on community: the minyan, the Shabbat table, the festivals that bring families together. Recovery draws on the same instinct. At Freeman House, clients live as a small community in one house, eating fresh, organic and nutritious meals together around one table and supporting each other through the day. For many, that sense of belonging is steadying. It creates an environment where they can begin to rebuild not only their health but their sense of self-worth and self-sufficiency, without judgement.

Family plays a central part in this. Addiction is often described as a family illness because it affects everyone close to the person, and recovery tends to hold better when the people around the individual are supported and involved. We work with families throughout the process, including a free online family group every Tuesday at 18:30 South African time and a weekly session with our family counsellor, Colleen. You can read more in our piece on the role of family support in addiction recovery.

Breaking the silence in our community

In a small, close community, shame keeps addiction hidden for far too long. Talking about it openly is one of the most useful things the community can do. Alan is happy to speak publicly about his own recovery as the founder of Freeman House, and he and David Abramson, a clinical psychologist, are due to go on Chai FM shortly to do exactly that.

If you would like a fuller picture of how faith and culture fit into recovery in this country, we have written separately on faith, culture and addiction recovery for religious families and on addiction in South Africa’s Jewish community. You can see how the residential stay is structured on our inpatient treatment page.

Rebuilding, repair and making amends

As people move into sobriety, they often become more aware of the harm caused, both to others and to themselves. With that awareness can come guilt, and a sincere wish to put things right. In Jewish thought there is real weight to the idea of repair, of restoring what has been damaged. The body and spirit that addiction has worn down can be rebuilt, and that work is treated as something close to sacred as well as practical.

Alan’s own reflection points the same way. Looking back, he says that if anything, he wishes someone had told him “to look outside myself and see whether I could be of use to somebody else.” In a communal house, clients get that chance early in recovery, by helping the person who arrived after them.

It takes gentle, steady encouragement, and it takes forgiveness, of self as much as anyone. Our role is not to perform the healing but to create the conditions in which it can happen, and to do that to the best of our ability. Recovery is an ongoing process rather than a finish line, which is why aftercare matters so much once the residential stay ends. Every client leaves with an aftercare and relapse prevention plan and joins our alumni WhatsApp group, Freeman House Support. We cover this in our writing on care and support after rehab.

Frequently asked questions

Does Freeman House run a separate Jewish programme?

No. Every client follows the same clinical programme and is treated with dignity, respect and empathy, without judgment. If an aspect of your religious life is important to you during a stay, raise it on the first call so you know exactly what to expect.

What is the food like at Freeman House?

The food is fresh, organic and nutritious, and the community shares meals together at one table every day.

Does Freeman House only accept Jewish guests?

No. Freeman House welcomes any adult aged 18 or over seeking help with drug or alcohol addiction, whatever their faith or background.

Where can I find support in the Jewish community for addiction?

Within South Africa, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group runs a free 24-hour substance abuse helpline on 0800 12 13 14. Internationally, JACS (Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent Persons and Significant Others), part of the Jewish Board in New York, offers mutual support, referrals and retreats for Jewish individuals and their families affected by addiction.

Talk to us

Freeman House sits in a quiet, beautiful part of Hartbeespoort, in the Magaliesberg mountain range, staffed by a skilled team of qualified specialists, and most South African medical aids pay for all or part of treatment. If you are worried about someone you love, or about yourself, you do not have to work out the next step alone. Alan takes the first call himself. Phone us on +27 12 1111 739 or email [email protected], and we will talk you through how compassionate, judgment-free care could help.