In response to a growing awareness within the Jewish community about issues of abuse, the Queens community is planning an event this Motzei Shabbos to further address the problem and provide insight and guidance in dealing with these life-threatening matters.

The gathering will be held on March 4th at the Beth Gavriel Center in Forest Hills. This event is the second joint event held by Amudim and Chazaq, with more than 150 people showing up last May to learn about the growing abuse problem within the Jewish community.

Among those who will be speaking on Motzei Shabbos are Rabbi YY Jacobson, Rabbi Zvi Gluck, director of Amudim, Dr. Melissa Pasquale, deputy chief medical examiner for the City of New York and Menachem Poznanski, clinical director of The Living Room.

Both Rabbi Ilan Meirov, founder of Chazaq, Rabbi Imanuel Shimonov, mora d’asra of Beth Gavriel, have become increasingly alarmed by the prevalence of drug abuse in the Bukharian communities in Brooklyn and Queens. Since Rosh Hashana, 11 members of the Bukharian community have lost their lives due to drug overdoses.

“We’ve been hiding this problem under the rug for too long,” said Rabbi Meirov.

The Motzei Shabbos program, the first of several that are expected to be presented in Queens, is also being held in conjunction with the NYPD’s Opiate Task Force. Following the event, Naftaly Herskovic CASAC, director of Amudim’s opiod prevention program, will deliver a Narcan training session on how to use the drug to the reverse the effects of an opiate overdose.

In addition to educating people about abuse and providing people with strategies for dealing with the issue which literally touches every corner of the Jewish community, the event is also intended to lift the stigma associated with drug abuse which often prevents victims and their families from seeking life-saving help.

Rabbi Gluck recounted the story of Rav Yisroel Salanter who said that no one has ever died of hunger. Instead, those who don’t have money to buy food die of shame, because they are too proud to ask for help.

“That same principle applies when it comes to drug abuse,” explained Rabbi Gluck. “People are dying because they are afraid to speak up. They are afraid that they will be shunned. That their children won’t get into school. That they won’t be able to make good shidduchim for their kids. So instead of getting help, they sweep the problem under the rug, all too often with deadly results. The answer is creating greater support and acceptance for those who are dealing with addiction and only when that happens will we finally see a reversal in the number of overdose deaths in our community.”