Arnie
Goldfein, past President of JACS, and
currently Co-Executive Director of
Rodfei Shalom
Fellowship, Inc.
Recovery Events for
Jews of all denominations in ALL 12 Step
recovery programs.
COMBINING & FINDING
RECOVERY AND SPIRITUALITY WITHIN JUDAISM
WEEKLY
NEWSLETTER – 12/10/07
Hi Everybody,
Both of our events
are over and speaking just for myself I
feel this retreat and the cruise were
the most phenomenal events that I have
been to in years. The retreat was very
intimate with deep, heart-felt sharing.
The larger, community speakers were
exceptional, bringing tears, sadness and
laughter and hope. The individual
sharing brought tears, happiness, growth
and inspiration. It truly was a
remarkable weekend.
The cruise was also
an exceptional event. Our banner of
making events for Jews of all
denominations was fulfilled as we had
Chasidim eating their own food or the
delicious pre-packaged Glatt Kosher
meals we arranged for, along with others
eating the ship's own gourmet entrees.
This was all accomplished without
judgment on anyone's side. We had
meetings on board as well as two
wonderful meditation sessions.
We had a
miracle happen for us as we were able to
light Chanukah candles where it was
impossible to do so. And we
had fun, fun, fun!!!! There were tons of
excursions that we either did together
or separately. We had the options of
snorkeling, jet-skiing or swimming in
the Atlantic , walking through Key West
, bicycling, speed boating, parasailing
or just sitting around and doing nothing
at all. It was truly wonderful!!!
♦ Our
web site
is up and running!!!!! Besides basic
organization information you will find
our upcoming events and other links to
recovery! You will also be able to sign
up to receive our newsletter. If you
have any other recovery need please feel
to contact us. Our address is:
www.rodfeishalom.org.
♦
Our
weekly
call-in meeting will
resume this Wednesday night December 12,
2007
,
from 9:00 PM –
10:00 PM EDT , for the meeting and ½
hour or so for fellowship. To join us,
simply dial 218-486-1300 and enter the
participant bridge code of: 933051.
Please join us and share your wisdom and
experience. Please note: If you
have unlimited long distance this is a
FREE call!!
♦
Our brochure is out and ready for
distribution!!! It details our
organization, mission statement, purpose
and goals. To request a flyer, simply
contact us at this email address and we
will get one to you.
♦
UPCOMING
EVENTS:
January Spiritual
Day with Rabbi Abraham Twerski
We are pleased to
announce that will be having a Spiritual
Day for Jews in recovery in ALL 12 steps
programs, on January 6, 2008 , in
Lynbrook , NY . We are especially
pleased to have Rabbi Abraham J.
Twerski as our keynote speaker.
"Food, Drink, Drugs, Gambling, Sex and
Family: The miracle of Recovery".
Anyone who has ever heard "Abe" speak
knows that the day will be a wonderful
experience. So, register early!!!! While
this event is ideal for those in
recovery or curious about recovery, it
is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC for Abe's portion.
The flyer for the event is attached.
Well, the
fundraising idea of auctioning off the
privilege of picking Rabbi Twerski up
from his home, bringing him to the event
and taking him back home afterwards
didn't work out very well for some
reason (at least we tried).
But we do
need some help here!!!!
We need someone to pick Abe up from his
home in Monsey and then take him back
afterwards. Please, please, please, if
you want the opportunity of spending
some quality time with Abe, do some
great service and do a Mitzvah at the
same time please let us know so we can
arrange this. I can be contacted either
718-261-4049 or 917-776-7574.
♦
Midwest Retreat:
We are pleased to
officially announce that we will be
putting on our Spiritual Retreat
Recovery Weekend at the Perlstein
Retreat Center in Denton, WI (about 2
hours outside of Chicago). The food is
Glatt Kosher and under the supervision
of the CRC. The event will take place
(G-d Willing) from March 7 – March 9,
2008 and promises to be very exciting
and wonderful. If the Florida retreat is
any indication what the event will bring
– you can look forward to a warm
wonderful, exciting, growth-filled
weekend in a safe environment.
Space is
limited, so register early.
Brochure & registration form to be
available by early next week!!
♦
Spiritual Thought(s) for the Week (with a
little tongue in cheek)
:
Be on the lookout
for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts
of a great many have already been
exposed to inner peace and it is
possible that people everywhere could
come down with it in epidemic
proportions. This could pose a serious
threat to what has, up to now, been a
fairly stable condition of conflict in
the world. Some signs to look for:
-
A
tendency to think and act spontaneously
rather than on fears based on past
experiences.
-
An
unmistakable ability to enjoy each
moment.
-
A loss
of interest in judging other people.
-
A loss
of interest in interpreting the actions
of others.
-
A loss
of interest in conflict.
-
A loss
of the ability to worry. (This is a very
serious symptom.)
-
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of
appreciation.
-
Contented feelings of connectedness with
others and nature.
-
Frequent attacks of smiling.
-
An
increasing tendency to let things happen
rather than make them happen.
-
An
increased susceptibility to the love
offered by others as well as the
uncontrollable urge to extend it .(Copied
from
http://www.math.okstate.edu/~wolfe/thoughts.html)
♦
We
are still looking for more of your ESH.
We are starting to collect snippets of
people's recovery to add to the
newsletter. Any little experience that
any of you may have had that enlightened
you on your road on recovery is welcome.
To submit your story, simply email it to
me at
arniegoldfein@gmail.com.
Our goal is to start publishing them by
the end of the month.
♦
I
wanted to end up with a few of the
comments shared at the retreat and the
cruise. A few of which touched me very
deeply:
"The close knit
atmosphere and intimacy was great".
"The ability to
meet and get to know everyone".
"Thank you all so
very much for everything. The hotel was
beautiful, the food delicious and I am
looking forward to doing this again".
"Great diversified
program".
"Lighting Hanukkah lights in a flower
box in Nassau, Bahamas, (because we had
no where to light them) with the whole
group gathered around singing put a
tingle up my spine that I only
experienced once before when I was at
the grave of our Patriarch Rachel in
Israel ".
"What Hanukkah
means to me: Just the same way the
miracle of Hanukkah with it's one day's
worth of oil stayed lit for many days,
when I go to a meeting one day it lights
up my life for many days".
For more
information about any of our activities
or events, feel free to call me at
718-261-4049 or email me at
arniegoldfein@gmail.com.
To have your name added to our email
list, simply email me and I'll be more
than happy to subscribe you. And, you
can visit our website at
www.rodfeishalom.org.
Have a great One Day –
just for today.
Arnie
