February 24, 1998

The Orthodox Union (OU) has a sobering message for Jewish high schools: end teenage alcoholism.

As part of its Centennial celebration, the OU is launching an unprecedented educational campaign against teenage alcohol addiction. Through the OU Pardes Project, Jewish schools across the nation will receive free discussion workbooks on the Jewish view towards alcohol. Entitled "Wine and Spirit," the books, which include compelling and opposing Biblical and rabbinic sources on intoxication, will be used as a springboard for class discussions.

"The Jewish tradition does not view pleasure as a vice. Drinking wine can be an intensely religious act as evidenced by Purim and other holidays that center around wine," said Rabbi Yaacov Haber, National Director of OU Department of Jewish Education, and founder of the Pardes Project.

"The tragic reality is that there is a core group of at-risk Jewish teens who use alcohol to escape from the pressures of adolescence. It is therefore the religious and educational obligation of schools to teach youth responsible behavior towards alcohol. The OU program can provide the seeds for the blossoming of a full fledged addiction-education course," said Rabbi Raphael B. Butler, Executive Vice President of the OU.

The educational campaign is part of the OU’s phenomenally successful adult education Pardes Project. Founded in 1995, the Pardes Project has more than 15,000 participants in more than nine countries including Australia, Singapore, South Africa and Germany and on more than 50 college campuses. Free of charge and available to Jews on all religious levels and from all backgrounds, the Pardes Project consists of monthly Torah discussions on unconventional topics including tolerance, ecology, spirituality and gender.

To join or start a Pardes Project group, please register online or call 1-800-4CHAVER.

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