June 16, 2005

National Center on Substance Abuse Presents September 21 Conference:

Rabbi Weinreb will be Panelist at Columbia Casa Conference, Focusing on ‘Substance Abuse, Religion and Spirituality’

OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb will be a featured panelist at this fall’s conference of CASA, the National Center on Substance Abuse of Columbia University. The conference, with the theme of So Help Me God (II): Substance Abuse, Religion and Spirituality, will be held on Wednesday, September 21.

The panel which will include Rabbi Weinreb will discuss “Divine Protection: Religion, Spirituality and Substance Abuse Prevention.”

Rabbi Weinreb is not only a rabbi but a clinical psychologist with many years in practice. His appearance fits in well with the “Safe Homes, Safe Shuls, Safe Schools” task force initiative now under development at the Orthodox Union as a response to substance and alcohol abuse and other dangerous behaviors in the Orthodox community, particularly among young men and women.

“Substance abuse is a growing problem in this country. It can be understood as a failed search for meaning and purpose,” Rabbi Weinreb declared. “Our spiritual traditions are resources for individuals to find meaning and purpose. We must search for ways to bring this message to those who are tempted by, or who have already fallen sway, to substance abuse. It is from this perspective that I look forward to participating in the CASA Conference.”

CASA is chaired by former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph A. Califano, Jr., and includes as Directors Emeritus two former First Ladies, Betty Ford and Nancy Reagan. The organization has as its objectives to

• Inform Americans of the economic and social costs of substance abuse and its impact on their lives;

• Assess what works in prevention, treatment and law enforcement;

• Encourage every individual and institution to take responsibility to combat substance abuse and addiction;

• Provide those on the front lines with the tools they need to succeed; and to

• Remove the stigma of abuse and replace shame and despair with hope.

So Help Me God (II) is a follow-up to last year’s conference that was so well received that the site of this year’s event has been moved from CASA headquarters at Columbia University to the larger JPMorgan Chase Conference Center, at One Chase Manhattan Plaza in New York City. The purpose of this year’s conference is to update participants and attendees “on social, educational, governmental and scientific progress at the intersection of substance abuse, religion and spirituality,” according to conference organizers.

Jim Towey, Director of the White House of Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives – with which the OU works on a regular basis – will deliver the keynote address. Members of the four panels include clergy, physicians and a variety of experts from the field of substance abuse, with the panels being moderated by leading journalists. Rabbi Weinreb’s panel will be moderated by Mary Alice Williams, of WCBS Radio in New York City and Religion and Ethics Newsweekly of PBS.

OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb

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