INTERNET RESOURCES & ARTICLES ON JUDAISM AND EATING DISORDERS
COLLECTED BY RABBI YISRAEL COHN
ARTICLES:
Body and Soul
Rebbetzin Feige Twerski
http://www.aish.com/family/rebbitzen/Body_And_Soul.asp
Eating disorders of all kinds have become an all-too-common and familiar phenomenon in our society. Moreover, this problem appears to be on the increase and seems to hit closer and closer to home.
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Body and Beauty in our World: A Jewish Perspective
Rebbetzin Feige Twerski
http://www.torah.org/learning/women/class12.html
The following three-part class examines the Jewish view of beauty and, more specifically, the relationship between the physical body, the world it inhabits, and the soul from which true beauty emanates.
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The Hidden Hunger: Eating Disorders in the Orthodox Community
Leah R. Lightman
http://www.ou.org/publications/ja/5762summer/ANOREXIA.PDF
Article contains contact information for where to go for help.
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Too Much of a Good Thing
Rabbi Avraham J Twerski
http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=2180
"Ess, ess, mein kind" (eat, eat, my dear child). Who would ever have envisioned that these endearing words from a loving parent might one day contribute to major health problems?
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Pressure to be Thin
Robin K. Levinson
http://www.jwmag.org/articles/07Summer03/p28.asp
The pressure to be thin pervades our world, thanks to media images and peer pressure, making it tough for moms who want to help their daughters develop positive body images.
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Being Jewish in a Barbie World
Lennie Reiss & Nadine Bonner
http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/981106/barbie.shtml
Stand in line at the supermarket, and you're bombarded by tabloids and women's magazines. "Lose 20 pounds in two weeks," screams one cover headline. Meanwhile, the cover photo is a four-layer chocolate cake offering "desserts to die for."
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Anorexia of the Soul
Ilsa J. Bick
http://www.askmoses.com/qa_detail.html?h=192&o=80097
It hurts.”
“How long?”
“Yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. Forever.”
“What makes it better?”
“Exercise. Running, sit-ups. Can I do sit-ups?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“You’re in pain. You’re starving.”
"Oh, that. It wasn’t so bad at first. And you’re right, it hurts, and oh!” She writhes on the bed. “Oh, it’s happening again! Do something!”
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Teaching Birkat Hamazon--Grace after Meals
Saul Kaiserman
http://www.lookstein.org/resources/birkat_hamazon.pdf
The author mentions Anorexia and a Jewish approach to food within a discussion of Birkat Hamazon. A clever way to introduce the topic to students. See especially pages 33-34.
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Living Without Shame
Boruch Clinton
http://www.cyberus.ca/~dbclinton/essay/shame
A clinical psychologist treating anorexics and bulimics asked me about the relationship between the kabalistic concept of “nehama d’ksufa” (bread of shame) and the fears and shame of his own patients over food. Among the very few things I know about kabbalah is the idea that receiving reward in the next world from God without having first earned it through serving Him here will cause us immense shame--nehama d’ksufa.
Could this idea somehow be used in therapeutic discussions with this man’s patients?
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Whole Family: Food, Fitness, and Self Image
http://www.wholefamily.com/aboutteensnow/food_and_fitness/index.html#eating
Some good general essays and resources (not from Jewish perspective, per se).
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PERSONAL STORIES:
I Survived Anorexia & Bulimia
http://www.countryyossi.com/apr99/soundoff.htm#survive
"I am a Bais Yaakov graduate. I went to the most prominent schools and had wonderful mentors as my guides. I come from a 'functional' family, meaning both my parents live at home, and I had a basically happy childhood. I'm just telling you this to destroy any stereotypical image you have of the anorectic/bulimic coming from a divorced home or messed-up background…"
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Frum Teens: Discussion Forum
http://tinyurl.com/46e4n
"My friend told me to do this maybe I could get some answers so here it is. I've been anorexic for the last couple of years thinking I was fat like a lot of teens do but then I found myself in a lot of other problems just from that like depression and a lot of other things I feel like I'm trapped and I don't know how to get out I asked a lot of my friends what to do they all didn't know and just forgot about it besides a couple who have been helping me since this all started. but I feel bad because like I tell her everything and I feel like I'm annoying her so she told me to turn to this web site so I hope you can help me thanks!"
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