When it comes to mental health and illness, the bottom line is simple: “Silence kills,” according to Barbara Beckert, director of the Jewish Community Mental Health Project.
And like other health epidemics in the past, “awareness makes such a difference,” said Beckert, who is also director of the Jewish Community Mental Health Education Project, a collaborative project of the local Jewish community, coordinated by Jewish Family Services.
Since the project was formally created in January 2005 by JFS, in partnership with Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations, Beckert said “so many people have shared their stories with me.” And while she has heard many positive stories, she has also heard “a lot of pain.”
She has talked to community members who said that “the Jewish community wasn’t there for them” when they or a loved one confronted mental illness.
In some cases, the person could no longer afford to belong to a synagogue, or found a Jewish community agency not understanding of their situation.
But the Jewish community is not alone, Beckert said. “There is a lot of stigma” surrounding mental illness no matter where you are. “Our community isn’t any different.”
But Milwaukee is also a community “that loves education and learning,” Beckert said, and “we’re committed to breaking the silence.”
That was the motivation behind planning the Jewish Community Conference on Mental Health and Healing, “Let There Be Light,” which will be held at Beth El Ner Tamid Synagogue on Sunday, March 26.
The conference, sponsored by agencies, organizations, synagogues, and schools throughout the community, seeks to raise awareness in the Jewish community about mental health issues and provide education and resources for Jewish organizations and synagogues, as well as the community at large.
Kathy Cronkite, author and daughter of television newscaster Walter Cronkite, will be keynote speaker at the conference. Cronkite, who wrote the book, “On the Edge of Darkness: Conversations About Curing Depression,” will share her personal experience with clinical depression.
In addition, Rabbi Joseph O. Ozarowski, chaplain of the Jewish Healing Network of Chicago, will serve as scholar-in-residence at the conference, speaking on “Mental Health, Healing and Judaism: The Community’s Challenge to Walk in God’s Ways.”
The conference, which will be held from noon-5 p.m., will also include 19 breakout group sessions on topics such as addiction, public policy, meditation, eating disorders, children’s issues and surviving grief.
There will also be refreshments and a book sale by the Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop. The conference will conclude with a closing ceremony and healing circle. All events are free and open to the public.
Feeling isolated
“Very often, when people or families are experiencing a mental health issue they feel isolated. They feel as if no one understands them,” said conference chair Naomi Berkowitz.
But “a conference like this brings people together and they see they are not alone. There are other people. The stories are different, but the basic premises are the same,” said Berkowitz, who is a licensed psychotherapist.
The “first of its kind in Milwaukee,” the conference also aims “to educate people who are in leadership positions” in the Jewish community, to help them deal with mental health issues in their work,” she said.
To that end, “the content matter is specifically geared towards Judaism,” Berkowitz said. Themes — including “suffering, grief and loss, coping and healing” — will be explored from a Jewish perspective. In addition, “many of the presenters and facilitators are Jewish.
Counselors will also be available during the conference as issues come up and to provide “religious chaplaincy and solace” as well as other “Jewish spiritual needs” as necessary, according to Rabbi Len Lewy, director of Jewish Chaplaincy Program, a program of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation in cooperation with Jewish Family Services.
Tobey Libber, program director for the Helen Bader Foundation, hopes the conference will serve as “a starting point in eliminating the stigma surrounding mental illness and encourage people to go for treatment.”
“We don’t want it to end here,” Beckert agreed. “It needs to move forward to really make a difference.”
Also available at the conference will be the new Mental Health Resources Guide for the Greater Milwaukee Jewish Community, created by the Jewish Community Mental Health Education Project, with a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation, the federation’s endowment development program.
The guide, which is free of charge and eventually will be available on the the JFS web site, will include a section of “frequently asked questions” about mental health and how to find services, support, and select mental health service providers.
Pre-registration by March 15 is appreciated. To register or request a brochure, call 414-225-1373 and leave a message with your name, address, phone, number attending, and breakout group choices. A conference brochure may also be downloaded from www.jfsmilw.org.
For more information about the conference, contact Beckert, 414-390-5718 or bpbeckert@aol.com; or contact Therese Dorfman, Pathways to Healing co-coordinator, 414-225-1377 or tdorfman@jfsmilw.org.
Conference collaborating partners are JFS, MJCCR, the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, Hillel Foundation-Milwaukee, the Jewish Home and Care Center, the federation and the Wisconsin Council of Rabbis.
Many synagogues, schools, organizations and agencies are supporting partners. The conference is co-sponsored by JFS’ Pathways to Healing program and made possible by the support of the Helen Bader Foundation.
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