There are now dozens of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings throughout Israel
According to Sy Greenfeld, the first group of Alcoholics Anonymous in Israel was started in 1976 in Tel Aviv by several immigrants from South Africa along with personnel from the United Nations. It was an English-speaking group. For Hebrew-speaking alcoholics in Israel, he says, "there was nothing-no literature, no translations, no other professional help."
Greenfeld says that alcoholics were routinely placed in psychiatric hospitals. "There was no other help for them," he explains.
Greenfeld joined the Tel Aviv AA group in 1977 and then started a group in the Haifa area with three other people.
"Alcoholism hits everyone," Greenfeld said. "Men, women, religious, non-religious, even people in the Muslim community, where drinking is prohibited."
There are now dozens of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings throughout the country in Hebrew, English and Russian.
Full story and web links to AA Israel at; The Jerusalem Post
See also;
| Bill W.: A Biography of Alcoholics Anonymous Cofounder Bill Wilson by Francis Hartigan Read more about this title… Highly recommended |
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sy its efraim from haifa. is anyone still alive from original group. i saw leah on facebook. look what AA/NA looks like today. we started it. im 63 yrs old. im still sober. i live in florida. is peter still alive? send me an e-mail. im on face book. this message is for sy greenfeld.
my name is efraim ben chaim. i lived in israel 1976-1988. i attended aa meetings in 1976. i helped start aa in haifa israel with sy greenfeld,elan;
and leah. i with leah garber helped start na meetings in 1984. leah helped translate the big book.i am looking for the original members of AA. SY is alive. iknow MYRA KATZEFF passed away many years ago. she was founder of AA ISRAEL. SY if you recieve this i need to know if elan or leah are still alive. my e-mail is [email protected]. im on facebook robert weiner.
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