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| Image: i.telegraph.co.uk |
Relatives of mine donated money to a place in Israel called Retorno. Retorno is a drug rehabilitation center for Orthodox Jews who are addicted to drugs and want out. The tekes I attended with my relatives was the graduation ceremony. I saw groups of teens and young adults graduate from rehab. It was beautiful. I couldn't help but cry.
One line which stuck with me was "Ein Yeladim Raim, Yesh Yeladim Shera Lahem"--this is one of those lines which sounds better in Hebrew. "There are no bad kids, there are only kids for whom it is bad."
The underlying assumption being that drug addicts cannot be blamed for their behavior. The circumstances that led the teens to engage in that behavior is to blame. The schools, the parents, the community.
I thought about it a lot.
It is true that in most if not all cases of drug addiction, there is a story involved. Whether it is sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect by the family. Something must have caused the person to resort to substance for relief.
I am perplexed by the following. When does a person assume responsibility for his or her own action? At what point should a person stop blaming surroundings for his shortcomings?
At what point in a persons life does one become a 'bad person' and not only a person 'for whom it is bad'?
