The Yeshiva World

SOVEYA ADDRESSES GROWING TREND
OF COMPULSIVE EATING IN JEWISH COMMUNITY

September 6, 2007

Baltimore: SOVEYA is a newly created, non-profit organization providing individual and family counseling as well as educational campaigns for compulsive eating in the Jewish community. Soveya is formed specifically to address the rapidly growing epidemic of obesity and the myriad of health-related issues that stem from compulsive eating. According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 2/3 of all Americans are overweight and almost 1/3 are obese.

Rabbi Eli Glaser is the originator of SOVEYA. Having personally struggled with compulsive eating for many years, Rabbi Glaser found a spiritual, emotional as well as physical solution to his battle with compulsive eating – maintaining a 110-pound weight loss for several years. He adapted a Torah-based S.E.P. recovery process (spiritual, emotional and physical) expressly for fellow Jews who have found frustration and failure with various diet and weight-loss programs.

SSOVEYA, located in Baltimore, offers its programs both in person and over the phone to members of the Jewish community throughout the United States, Canada and Israel. Specific activities include:

Individualized and family counseling for those struggling with compulsive eating, obesity and obsession with food and weight loss.

Educational campaigns for schools, suggesting obesity prevention measures and identifying the various risks to children associated with certain foods and promoting non-food substitutes as incentives and rewards for achievement.

Seminars and lectures for synagogues and community centers on: dangers of compulsive overeating; trigger foods such as sugar and flour; emotional and physical compulsions and obsessions with food.

Awareness training and referral support for clergy and mental health professionals who encounter congregants or patients whom they believe might suffer from compulsive or obsessive eating.

Clearing house of information for those wanting to learn more about compulsive overeating and how a S.E.P. recovery approach differs from standard diet and weight-loss programs.

We identify how this is a growing concern in the Jewish community in particular, involving our customs and practices surrounding life-cycle celebrations, seasonal holidays and weekly Shabbos observance. Soveya is the only known, non-profit organization created specifically to address the growing issues of obesity and compulsive eating in the Jewish community.

Rabbi Glaser has 14 years experience in Jewish communal outreach, education and counseling as well as close to a decade of participation and mentoring in recovery programs surrounding compulsive eating. Rabbi Glaser served as Educational Director and Executive Director of Aish HaTorah branches in greater Washington, D.C. and Boston, MA and is a member of NEFESH, The International Network of Orthodox (Jewish) Mental Health Professionals.