Meaningful change

We hope to channel the energies of one of Israel’s best and brightest, and we feel the excitement and honor of knowing that some of her belongings will now become a part of the Sobar.

By TRACEY SHIPLEY
Childhood opportunity concept (photo credit: ING IMAGE/ASAP)
Childhood opportunity concept
(photo credit: ING IMAGE/ASAP)
Twenty-seven years ago, when I began working in the field of addictions, I had a dream. I wanted to find a way to make being clean and sober “cool.”
I began to organize a plan for a youth center that would not only keep kids safe, but would encourage them to live clean and sober lives.
Years later I was privileged to open such a center in the heart of Jerusalem.
I put the kids in charge of deciding what the Sobar center would look like, what services would be offered, what should be free of cost, what rules needed to be implemented, what hours we would be open and countless other decisions when my dream became a reality a month and a half ago. I always heard that the head of an organization, program or institution dictates the nature of the endeavor by virtue of the kind of people it attracts. If this is indeed true, I am flattered to see the kind of youths that show up at the Sobar door.
Every day at the center I see kids from all backgrounds playing music or just chilling out. Not once has anyone acted with disrespect to the staff, fellow youth or equipment. They bring pizza and drinks and respectfully clean up after themselves. Only water and soda water are served, adhering to the Sobar approach of encouraging a healthy lifestyle (although the nutritional value of pizza is debatable).
Kids have shown up with carpets, wall clocks, trash bins, musical equipment and more, helping them to feel like this is their home. Haito, formally known as Simcha, is only 22, yet runs the center’s musical activities with the integrity and grace of a grownup. He won’t tolerate disrespect of any kind, and being in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse, is careful to make it clear to the youth entering the Sobar that any drugs or alcohol that may be in their possession are to be left outside the property.
The center is an asset to the community.
A social worker called recently, telling me she had a teen who was wandering the streets with nowhere to go. A quick call to Haito had the boy at the Sobar within minutes, hanging out and chatting with Haito and the other kids.
Two weeks ago, a boy who came to the Sobar confided that he had a court case coming up. Two years ago he was arrested on charges of armed robbery with a knife of 20 PlayStations. I told him that we offer a community service option under our staff supervision through our partners, the Musrara Community Center. Haito joked that he should just make sure not to bring in any PlayStations. By then we were all laughing.
In addition to the music room for rehearsals and concerts, we have begun developing our Mind, Body and Soul center, where Diane Bloomfield teaches her own creation: Torah Yoga.
A birthday event was organized to honor the late Steven Libin, who had once dreamed of opening a Sobar in Jerusalem. A group of kids gathered together with Reb Yankala Shemesh, who strummed the guitar, Reb Shlomo style, while telling Breslov stories about the importance of helping others.
The kids listened intently and sang along. Reb Yankala played more than 1,000 shows with Shlomo Carlebach and was present at both Woodstock in the 1960s and the very first Rainbow Fest in the US.
During the event, I received a Facebook message from Steven Toberman, a real-estate agent offering an apartment full of furniture that he hoped we could use. The apartment was owned by Ester Samuel-Cahn, a well-known Israeli statistician born in Norway who escaped with her mother and siblings to Palestine during the Holocaust after her father was killed in Auschwitz. Ester won the Israel Prize for her work in statistics and died recently at the age of 82.
We hope to channel the energies of one of Israel’s best and brightest, and we feel the excitement and honor of knowing that some of her belongings will now become a part of the Sobar.
These are just a few of the stories of our first month of operation.
This past Sunday the American Jerusalem Center collaborated with us in hosting our second alcohol-free Battle of the Young Bands. The winner will perform at the upcoming AJC concert by Wordsmith, an acclaimed American rap group, to be hosted by the center. Pepe Alalu, a former deputy mayor who held the culture portfolio for Jerusalem, took part as one of the judges.
Future endeavors include participation in the Israeli Rainbow Festival later this month with a Sobar corner free of smoking and alcohol and a planned alcohol-free country music festival. The sky is the limit as to what can be done to show our kids that having a great time is more enjoyable when you can actually remember what happened the night before.
The writer, a teen and young adult counselor specializing in addictions, has been working with youth and their parents for over 25 years. She is the founder of the Sobar alcohol-free live music bar for teens and young adults. jerusalemteencounseling@gmail.com, www.jerusalemteencounseling.net