To anyone keeping up to date with current news, the name Avremi Zippel surely sounds familiar.
Rabbi Avremi grew up on shlichus in Salt Lake City, Utah. Zippel is a survivor of child abuse, something he kept secret for a long time. After getting married, moving on shlichus, and becoming a father, he eventually chose to go public with his story, impacting hundreds of people and becoming an advocate for mental health and survivors of abuse in the process.
In the latest episode of the Neshamos Podcast, Rabbi Zippel opens up about his internal journey, how his self-image shaped his experience and outlook, and how he healed and learned to reconnect with himself and with G-d.
“When you get to a position where your experiences can provide something for someone else, it is the single greatest blessing you can hope to attain as a human being,” Zippel reflects. His goal is to inspire and lend strength to other survivors of abuse–and this episode is a powerful step in that direction for those with a similar experience to his.
Launched in early 2020, the Neshamos podcast is where one gets to listen to personal experiences of those who have been affected by mental illness and/or addiction – the pain, the struggle to get better – and today, by the grace of G-d, have emerged with a message of hope and healing.
Episodes are released on a bi-weekly basis and are available on the Neshamos.org website or wherever you normally go to listen to your podcasts. Be sure to subscribe to be in the loop when a new episode is released.
AUDIO:
Or click here:
https://anchor.fm/neshamos-podcast/episodes/I-still-have-tough-days-feat–Avremi-Zippel-elf702
Thank you for sharing your experience and in doing so giving strength to so many. Your rock solid faith and acceptance of Hashems plan for you despite not understanding it is contagious. Thank you.
Thank you Rabbi Zippel! Very uplifting
Your courage to talk is greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much for sharing.
It is , sadly, so validating to many people.
For sharing your story.
There are sadly so many who leave yiddiskeit because of abuse. So many who dont get a frum therapist who can help. Good you mentioned about confiding in Hashem. Through what you went through it helped you get closer to Hashem. The point of confiding in Hashem helps so much
“It has been said that if child abuse and neglect were to disappear today, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual would shrink to the size of a pamphlet in two generations, and the prisons would empty. Or, as Bernie Siegel, MD, puts it, quite simply, after half a century of practicing medicine, ‘I have become convinced that our number-one public health problem is our childhood’.” (Childhood Disrupted, pg.228). Unhindered abuse and neglect typically launches a helpless child towards an adolescence and adulthood in which their brain uncontrollably releases potentially damaging levels of inflammation-promoting stress hormones and chemicals, even in non-stressful daily… Read more »