In contemplating the theme of this issue of Mind Body & Soul, so many possibilities of what it might mean to “face one’s fears” come to mind, both in the general context of life, and specifically, in the context of mental health and mental illness.

Our own individual circumstances are the not the only times we find ourselves facing our fears, or trying to avoid doing so. As a community, there are times when we must act collectively to either allow ourselves to become aware of our issues, our tragedies, our scandals – or try and avoid them, deny them or cover them up. We then are faced with the opportunity of understanding these issues more deeply, educating ourselves more widely, and intervening more directly – or succumbing to the sometimes overwhelming emotion of knowing, to the intimidation of trying to make changes, or to the fear of acting.

At this point, I find it impossible not to dwell here, in the latter part of this concept, on facing our fears as a community. In the next month, there will be two major events that speak directly to the possibilities and efforts that can be made towards facing our fears as a community. Their occurrence in our community marks a significant milestone in our efforts as a community to face our fears.

The Crisis Center for Religious Women in Israel will be hosting an international conference called “The Jewish Community Confronts Violence and Abuse.” The conference is being held in Jerusalem on December 1-3, and is the first ever of its kind. The conference will be addressing both mental health professionals as well as the community at large. There will be sessions on bullying, human trafficking, sexual assault, domestic violence, incest, male victims of sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, sexual offenders, and many sessions on treatment, legal and halachic issues, as well as prevention for all areas. The conference brings together important community figures like the Chief Rabbi of Israel, the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, the Mayor of Jerusalem, members of Knesset and important figures in Israeli government. There will be sessions by notable mental health professionals from across the globe, who have toiled to help us, as a community, face these particular fears, as well as sessions by the Rabbonim who have worked to confront and address the halachic issues that arise when confronting these very difficult issues. It is in this unique setting that a second goal has been set by the conference collaborating agencies: to promote international networking for future collaboration. For more information, please visit www.confrontingabuse.com

Here in the U.S., Nefesh, the International Network of Mental Health Professionals, will host its milestone 18^th annual international conference in New York on December 28-29. Having attended the first conference in Florida all those years ago, I remember how the excitement was palpable. We were all mental health professionals, working to help our individual clients face various types of fears, but to be able to come together to help our community face its fears more directly as a unit was incredible. That feeling persists at the conferences until today. There is always a diverse group of presenters invited, with an eye towards making sure that difficult issues are addressed, and that cutting edge information on various treatment options and updates are presented. It’s a place to learn, connect, and collaborate with others working to help their clients and their community face various mental health issues, and to recharge so that we can all keep doing so. For more information, please visit www.nefesh.org.

In conclusion, while the news about various scandals, mishandling or subverting of truth may be discouraging, and may signal a need to do better at confronting ourselves and our community, these two events on the horizon also signal the willingness we have to not only do so, but to strive truly to overcome those fears, both individual and communal, for future health and healing.