Since not everybody in the room knew the Chanukah story, David Nava took the time to tell it. He explained it rudimentarily, saying that a very small band of Jews, fighting for their right to practice their religion, defeated a very large army of Greeks.
Nava, who enjoys an uncanny physical resemblance to actor Robert Downey Jr., speaks perfect Hebrew and said that in the 1980s, he was ordained as a rabbi at the Rabbinical School of Reconstructionist Judaism in Philadelphia. He chose the school, he said, because they accepted women and homosexuals.
When he finished the story, Nava recited the bracha and lit the Chanukah candles.
It was Sunday, Dec. 13, and 30 Jews and non-Jews, with various mental illnesses, substance abuse addictions and past traumas, were celebrating the third night of Chanukah at SHARE!, a self-help and recovery nonprofit exchange in Mar Vista.
Organized by Laurie Senit, it was also the first Chanukah celebration ever held at SHARE!, though the group has had Christmas and Thanksgiving parties before.
“I haven’t thrown a party in 10 years,” Senit said, beaming.
For years, Senit has regularly attended several of SHARE!’s support groups. She suffers from problems she referred to only as “mental disorders.”
Dreidels and Chanukah letters decorated the walls of the room. Folksy Jewish campfire songs played from a small CD player. Bagels, latkes, Chinese food, curry and cookies — all kosher — were served buffet style. Some of the food, which Senit had picked up earlier in the day, was from Nathan’s Kosherland in Westwood. Ruth Hollman, founder and executive director of SHARE!, cooked the curry.
SHARE! is Hollman’s way of giving back to the community that saved her. Seventeen years ago, Hollman was conducting research for her dissertation — her final step to earning a Ph.D. in anthropology from UCLA. But she was depressed, frequently having suicidal thoughts. She quit school, and on the advice of a doctor, tried out a self-help group. “It changed my life,” she said, so she went on to start SHARE! in order to do the same for others.
Hollman, whose two children were present, explained the need for celebrations like these.
“During the holidays people are the loneliest,” she said.
Old-fashioned arcade machines stood outside in the hallway, and artwork decorated the walls. Emily Love, a victim of domestic violence, explained that the paintings were made by one of the support groups, which practices art therapy.
Behind closed doors other support groups were in session as the party was going on. One door was marked Harmony. Another was marked Unity. A third, Felicity.
Nava said the evening provided more than a get-together. He believes that the mentally disabled are underserved — if not ignored — by the Jewish community. He told of a friend whose 12-year-old son had been clinically diagnosed with schizophrenia. The boy attended a Jewish day school until the heads of the school asked his parents if they could send him elsewhere. “Eventually the word ‘liability’ came up,” said Nava. The boy was put in a special-needs school, but it wasn’t a Jewish school.
“Jews are supposed to be bright and sharp,” Nava said. “Jewish children are supposed to be straight-A students. Being mentally disabled …” he paused, clearly choosing his words carefully. “It’s not in accordance with the Jewish image.”
SHARE! has a second location in downtown L.A. on South Broadway. The two locations offer about 110 free support groups, including Narcotics Anonymous, Co-dependants Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous. They also make free referrals to over 10,000 support groups around the country.
They receive major funding from the city’s Department of Mental Health Services.
