Dr. Yurow Presentation

Gandhi International Institute for Peace

Tenth Anniversary Celebration

Friday, October 2, 2016

Jared Yurow, Psy.D.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS:  A HUMAN RIGHT

Shaloha!  I am humbled and honored to be here today.  I present greetings on behalf of Rabbi Ken Aronowitz and Temple Emanu-El Synagogue here in Honolulu, Hawaii.  And to my kumu Uncle Bruce Keaulani and the many kupuna that have entered and continue to enter my life, I offer gratitude for all you continue to teach me. 

Gandhi said that "The key to health lies in being at peace."  What is this peace?  As a healing practitioner, it means that I am concerned with the total wellbeing of my client to create that peace. Because every individual is entitled to health and wellness--one is inseparable from the other. 

A week ago this past Wednesday, Jews concluded the holiest ten-day period of the year, which began with Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement).  After our morning Yom Kippur worship service, we retired from our Sanctuary for group reflection with our Rabbi. For you see, this holiest of days allows us time for deep introspection.  Most notable was discussion about God’s actual name, which historically was only uttered by the High Priest in the inner sanctuary of the temple on Yom Kippur.  It is composed of vowels only and when spoken, according to Rabbi Harold Kushner, sounds like this:  (breathe).  Yes, you heard it.  A single breath.  The sound a baby makes when it is first born.  It is the “spark of the Divine” which Jews believe resides in every single individual, be they Jew, Muslim, Hindu or Christian, as Gandhi might have said.  And perhaps not surprisingly, matches the Hawaiian word Aloha, which literally means “Breath of Life.”

As healers, we nurture the flame of a soul in distress and attend to his or her needs.  It is about helping the individual recognize the Gifts that Creator has provided as endowment and “kuleana”--responsibility.  It is about “Tikkun Olam,” Hebrew for “Healing the World,” one soul at a time.

Gandhi said “See the good in people and help them.”  At the Department of Health Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division (ADAD) where I work as a public health psychologist, help takes the form of looking at clients holistically.  Taking an approach consistent with the Hawaiian concept of “Ola,” health and wellbeing, we have already begun to discuss the implementation of client Health and Wellness Service Plans.  Note that I did not say addiction recovery plan, mental health plan or case management plan.

Key to these plans is the recognition of the importance of the client’s culture, ethnicity and spirituality in the healing process.  ADAD supports the use of cultural experts for healing, including kupuna to share and teach about the host culture’s healing practices.  I am proud to say that ADAD may be among the first or in fact THE first federal, state or local agency to use a nationally recognized billing code from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for cultural activities.  (As we might say in pidgin, “’Eh, it’s okay to ‘cock-a-roach’ from us, Cousin!”  Copy us!  By the way, so you know, we’re all cousins!) 

In closing, I would like to stir us in a call to action by reminding what Gandhi said:  “To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”  He also said, “There is force in the universe, which, if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results.”  Let us do the work that is needed.  “Ken Y’hi Ratzon”--May it be God’s Will.  Imua!