New Book Blends 12 Step Recovery with Bible Study
A new book, “For I Will Be With You: Daily Reflections on Recovery from the Bible,” launched today, offering people in 12 step recovery programs a daily Bible verse and its interpretation from a recovery perspective, the publisher announced. Written by Boruch Binyamin, a religious Jew who has been staying sober through the Alcoholics Anonymous program for 14 years, the book blends traditional Jewish Torah study with the step work of AA and related addiction recovery programs.
“AA is very careful not to align with any specific religion, and that’s a good thing,” said Binyamin. “At the same time, there are many religious Christians and Jews in the program who would like to connect their faiths with recovery more directly. That’s the idea behind this book. It gives the recovering alcoholic inspiration to stay sober through reading the Bible.”
The book goes through the first five Books of the Bible (The Torah, or Pentateuch), offering 365 sequential verses and an accompanying recovery-oriented interpretation for each day of the year. For example, referring to the story of Noah’s Ark (Genesis 7:11), the book relates a traditional interpretation that the Ark miraculously expanded to accommodate all the animals with the notion that God can help the recovering addict grow spiritually in response to life’s challenges. Though the book references many traditional Jewish Torah commentaries in its inspirational sections, it has been written for a general audience. “Any person of faith can derive inspiration from this book,” Binyamin added.
The title of the book comes from Exodus 3:12, where God tells Moses “For I will be with you” when God instructs Moses to tell Pharaoh to free the Israelites from slavery. For the author, this idea resonates with the idea of having faith that “God is with you” in recovery – asking for freedom from the “slavery” of a powerful addiction.
“For I Will Be With You” is published by HB Publications, LLC, a Cleveland-based publisher of fiction and non-fiction books. Boruch Binyamin is the pseudonym of a 50 year old Jewish man who is in recovery from alcoholism.
For more information, visit www.foriwillbewithyou.com.
(Source: Christian Newswire)
