Abraham J. Twerski

Abraham Joshua Twerski (Milwaukee, 1930 – Jerusalem, 2021) was an American Hasidic rabbi from the Chernobyl dynasty who became one of the best-known psychiatrists in the treatment of alcohol and substance dependence. His career is distinctive for joining traditional rabbinic training with modern clinical practice, and that combination shaped both his writing and his work with patients.

Born in Milwaukee into a family of rabbis, he was ordained in 1951 and worked alongside his father at Beth Jehudah synagogue. He later studied medicine and trained in psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, eventually heading the psychiatry department at St. Francis Hospital. He founded the Gateway Rehabilitation Center, devoted to treating addicts, and wrote more than sixty books on Judaism and self-help.

His central contribution was to link the Jewish ethical tradition of mussar with the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous and with clinical psychology. Unlike psychoanalysis, which sought to explain the roots of a behavior, Twerski held that recovery should begin by stopping the destructive act itself. He viewed some psychological blocks as nearly involuntary, comparable to a physical disability, though still open to treatment.

His influence can be seen in addiction rehabilitation and in the way Jewish communities came to address alcoholism, a problem long thought to lie outside their own experience. His popular books on self-esteem, family relationships and behavior are still widely read.