Eating disorders in the Jewish community

HER VOICE is so soft it barely registers. “Is this better?” she asks, adjusting the volume on the phone. Sarah (not her real name) is in her sixth year of recovery from a ravaging eating disorder. The 30-year-old has never spoken publicly about her illness. Hesitation, resistance and powerful candor mingle — not unusual for someone who has unlocked the cage of mental illness. Beyond everything, she is brave. Telling her story is worth the controlled yet palpable emotional pain. Sarah was raised in a city in the Midwest. “My family was religious: Conservative-leaning bordering on modern Orthodox,” she says. “I went to Hebrew School from kindergarten through 12th grade and had a Bat Mitzvah. “We had clergy on both sides of the family. I attended […]