By Gabriella Gomperts, Features Editor
Eating disorders and body image issues are a community wide problem in the Jewish community. On April 7, the National Eating Disorders Association Club (NEDAC) hosted a discussion panel in the Sky Cafe on the Wilf campus to openly talk about these issues, yet noted that the best way to start addressing them is with our individual rhetoric, when talking about our own bodies and eating habits.
The panel featured students Shana Safier (SCW ‘25) and Aviv Amar (SCW ‘26), as well as Shira Stilton, a senior therapist at the Yeshiva University Counseling Center, LCSW and eating disorder specialist Temimah Zucker, LCSW. The goal of the panel was to inform the YU community about how to create supportive environments for those affected by eating disorders, mental health and prevention.
Stilton said that the panel was informative for students, and that having both personal accounts from peers and professional guidance from Zucker gave students a deeper understanding of this important issue. “It was a distinct honor to collaborate with the NEDA Club to present on the critical issue of eating disorders in our community and beyond,” she told the YU Observer. “These valuable forums increase awareness, psycho-education and arms us with tools to combat this harrowing epidemic.”
Safier and Amar spoke about their personal struggles, and how they each overcame the worst of their eating disorders through treatment. Stilton and Zucker discussed their experiences working as mental health professionals and explored the best ways to support someone who is struggling with an eating disorder, disordered eating habits and/or body image issues.
While the American Jewish community has worked to destigmatize mental health, there’s still a long way to go when it comes to acknowledging eating disorders as a pressing problem. “Thank Hashem we have made huge strides in how we approach mental health, and while we’re not perfect, the stigmatization of mental health has decreased significantly in many Jewish communities,” Amar told the YU Observer. “The fact that we can’t say the same for eating disorders is very telling of where we are holding our values and priorities.”
The problems arise when we speak about our own bodies and diets in an unhealthy way, Amar said, because these comments often reflect how we view other people’s bodies as well. “It’s a setup of a certain body type as bad or negative or worthless,” she said. “That kind of rhetoric is so harmful, not just for people suffering from eating disorders but to anyone who isn’t 100% happy with their bodies, which I’ll assume is a lot of people.”
Allison Warren (SCW ‘25), President of NEDAC and host of the panel, believes conversations about eating disorders are a step in the right direction to tackling this issue. “I wanted people to walk away with key points of how we can improve as a community, and what little baby steps we can take that will cause a ripple effect to improve our community,” she told the YU Observer.
The panel made students like Nadav Heller (YC ‘25) more aware of how they speak about their own diet and body image, and how to be more conscious of potentially insensitive comments. “There’s no need for me to add to an already prevalent hyper-awareness about our relationships with food and our physiques,” he told YU Observer. “You never know who might hear that or how they might feel about it.”
Eshrat Botach (SCW ‘26) said the panel opened up a conversation surrounding body image issues, and that openness to talking about this topic will help those going through difficulties and prevent further pain. “Everyone goes through their own troubles and hardships, but no experience is entirely unique,” she told the YU Observer. “The panel showed that if we just talk to each other, we can learn so much and prevent others from having to go through the same hardships.”
Photo Caption: Panelists at the NEDAC panel
Photo Credit: Gabriella Gomperts