Yonatan had access to unlimited funds. Then what was the lying, stealing, and manipulating about?
Yonatan Levi, a boy from a wealthy family in the Five Towns, had been implicated in several thefts at his Jerusalem yeshivah. Although my suspicion of antisocial personality disorder made me wary of how much he could really be helped, especially after getting off to a bumpy start by telling me a series of lies and petty pilfering, he showed a desire to change. PART III
After our session, to which Yonatan actually showed up, I was cautiously optimistic that Yonatan would be willing to put in the necessary work to begin healing. Yonatan didn’t need any of the things he’d apparently stolen from other bochurim, and with his dad’s open credit card, he could certainly have afforded the five-shekel iced tea he pilfered from my office fridge. Those escapades were giving him some kind of thrill, although when he finally faced himself and broke down in real tears, it was clear that underneath his cool, charming veneer, he was miserable and full of self-loathing.
Following our session, I called Rav King, the longtime mashgiach at Yonatan’s yeshivah. We discussed my recommendations for ongoing treatment — which was mostly about showing up for the therapeutic process — as well as a clear set of rules if he planned to stay in the dorms.
“Basic stuff,” Rav King said. “Not asking for a doctorate in derech eretz or the latter perakim of Mesilas Yesharim, just that he not steal anything or get drunk and disorderly.”
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