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A dramatic increase in the suicide rate among Jewish youth has prompted a Bondi rabbi to organise a seminar on suicide prevention. Rabbi Mendel Kastel said he was concerned about an “alarming number of cases” of suicide in the past six months and has set out to educate the Jewish community on how to recognise when someone is at risk. He said many people were not aware they could have a positive impact on someone contemplating suicide.

“A lot of the time it’s only afterwards that you realise the signs, and it’s very important to be able to read these signs,” he said. “If someone repeatedly says things like, ‘I just want out, I can’t take it anymore’, or if they’re generally not interacting with others, they could be signs that they are thinking of taking their life.”

As the chief executive officer of The Jewish House, Rabbi Kastel was recently trained in suicide prevention by Linda McGregor of Lifeline NSW, who will speak at the seminar. “Everything you say to them is crucial, but it’s very important to let them talk you through it and travel the journey with them,” Rabbi Kastel said.

http://www.chabad.info/index.php?url=article_en&id=14749