Five days ago, our daughter Lizzy Savetsky reached another milestone. Lizzy celebrated her fourth sobriety birthday, commemorating the day four years ago when she hit rock bottom and ceased all alcohol consumption. Lizzy isn’t flying solo in this battle. She is part of a program with a powerful support group. Moreover, Lizzy encourages me to tell her story, in the hope it’ll help someone else embark on a recovery journey.
Two weeks ago, I re-posted my all-time most popular blog post. That post revealed Lizzy’s struggle with addiction and her fight to beat it. In that re-post, I promised an update. The story just keeps getting better.
As I expressed, Lizzy’s sobriety enables her to live a very purpose-driven life. She is dedicated to her family and to causes meaningful to her—battling addiction, pregnancy loss, fighting antisemitism, and supporting Israel. She stays busy on an international speaking tour giving heart-felt presentations on these topics, as well as promoting them on her LizzySavetsky social media platform. Lizzy is quick to say none of her family connection or advocacy would be possible without sobriety.
Here are a few recent highlights of Lizzy’s work:
- Working side-by-side with the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism in New York City
- Designated Israel’s “Voice of Iron” by the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament)
- Serving as keynote speaker at the Hadassah National Conference, the largest and most influential Zionist organization in America.
- Election to the World Zionist Congress, the world’s leading voice for Zionism, convening in Jerusalem
- Recipient of Israel’s Annual Award of Bravery (designated the Brave Leadership of Zion Award) for her fearless advocacy, presented at the Menachem Begin Center in Jerusalem.
In an ironic twist, Lizzy actually is grateful for her struggles with addiction. She told me that none of these achievements would have happened without her fight to overcome challenges. I learned this irony when Lizzy came home to Texas recently to sing in the Johnnie High Country Music Reunion Show, on the stage where she grew up singing. (To the surprise of many, her public persona got its start as a yodeling Jewish cowgirl—now that’s an oxymoron!)
In that visit, Lizzy and I had the gift of hours of one-on-one father-daughter time. It was in that conversation that Lizzy explained the irony to me:
“Every single person is born with challenges that they have an obligation to overcome in order to achieve their purpose. Rabbi Shlomo Farhi, of New York’s Safra Synagogue, teaches that G-d creates each person intentionally with the weaknesses, with the character defects that we’re supposed to have, but also with the strength to overcome them. It’s only when we face those challenges and overcome them that we are able to achieve our true potential. So, if you think of it that way, then all of these hardships and challenges are truly a gift, because without facing them and overcoming them, we never become the people we are supposed to be. And if we had been born without these weaknesses and the power to face up to them, then we never would step into that potential that G-d places within us.”
May we be thankful for all our blessings, including the ones that come in disguise. Wishing everyone success in addressing whatever challenges G-d has placed in your life.
Marvin E. Blum
Marvin Blum’s daughter Lizzy Savetsky with husband Ira and kids Stella, Juliet, and Ollie. Lizzy’s sobriety is a blessing to both her and her family.
