Participants had a broad spectrum of involvement in Jewish heritage and traditions. They were from Orthodox, Conservative and Reform traditions; half were temple goers, half were not. Some were fluent in Hebrew and religious ritual, others were not. Men and women participated in equal numbers. Participant histories of alcoholism and chemical dependency also varied. Some were from families where no other members were known to have done alcoholic drinking; others were able to clearly identify alcoholism in members of their immediate families. Some had problems with both alcohol and mood altering pills; others had used only alcohol.

The ages of the participants ranged from the mid-20s to the mid-60s and represented a variety of life styles and economic levels.

Activities on the weekend included traditional religious observances and Sabbath services under the direction of Rabbi Barry Woolf, Chaplain of the State of Minnesota and the Hazelden Foundation. Other parts of the program included lectures and group discussions on alcoholism and chemical dependency, informal gatherings and one-to-one discussions; AA and Alanon meetings; spiritual dialogues and discussions of Jewish texts and references to alcoholism and chemical dependency in Jewish literature.

The common concerns of the participants were their isolation from the Jewish community, the denial of their disease by their family members, the impact of the disease on their family relationships, and the failure of most professionals to make an appropriate diagnosis of their problem and, in particular, the ignorance and denial of the problem by the rabbis whom they had consulted.

Participants emphasized that they had not found the support and assistance they sought from Jewish agencies and resources; that it had been Christian clergy who had referred them to treatment centers; Christian members of AA who were their sponsors and friends; and attendance at Christian spiritual retreats and the use of Christian spiritual literature which had aided them in their recovery. The participants expressed a great deal of emotion and anger at this situation. They wanted to find Jewish spiritual resources and activities to assist them in their recovery. They had begun to explore their relationship to the Jewish community as a whole and they wanted to continue the process of exploration and reconciliation that they had begun. They expressed interest in and looked forward to other retreats and activities of this type.