in particular, senior rabbi stacy freedman and joann foreman who is at congregation shalom. thank you so much rabbi and joanne for being here. >> thank you for having us. >> rabbi freedman. why don't we jump in and ask you, why did you consider this particular issue to be so important to your particular synagogue and to the jewish community at large? >> thank you for asking. when this program began, or when we decided that it was a real need, i had been at the congregation for about 20 years. and increasingly in the months preceding that, more and more people had come to me to talk to me about their mental illness, about their mental health crises, with them or family members. and it just happened more and more. that was in the spring. and then that summer was the summer that robin williams took his life. and suddenly, and really for the first time that i had seen, that our country had seen, the issue of suicide and mental illness was the top issue in the news. news programs were talking about it. the newspaper. television. people were having this conversation. and at that m