BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

Advocating for Survivors of Sexual Violence Vicki Polin , MA, ATR, LCPC (Much of this also applies to Jewish survivors of domestic violence, emotional, verbal and mental abuse, financial abuse, terrorism and exploitation. Well worth a read! And kudos to the Awareness Center for their great & much needed work!) excerpts: ...the time has come to bring certain aspects of our work (at the Awareness Center ) out in the open. I want to make a point to mention that what ever it is that those who volunteer for The Awareness Center endure, is minor in comparison to what the survivors who contact our organization are forced to deal with on a daily basis. It is also vitally important to mention that the process of bullying, intimidating and extortion of both survivors and victim advocates is not limited to those in Jewish communities. These sorts of behaviors are conducted by individuals of all faiths -- within their own communities. As many of you know, The Awareness Center has extreme...

As a survivor of sexual, emotional & psychological abuse - I am posting this in the hopes that everyone will read and forward to their Rabbis - Thank you. Barbara Message from The Awareness Center: CALL TO ACTION: Request to all Rabbis on behalf of Sexual Violence Awareness Month Please forward the following message to every rabbi you know! Each week many of our rabbis send out weekly messages and prayers to their congregants. Considering April is Sexual Violence Awareness Month and also a month that represents freedom to the Jewish people, The Awareness Center is asking that all rabbis to send messages of healing, empowerment and growth to those who are who are suffering the life long effects of surviving sexual violence. All survivors of sex crimes are veterans of a war. The messages sent out should be about honoring survivors as if they were hero's of a horrendous war battle. The only true victims are those who lost their lives as a results of the wounds inflicted upon them...

Dangerous Message - Date From Hell? Again, the don't tell monster comes up. As I said before, telling may well save your life and be the first step to healing! Telling is crucial to surmount PTSD and your own validation. (October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month) by Vicki Polin, MA, NCC, LCPC, ATR-BC Click here to watch the video: Date From Hell A few weeks ago a rabbi sent the following link out to his mailing list promoting an online video, "Date From Hell" , which is produced by Rebbetzin Lori Palatnik. The short film revolved around the fact that everyone has an opinion and how important it is to keep your opinion to yourself or that you need to be extremely careful before offering it. Palatnik went on to say that: "You need to know the difference between fact and opinion". She goes on telling the story about a young male Baal Teshuva, who was learning with her husband, Rabbi Yaakov Palatnik. As time progressed Rabbi Palatnik felt the man had "pu...