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...

By Anonymous Congress (with the help of Ohel Children and Family Services, NY) has recently discovered a new method of dealing with criminals that will help Americans save billions of dollars in future tax years. The theory goes as follows: Millions of dollars are spent every year on building and maintaining prisons. This is completely unethical. Who are we to convict a criminal to be locked up in such a cruel manner? Who are we to assume that a criminal didn't already do teshuva? Besides the fact that it is very cruel, it will be very bad for the family´s shidduchim (dating/marriage partner). Therefore, the new system will work as follows: All community leaders are to be prepared to receive all allegations of murder, theft, rape, etc. And of course, our beloved community leaders are naturally capable of dealing with all such situations. (Who needs trained professionals anyway?) After a thorough investigation is conducted, (of course, this does not include interviewing crime victi...

Make a Promise For generations, the Jewish people have fought bravely to end injustices inflicted on us by others. But we have also remained silent about the injustice of violence we inflict on each other. The ethical teachings of our tradition insist on certain values: B'tzelem Elokim, all human beings are created in the image of the divine; Shalom Bayit, safety and peace in the home; Tzedek, justice and accountability; Hesed and Rahamim, loving-kindness and compassion; and Teshuvah and Tikkun olam, healing and wholeness, on individual, communal and universal levels. And yet, domestic abuse remains a very real problem in the Jewish community. We call upon one other and all of the Jewish community to: Replace fear with courage by acknowledging that domestic violence does exist in the Jewish community. HEAR and BELIEVE those brave victims/ survivors who come forward with their stories. Think twice about those who accuse someone of Loshan Hara; are they an abuser who's really...