By Celia Cohen, Special to JTNews
A number of local Jewish and domestic violence organizations collaborated on activities to mark October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Observed nationwide, DV Awareness Month provides a concentrated opportunity to focus on awareness and prevention of domestic violence.
"Collaboration at the communal level has always been essential in dealing with the issue of domestic violence, which absolutely thrives on secrecy and isolation," says Michelle Lifton, Domestic Violence Program Coordinator at Jewish Family Service. "The most effective way to combat it is for everyone to get involved in a meaningful way."
The Jewish Caucus of the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence sponsored a reading of the play Not So Happily Ever After the very real stories of some American Jewish families on October 24 at the University of Washington Hillel.
The play featured local Jewish community members Robin Boehler, Rabbi Dan Bridge, Muriel Diamond, Stefanie Hader Robbins, Rivy Poupko Kletenik, and Cantor David Serkin-Poole. Other community supporters of the reading included Jewish Family Service’s Project DVORA (Domestic Violence Outreach, Response and Advocacy), the Eastside Domestic Violence Program and the National Council of Jewish Women’s Seattle Section.
An exhibit of the Clothesline Project was held the day of the reading at Hillel. This national project is a vehicle for women affected by violence to describe their experiences by decorating a shirt. They then hang the shirt on a clothesline to be viewed by others as testimony to the problem of violence against women.
"The idea for this project came about as a means for domestic violence survivors to symbolically air their dirty laundry in public," Lifton says. "This exposure educates the larger community in a powerful way while serving as an integral part of the healing process for many women."
Lifton also made a presentation at the Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle, which focused on recognizing and cultivating healthy teen relationships.
Project DVORA’s monthly Rosh Chodesh group for domestic violence survivors took place on October 17, facilitated by Ruz Gulko of Congregation Herzl-Ner Tamid.The Rosh Chodesh group provides an opportunity for participants to come together as Jewish women and survivors of domestic violence, breaking the isolation inherent within domestic violence. The Jewish songs, ritual, and discussion that take place during the group offer the participants key elements traditionally found within Judaic practices – community, strength, and comfort.
NCJW’s Seattle Section continued to operate its Shalom Bayit: Furnishing Peaceful Homes project, in which donated furniture is acquired, stored and delivered to domestic violence survivors in King County who are leaving shelters and setting up permanent safe homes. The Section’s November 17th event, co-sponsored by and held at Hillel, will feature Professor Amy Singer, Director of NCJW’s Women and Gender Studies program at Tel Aviv University. Professor Singer will speak about activism on women’s issues in Israel.
NCJW also began developing an awareness project for area Jewish teenagers using the award-winning video, Dealing with Teen Dating Abuse: Matters of Choice. The video, which explores the complexities of an abusive teen relationship, was created by NCJW’s Essex County Section and Minds Eye Productions.
A Seattle-based national organization, the FaithTrust Institute, specifically addresses issues of domestic violence and sexual abuse in organized religious communities. Its Web site featured a special display called "October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month: What every congregation needs to know about domestic violence."
In addition to its work with Christian congregations, the institute also offers the Asian and Pacific Islander program, the Peaceful Families Project/Muslim program and the Ending Domestic Violence in Jewish Families program.
"The domestic violence community and the Jewish community both have so much to offer each other," says Lifton. "The battered women’s movement provides a comprehensive analysis of violence against women, domestic violence, effects of domestic violence on children, systems of oppression, and social change. It has really put the issue of domestic violence on the national and international radar screen, identifying domestic violence as a social and political issue.
"Jewish traditions and values can inform healing for survivors of domestic violence and accountability for those who perpetrate intimate partner violence with freedom metaphors."
Lifton cited such metaphors as the Passover seder, the concept of teshuvah (repentance), healing rituals around Shabbat, Sukkot, and Rosh Chodesh, and reclaiming or re-interpreting blessings for the home and mikvah.
Project DVORA provides four levels of support to members of the Greater Seattle Jewish community:
- Direct services to victims, including individual counseling, legal advocacy and support groups;
- Domestic violence training, education and consultation to Jewish communal professionals and the Jewish community at large. Many in the community are surprised to learn that domestic violence occurs in Jewish homes at the same rate as in non-Jewish homes;
- Collaboration with secular domestic violence agencies to provide them with the training needed to make their services sensitive to the needs of Jewish families;
- Collaboration across programs within Jewish Family Service to assure that JFS clients receive the complete array of services needed in order to move forward with safe and productive lives.
"King County has one of the most comprehensive, most sophisticated networks for addressing domestic violence in the country," Lifton says. "I am so proud that Jewish organizations like Jewish Family Service have elected to become part of that system. The involvement of our Jewish community has made a life-changing, often life-saving difference in the lives of hundreds of women."
Local Jewish contacts engaged in domestic violence awareness
For information about any of the programs mentioned in this article, contact the following Jewish organizations:
Michelle Lifton, Coordinator
Jewish Family Service Domestic Violence Program and Project DVORA
206-461-3240 or [email protected]
Lauren Simonds, Executive Director
National Council of Jewish Women Seattle Section
425-558-1894 or [email protected]
Rabbi Cindy Enger, Director
Jewish Program at the FaithTrust Institute
206-634-1903 or [email protected]
Alison Iser
Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence/Jewish Caucus
425-562-8840 or [email protected]
Rabbi Dan Bridge, Director
Hillel at the University of Washington
206-527-1997 or [email protected]