viewpoints » S end letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com
guest column
Seeking Harmony In The Home
Jewish Family Service
J
ewish Family Service (JFS) has
launched a new initiative aimed at
tackling a difficult and uncomfort-
able issue — domestic abuse within the
Jewish community.
This new 100 Mensches program is a
group of Jewish men committed to edu-
cating the community, particularly men,
about the various ways in which domestic
abuse can exist, which can include physi-
cal violence, verbal abuse, psychologi-
cal intimidation, sexual abuse, financial
threats, withholding of money and bully-
ing.
Domestic abuse continues to be ram-
pant across America and, sadly, the Jewish
community is not immune to it.
According to the experts, within Jewish
culture, many women are especially reluc-
tant to come forward out of fear that doing
so would tarnish their family’s reputation
or that the community would take the
word of their husband or partner over
theirs. Consequently, there is often a silent
shame among Jewish victims, which cuts
across all affiliations of Jewish life. 100
Mensches seeks to enlist Jewish men to
understand their role and responsibility
in eliminating the problem from our com-
munity.
Although JFS has been dealing with
domestic abuse for more than 25 years,
in recent years, especially through its
Legal Referral Service, JFS has seen an
alarming uptick in the number of cases it
handles. In response, JFS established the
Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse
(JCADA), a collaboration of Jewish orga-
nizations focused on educating, advocat-
ing, supporting and raising awareness of
this destructive issue in our community.
JCADA offers extensive education and pre-
vention programs while also offering clini-
cal support to victims (see jcada.org).
A central tenet of Judaism is the concept
of shalom bayit — harmony in the home
— but sadly, the reality is far different in
many Jewish homes where domestic abuse
exists in some form and is a constant
destructive force to the victim and other
family members.
To address this in our community, 100
Mensches has kicked off its initial project,
a college scholarship contest currently
under way for local high school seniors.
Participating students are required to
submit an 800-1,000-word essay address-
ing the simple question, “How can Jewish
values help create a future free of domestic
abuse?”
The submissions, judged by a cross sec-
tion of agency leaders and clergy, will be
evaluated based on a student’s innovative
ideas, while incorporating Jewish values.
The top three submissions will be awarded
college scholarships in the amount of
$2,500, $1,500 and $1,000, respectively.
The contest is currently open and the
deadline for submissions is April 15, with
the winners being announced in mid-May.
Details of the contest can be found at
100mensches.org.
100 Mensches needs at least 100 male
mensches — and we know this communi-
ty is filled with plenty of them. Please sign
up and support the program with a $100
donation at 100mensches.org.
We call upon our community to lend
your support to our 100 Mensches group
and help us raise awareness so that our
men and sons will always create harmony
in the home — shalom bayit.
*
Mark Jacobs, vice president, board of directors, Jewish
Family Service; Perry Ohren, CEO; Don Rochlen,
president, board of directors; and Steven Spector,
chair, 100 Mensches, authored this column.
CORRECTIONS
• “Final Requirement” (March 24,
page 14) should have listed the date
for Cantorial Soloist Rachel Gottlieb
Kalmowitz’s free cantorial concert as
Saturday (not Sunday), April 30, 6 p.m.,
at Temple Beth El, 7400 Telegraph,
Bloomfield Township.
• “Part Of The Family” (March 17,
page 10) should have stated the religion
of Congregation Beth Shalom’s main-
tenance manager Vasile Havrisciuc as
Pentecostal.
commentary
Donald Trump Isn’t The Problem, We Are
D
onald Trump’s words
about immigrants have been
weren’t the worst part
condemned by the Anti-
of his appearance before
Defamation League as “hate
the world’s largest annual Jewish
speech and stereotyping.”
gathering, the AIPAC Policy
They applauded a man who,
Conference in Washington, D.C.
as the leaders of the American
The standing ovations from many
Conservative Jewish Movement
in the Verizon Center when he
pointed out, has made “blatant
Menachem
attacked the president of the
sexual references and charac-
Creditor
United States were.
terized women and minorities
Times of Israel with derogatory epithets that
Where were AIPAC’s commit-
ment to bipartisanship and its
no moral society should toler-
expectation of conference partici-
ate.”
pants to “be on their best behavior and
They applauded a man Orthodox rab-
to treat all guests with respect?”
bis recently felt obligated to call upon to
The bipartisan respect AIPAC values
categorically repudiate racism, bigotry
so highly was woefully absent when
and xenophobia.
thousands of attendees leapt to their
They applauded a man to whom the
feet and cheered when President Obama American Reform Jewish Movement
was described by Trump as “a disaster
wrote: “You have told supporters to
for Israel.” This false and mean accusa-
‘Just knock the hell’ out of protestors,
tion was made by a man who has waged promising to pay their legal fees. How
a race-tinged “birther” war against the
does your refusal to explicitly condemn
president. And then the lights at the
violence reflect our nation’s commit-
Verizon Center went on, as a signal
ment to free speech and robust political
for the crowd to rise and applaud, and
discourse?”
applaud they did.
And, while they applauded, hun-
They applauded a man whose remarks dreds of rabbis protested Trump’s
8 March 31 • 2016
appearance. Some gathered as “Rabbis
Against Trump.” Some joined the
Reform Movement’s “Holding Leaders
Accountable” text study, designed spe-
cifically for this year’s AIPAC Policy
Conference. Some rabbis chose to absent
themselves entirely during Trump’s
speech.
The group I joined, Come Together
Against Hate, left the Verizon Center
once Trump arrived and walked out in
protest.
I was blessed to join Rabbis Morris
Allen, Jesse Olitzky and David Paskin
and 70 more rabbis and rabbinical stu-
dents as we studied sacred texts about
ethical conduct, challenged each other
to not respond to Trump’s hateful rheto-
ric along the campaign trail with hatred
or demonization, and to pray.
As Rabbi David Paskin, lead organizer
of the Come Together Against Hate
walk-out, reflected: “We have listened
for long enough. Now it is time to come
together against hate. It is time to stand
on the shoulders of those who built our
country, based on values born out of
our sacred scriptures. It is time to come
together as people of faith and say, ‘Mr.
Trump — you do not speak for us; you
do not represent us and we will not let
your bigotry, xenophobia, misogyny,
racism and hatred go unanswered any-
more.’”
But it would be a misrepresentation to
end the story with our intrepid rabbinic
voyagers learning, praying and singing.
Hundreds of rabbis within AIPAC’s
community protested Donald Trump’s
presence. Thousands more participated
virtually, thanks to real-time sharing
on many social media platforms. Many
more learned of the protests thanks to
intense media coverage.
And, while hundreds of rabbis pro-
tested, thousands of AIPAC attendees
applauded. And roared. And cheered.
Trump spoke. AIPAC stood and clapped.
But here’s what matters most: Will you
clap when Trump speaks next?
*
Menachem Creditor serves as the spiritual leader
of Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, Calif.