As part of its commitment to address the serious issue of domestic abuse in Jewish homes, Jewish Women International announces the launch of the Domestic Abuse Clergy Task Force. This intra-denominational task force will unite the entire rabbinical community and create an agenda for clergy involvement on this complex issue.

As religious and community leaders, rabbis and cantors are critical to ending violence in Jewish homes. JWI's recently completed year-long Needs Assessment study, "A Portrait of Domestic Abuse in the Jewish Community," confirms that domestic abuse is a significant and under-recognized issue impacting Jewish homes and families and that far too often the needs of those affected by abuse, primarily women and children, are unmet. The report also confirms that Jewish women are more likely to turn to rabbis who publicly recognize that our homes and relationships are not immune to abuse.

The Clergy Task Force grew out of JWI’s First International Conference on Domestic Abuse in the Jewish Community in 2003. More than 40 rabbis participated in the conference in 2003 and many more are expected to participate in the second international conference in March 2005.

The Task Force will initially be organized as a two-year effort. During the first year, members will create an intra-denominational agenda and action plan for rabbis throughout the United States, as well as launch a public awareness campaign.

As part of that process, the members of the task force are asking their colleagues to do three things:
1. Include a prayer in their holiday services for those who have been abused by intimate partners
2. Join JWI’s national network of rabbis adding their voices to this simple and powerful statement: “Every woman and girl should be safe--in her relationships and in her home.”
3. Attend the day of rabbinic education and text learning at JWI’s 2nd International Conference on Domestic Abuse in the Jewish Community.

Members of JWI’s Domestic Abuse Clergy Task Force (as of 8/30/04):

Rabbi Richard Address, director of the Department of Jewish Family Concerns at the Union for Reform Judaism

Rabbi Elliot Dorff, PhD, rector of the University of Judaism, Vice-Chair of the Conservative Movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards and author of its rabbinic ruling on family violence

Rabbi Mark Dratch, rabbi of Congregation Agudath Sholom, Stamford, CT and Vice-president of the Rabbinical Council of America

Rabbi Cindy Enger, JD, director of the Jewish Program at FaithTrust Institute in Seattle, WA

Rabbi Susan Grossman, rabbi of Beth Shalom Congregation, Columbia, MD and a co-editor of the Etz Hayim Torah and Commentary for the Conservative movement

Rabbi Richard Hirsh is the Executive Director of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association

Rabbi Lisa Izes serves as the Assistant Director of the Department of Jewish Family Concerns at the Union for Reform Judaism

Rabbi Diana S. Monheit, director of Religious Education at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, NJ.

Rabbi Ron Muroff, MA, rabbi of Chisuk Emuna Congregation in Harrisburg, PA

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President of the New York Board of Rabbis, the Senior Rabbi at Congregation Mount Sinai, Brooklyn Heights, and serves as the rabbinic chaplain to the New York City Fire Department

Rabbi H. David Rose, Senior Rabbi, Congregation Har Shalom, Potomac, MD, serves on the Rabbinical Assembly Membership Committee and is a member of the Chancellor's Cabinet of the Jewish Theological Seminary

Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, PhD, the Executive Vice-President of the Orthodox Union. He is Rabbinic Liaison for NEFESH: the North American Network of Orthodox Mental Health Professionals, and a member of the Ethics Committee of the Veterans Administration Hospitals

Rabbi Ira Youdovin, Executive Vice President of the Chicago Board of Rabbis and also serves Congregation Bnai Abraham of Beloit, Wisconsin. He is president of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago

For more information, contact JWI Program Director Deborah Rosenbloom at drosenbloom@jwi.org.