Nov 13
Abuse, Domestic Violence, Politics Comments Off on On Elections
The unfolding electoral events are personal to me, a microcosm of my life.
They are personal because I am a survivor of domestic violence and I am still dealing with my own ‘Donald Trump.’ Donald may be loud and brash and my ex cold and calculating, but underneath that plated gold veneer they are the both the same.
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Jan 22
Abuse, Home Comments Off on On Home Sweet Home
The rooms never really felt like mine. They were full of furniture bought because normal people started their normal lives with a dining room set, a bedroom set, a dinette set, a living room set, and a breakfront heavy with silver gifts that shouted. Bookcases full of holy books, for holy people, living holy lives.
Of course I knew that before I changed anything, it was best to ask Sister or Mother. I knew that that I had always hung the pictures in the wrong places, for the wrong reasons, on the wrong walls, that I had always shown them to the wrong people.
I knew that I didn’t know how to decorate, pick paint or arrange flowers, and that I couldn’t do the laundry without leaving stains on the clothes. I knew that I always set the table with the wrong fork on the wrong side, that I couldn’t be trusted to put the rug straight and even, that I never remembered to dust the tops of the bookcases.
Of course I knew all this, I’m not stupid, you know.
Mar 06
Abuse, Bais Din, Court, Divorce, Get, Religion Comments Off on On GETTING Down to Business
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*** UPDATE ***
This article was published on March 6, 2013. On April 30, 2013, the husband and his attorney objected to the publicity. On May 26, 2013, the husband said he was ready to give the Get. On May 28, 2013, after FOUR long years, the husband gave his wife the Get, and along with it, her freedom. To avoid the possibility that the husband would change his mind, the Get was given to the wife via proxy.
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There are many gender inequalities in the Orthodox Jewish world, none more heartbreaking than in the area of divorce. According to Jewish law, only the husband may grant a get – the decree of divorce – and the wife is powerless to leave the marriage without his consent. This system of justice without checks and balances often leaves woman at the mercy of her husband, as she remains an “aguna,” a chained woman, awaiting release.
Feb 13
Abuse, Domestic Violence, Religion Comments Off on On You
You Know That Physical Abuse Is Wrong.
Say It.
Feb 10
Abuse, Children, Education, Prayer, Religion, Yeshiva Comments Off on On Miseducation
No Torah. No Daas. Just Acceptance of Abuse
There are many times when a Rebbe’s derech of chinuch is difficult on a child. After all, wouldn’t most boys prefer to spend time on their own terms rather than having to sit, write and learn for what is often more than a 9 hour day?
As parents, we trust the mechanchim to find the proper balance betweenn childhood and education, to teach our sons to enjoy learning and to find satisfaction in ameilus batorah.
Most of the time, the yeshiva hadracha is dynamic and effective, this time – it wasn’t.