Abuse in the Jewish Community

Jewish women, like many women who live with domestic violence, may be afraid to leave their husbands out of fear for their children’s safety or fear of being separated from them. They may also fear that they will not find help or a safe place to go to. Women who keep kosher may be afraid to leave abusive husbands because of the difficulty of obtaining kosher food or observing Shabbat (the Sabbath) in a shelter or safe house. Orthodox women may fear exposing their children to nonreligious (secular) culture in a shelter. However, there may be shelters available that have a kosher kitchen or that might provide you with resources so that you can bring in your own kosher food.

Talk to a domestic violence advocate in your state to find out what is available by going to our Advocates and Shelters page.

There are legal services agencies out there that specialize in helping religious Jewish women. To find out if any exist in your community, you can look on the Finding a Lawyer page for your state, or you can go to the Jewish Resources page in our National Organizations section.