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How will you ever dig yourself out of this hole if you do not love yourself, and your own life, enough to push the emotional rubbish off of your face and climb out? Self-love, amazingly enough, is simply having a basic sense of self-preservation that is intact and functioning.

My amazing and talented friend, Sheila Wasserman, has created a conversation forum which has, as one of many topics, Domestic Violence. I am the surprised and humbled moderator of that topic.
If you ever wanted to say anything to the entire world, this is your chance. If you have an idea that could be [...]

Jewish tradition is very clear: it is forbidden for one person to harm another. This includes physical abuse: the Talmud states that it is forbidden to even raise a hand against another;

My point is: be who you are. If you are gay or lesbian, please, know that understanding and acceptance are part of reality now. Be who you are. Love the person you love. Please don’t love the person you are expected to love. It never works out.

What do you do when the trust is broken?

For the battered one, the sweet, fresh trust of love has been violated with the first punch. Nothing the batterer can do will ever bring that back.

The Talmud forbids a husband from being overbearing to his household, and domestic abuse by him was also condemned. It was said of a wife that God counts her tears.

“All the blessings of a household come through the wife, therefore should her husband honour her.”
“Men should be careful lest they cause women to weep, for God counts their tears.

A wife was also seen as being of high value, and was therefore, usually, carefully looked after.

If you are her friend, and you think that she doesn’t know that you know, maybe you need a check-up. If you are her friend, you know. She has hollow eyes. She has lost (or gained) weight. She winces when you hug her hello or good-bye. She doesn’t look at you when you talk. She seems to have nothing to say.

At last, I came across a passage that I had never noticed before. It said (roughly) that a wife could return to her father’s house if her husband mistreated, or beat, her. . . . I don’t remember the exact words. I do remember the feeling of freedom. This was our ticket out. We could leave now.

Understand, that if Jewish Law required a husband to treat his wife well, nothing about the coming of Christ would eradicate that requirement.

According to some studies, less that 1 percent of domestic violence cases are reported to the police. According to the Centers for Disease Control, domestic violence is a serious, preventable public health problem affecting more than 25 million American women.