American Orthodox Jewish Women and Domestic Violence: An Intervention Design

Orthodox Jewish women who experience domestic violence face unique challenges when seeking aid and assistance. This paper presents an intervention design developed to help these women and their husbands cease their patterns of violence. Both rabbis and social workers are involved in this process, which includes strategies to reduce enactments with male authority figures and the use of therapeutic metaphor, all within a framework of the Orthodox Jewish tradition. In the intervention design presented, the larger Orthodox community is encouraged to participate in helping these women by making their synagogues into places of safety and tolerance.