My new book is on sexual abuse in the Jewish community is coming out, and I hope it will make a difference

It took seven years to create -- but my book, "When Rabbis Abuse", may finally help our community move the needle on this awful phenomenon.

It’s hard for me to say that I’m excited about the forthcoming release of my new book. After all, it’s on one of the darkest topics that exist in our community today. When Rabbis Abuse: Power, Gender, and Status in the Dynamics of Sexual Abuse in Jewish Culture unpacks the dynamics of sexual abuse, especially the kind committed by rabbis and other trusted leaders. The topic itself is emotionally and spiritually tormenting. The very thought that people who we look up to as pious leaders are committing some of the worst acts of torture on other human beings should stop us all in our tracks. This is not something to be celebrating. The fact that my book exists — that I have 400 pages of testimonies about this — is deeply upsetting.

With that, I am grateful to have gotten to this point. I started this book in 2015 — before #MeToo, before Kavanaugh, before Freundel, even before Trump. I started with the desire to dig beneath the surface and find out how deep this problem goes in our community and culture. The more I dug, the more I found….

And I think the community has been having a similar process. Unearthing some of the most horrific things that human beings can do to one another. My writing process was in parallel with a lot of what was going on in the world.

That’s perhaps why it took so long to write. I kept having to adjust and add and correct and rethink. New stories, new testimonies, and new insights were constantly coming forth. It seemed — it seems — almost endless.

Still, if there are glimmers of hope, I feel like this book can be one of them. Because we all know that sunlight is the best disinfectant. If we are ever going to fix this awfulness, we are going to have to talk about it and understand it — in detail, about how it happens, why it happens, and what we all must do to stop it.

This book has the power to make a difference. It will give us all the tools and language to name the understand — and to take responsibility for ending it.

SAVE THE DATE!

When Rabbis Abuse BOOK LAUNCH!
June 19
1PM EST; 10AM PST; 6PM London time; 8PM Israel time
Details to follow

If you want to hear a bit more about the work that I put into this book, you can listen to this interview on Kan English radio with Mark Weiss, or read a review in Haaretz by Judy Maltz.

I’m proud and humbled to share some of the things people are saying about the book so far:

Elana Sztokman has done a great service to Jewish life with her meticulous and moving book. She shines a light on communal structures, organizational hierarchies, and Jewish cultural tendencies that too often silence victims and allow offenders to get away with their transgressions. The book should move us to action so that the leaders of our communities, synagogues and institutions will be held accountable to our professed ethics and ideals.

— Rabbi Daniel Pressman
Chair, Va'ad Hakavod (Ethics Committee), Rabbinical Assembly

Elana Sztokman's book is an invaluable tool with which to dismantle the structures of Jewish patriarchy and unmask the shame and secrecy that enable sexual abuse and protect offenders. A must-read for anyone who cares about the safety and well-being of every member of the Jewish community.

— Letty Cottin Pogrebin
Author of Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy.

This is one of the most important books for the Jewish world in years. Sztokman thoughtfully, calmly examines an emotionally charged issue in a way that only a true expert can. Jewish leaders and community members should consider it an essential read.

Elad Nehorai
Writer, activist, and founder of Hevria

The health of the soul of the Jewish community depends on our willingness and ability to confront the painful truths of clergy abuse - sadly frequent and seldom spoken about publicly. Dr. Elana Sztokman's powerful book gives all of us the opportunity to bear witness to the pain and strength of survivors and the wisdom for how to move forward through a process of reckoning and reenvisioning. Critical reading for all Jewish leaders.

— Rabbi Rachel Grant Meyer
Educator, artist, writer, and founder of rabbae jewels

Dr Sztokman perfectly captures the scope and nature of the problem of sexual harassment in Jewish institutions in all its tragic minutiae. When Rabbis Abuse should be mandatory reading for all institutional leaders."

— Asher Lovy
Director of Za’akah

This work is a deep, probing, and intricate look at our culture, its many subcultures, and the unanswered questions that remain regarding sexual abuse in our communities.... It should be required reading for rabbinic students and their mentors, and anyone at all in a Jewish community could benefit.

—Dr. Sarah Ruth Hoffman
Epidemiologist, blogger, advocate, and survivor of sexual assault by her rabbi.

Dr. Sztokman’s research brings to light the dirty little secrets in Jewish communal life that no one has ever wanted to talk about. Fortunately, we are living in a time when inappropriate behavior is being called out for what it is. Illegal, immoral, unethical and most decidedly not ‘Jewish.’

Naomi Eisenberger
Executive Director of The Good People Fund and co-founder of Ta’amod: Stand Up!

When Rabbis Abuse is insightful and thought-provoking. It is also painful in the challenges it poses to us all - to learn, to acknowledge where and how we have failed in our holiest spaces, and to recommit ourselves to doing what is necessary so that our institutions and organizations are places of safety and respect.

— Shana Aaronson
 Director, Magen for Jewish Communities

Pre-orders are available here.

Contact me if you would like a review copy

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