Violence Against Women in the Orthodox Jewish Community

Abstract

In order to understand the dynamics of violence against women in the Orthodox Jewish community, it is necessary to first define and understand what it means to be Jewish and Orthodox. The lives of the Orthodox revolve around their Jewishness. It would be impossible to provide effective counseling within an Orthodox community without at least a basic understanding of the culture and the way religion not only plays into it but even defines it. Perhaps the single most significant tenet of Orthodox Judaism is the belief in Torah miSinai-that the Torah' was given to the Jewish people by G-d at Mount Sinai sotne 3000 years ago, and that therefore to observe the Torah is to act in accordance with the will of G-d. A Jew is considered Orthodox by dint of their belief in, and to a lesser extent their obedience to, the Torah system. The comprehensive set of laws spelled out by the Torah is called halacha. and indeed there is no aspect of life that is not addressed by it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)