Boys to Mentsch: Partnership and Positive Masculinity Strengths and Needs Assessment I

Boys to Mentsch: Partnership and Positive Masculinity Strengths and Needs Assessment I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY a. Brief Description of Project: Jewish Women International (JWI), in partnership with Counseling, Helpline and Aid Network for Abused Women (CHANA), is developing a public awareness and education campaign to empower Jewish Orthodox men and boys to prevent and address domestic and sexual violence in their community of Baltimore, Maryland. This unique project engages men as allies and utilizes community leadership (including rabbis, fathers and educators) as positive influencers of other men and boys. The Good Guys campaign is an essential initiative that incorporates a curriculum on healthy relationships, bullying prevention and positive masculinity for boys, violence awareness and sensitivity workshops for male youth-serving community leaders (including rabbis, teachers, informal educators and fathers) and a culturally relevant print and social media awareness campaign. The project’s goal is to shift the culture from one of silence and victim-blaming to one of openness, empowerment and protection for victims.

b. Purpose and Objectives of Needs Assessment: The purpose of the Needs Assessment is to better understand the strengths and gaps in supporting healthy masculinity within the orthodox Jewish community of Baltimore. Rabbinical leadership attitudes around masculinity, abuse and relationships play a major role in defining community norms, and the interviews conducted offer key insights into the strengths and gaps in the community. The Needs Assessment collected information about understandings of masculinity, the role of men in marriage, perceptions of domestic violence within the community, the impact of domestic violence on the community at large, and available community services and resources.

A secondary objective of the needs assessment was to introduce the project to community leadership and engage them at this early stage, building investment and ownership in the project.

c. Brief Description of Sections of Report: In addition to the project description, this report includes a description of the assessment tools and methodology, the key findings, a summary of the findings, recommendations for moving forward and appendices.

d. Assessment Tools Used: JWI created a guiding document for the interviewer to use during his interviews with rabbis and social service professionals. This tool grouped questions under larger themes, including the impact of harmful relationships on the community, young men’s perceptions of a man’s role in a marriage, messages that young men receive about masculinity, ideas for promoting healthy relationships, and community needs and resources. Each of the respondents was personally interviewed using this tool (see Appendix A).

JWI also created an online and print survey intended to capture qualitative and quantitative data from boys ages 11-18 around their perceptions of masculinity, unhealthy relationships and expectations of marriage. A small group of high school boys sampled

the survey. Revisions were made to the survey based on their feedback. The survey was not used in the needs assessment process as it proved to be difficult to disseminate it without prior approval of the youth serving organizations, itself a finding on the hierarchal nature of the community. We plan to use the survey at a later point in the project.

e. Key Findings: The respondents agreed that the entire community is impacted by families experiencing abuse and felt that young men need guidance on positive masculinity and healthy relationships. Boys tend to think that a wife is subservient to her husband and that the ‘universe revolves around the man.’ There is a need for prevention programming that focuses on developing personal responsibility, empathy, communication skills, and conflict resolution strategies. Helping the boys find positive male role models to emulate, rather than athletes and celebrities, is of high importance.

The respondents also requested workshops for fathers, rabbis and other important influencers of boys. They felt that a public awareness campaign would benefit the entire community. All of the respondents were interested in participating in the project, indicating important community support.

II. DESCRIPTION OF PARTNERSHIP a. Individuals and Organizations Selected: JWI and CHANA are strong partners on this project, with JWI leading in program development and implementation and CHANA assisting with knowledge and connections regarding the Baltimore Jewish community.

CHANA has been an established presence in the Orthodox Jewish community since 1995 and provides a broad spectrum of partners to ensure that the project meets the diverse needs of this population. CHANA has a close working relationship with social service organizations including the House of Ruth Maryland and the Family Crisis Center of Baltimore County. CHANA frequently works with Jewish Community Services, which offers after-school and community programs. CHANA currently implements trainings for girls and women in the area’s Jewish schools, community centers and Camp Airy on topics including dating violence, healthy relationships and trauma. CHANA also partners closely with faith-based groups and runs a task force that includes 11 rabbis who have committed to creating an abuse-free environment in their synagogues. CHANA is a strong partner that offers counseling, mental health and other victim services and will facilitate collaboration with the Orthodox Baltimore community.

CHANA is the only organization providing comprehensive domestic violence services for the Jewish population in Baltimore, including outreach, collaboration, and support mechanisms as well as violence prevention workshops for girls. CHANA was created to provide culturally specific direct services for the underserved Jewish community of Baltimore. CHANA provides comprehensive services for their unique needs with expertise and demonstrated capacity to work effectively on domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. CHANA’s community-based services offer full linguistic access and culturally specific services and resources, including outreach,

collaboration, and support mechanisms primarily directed toward this diverse community, including prevention workshops for girls.

III. METHODOLOGY OF THE ASSESSMENT a. Tools Selected and Reasons for Selection: The Needs Assessment team was led by Deborah Rosenbloom, JD/MPA, JWI’s Vice President of Programs & New Initiatives, and Dr. Nancy Aiken, Executive Director of CHANA, Counseling, Helpline & Aid Network for Abused Women. The Needs Assessment team included: Rabbi Daniel Rosenfelt, project consultant, who received his rabbinic ordination from the Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, and a Masters of Arts in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola University; Dr. Yehuda Bergman, an art psychotherapist who works with vulnerable boys and youth; Mr. Phil Jacobs, survivor of sexual abuse and former executive editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times; Dana Fleitman, JWI’s Manager of Prevention and Training Programs.

The team determined that individual interviews would be the most effective means of performing the assessment. Each of the interviews was arranged in advance using personal and pre-existing relationships to introduce the project and request an interview. The interviewer met with the subject in person in his office or a mutually convenient location. Often several weeks and multiple modes of communication were needed before the interview could actually be scheduled.

IV: PARTICIPANT PROFILE a. Aggregate Description: As the leaders of the orthodox community, rabbis have tremendous influence over the families and youth in their community. Rabbis serve in different capacities, as leaders of synagogues, and as educators, and as leaders of religious organizations. It was important to identify influential rabbis from diverse elements of the community who serve as leaders in synagogues, yeshivot, Talmudic academies and youth-serving organizations. Social service agencies and community members participated in the Needs Assessment to provide information on the needs and strengths of available community resources and perceptions of the importance of this project.

i. Observational Data: Baltimore’s Orthodox Jews are an extremely observant community in which rabbinical authority is highly respected; traditional gender roles are the norm; and women are often held responsible for shalom bayit (domestic harmony). Schools are often single-sex and offer limited sexuality education, boys and girls are discouraged from socializing (Cohen, 2008), physical contact with the opposite sex is forbidden before marriage, and early marriage is encouraged.

Baltimore has the highest per-capita Orthodox population of any city in America

(Sheskin & Dashefsky, 2011). The 2010 Greater Baltimore Jewish Community Study found that the Orthodox Jewish population is growing rapidly, and there has been a greater than 50 percent increase since 1999 (North American Jewish Data Bank, 2010). There is substantial poverty; 12 percent of community members have an income below 200% of federal poverty levels, and one in three respondents reported that they were “just managing” to make ends meet (ibid.). About 5% of this community holds immigrant/refugee status, with 4% or 5,000 individuals born in the Former Soviet Union and nearly 1,000 born in Iran. The community is multi-lingual, with English, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and Farsi spoken.

V. BRIEF REPORT OF RESPONSES Community is impacted by harmful interpersonal relationships: The Needs Assessment found that there are deep concerns about the impact of harmful relationships, particularly on the children. Respondents understood that the impact of witnessing abuse is multi-generational and that harmful relationships have an impact beyond the immediate family. Abusive relationships have the potential to cause psychological damage to the children, teach them negative examples of how to act in a relationships, cause splits in the community as other families are drawn into the drama, and drain the community of resources which are needed to support the family experiencing violence. Abusive relationships are not private matters but impact the entire community. As one rabbi said: “Even if a harmful relationship starts out as a personal problem, it ends up as a communal problem. The unique thing about the Jewish community is that our lives are intertwined, and we internalize the problem of the other without disassociating. The community is definitely harmed when there are families experiencing harmful relationships, as we are a sum of our parts.” Another rabbi said: “Society is built from building blocks, and the building blocks are the family. If the family is a filled with harmful relationships, it will crumble the entire society.” Young men believe marriage revolves around the husband: The consensus is that young men do not understand what their role is in a marriage. They are not trained in yeshiva to be a good husband and father. Young men tend to model what they saw at home while growing up. The respondents uniformly said that husbands are responsible for being the provider and the leader of the family but that young men tend to envision that as a husband they will be the ‘center of the universe.” Maimonides (medieval scholar) was cited as saying that a man needs to honor his wife more than he honors himself. While the wife needs to treat her husband as a king, he needs to treat her as a queen. In other-words, while the husband may consider himself to be a king, his wife is not his servant.

Boys are told that they are the center of the household and that they run the show. They are told their mitzvos (i.e. religious obligations) (such as attending synagogue regularly and having the time to study Jewish texts) are the focal point. They are told that everything in their live must work to ensure that they are able to have the time to fulfill these obligations. They feel they are in charge of how the religious tone of the house should go (as the couple follows the man’s customs). They will be the ones to decide what is kosher and what they will and will not eat.

Many of the respondents said that young men need to understand that marriage is about responsibility. As one rabbi said: “I want young men to realize marriage is about responsibility…. Leadership in general is about responsibility, and the buck stops with you as the man (the leader in the relationship).” Several cited the Kesuvah (Marriage document) which says that the husband needs to take of his wife and is responsible for her well-being and for financial support. But respondents said that men expect that marrying gives them the benefit of having another mother i.e. someone to cook, clean and take care of you, setting up a parent-child relationship and do not understand the concept of partnership, and of understanding that the couple shares the responsibilities of building a home. Men think women will help pay the bills, deliver and watch the children while the man thinks he can continue doing whatever he did as an unmarried man. Men also believe the wife is responsible with dealing with the children especially the “annoying parts of childhood.” Men are used to taking, but not giving, and men need to learn more about giving. It is an egocentric generation and both the husband and wife are generally looking at what they can get out for themselves. We need much more pre-marital counseling to understand what marriage is really like and how it is not all “stress free.” We must talk openly with the bride and groom before marriage. We cannot pretend that we do not have pre-conceived notions about what people think about a marriage. Media messages impact orthodox boys: Somewhat surprisingly, many of the respondents pointed to the media as a source of messaging about what it means to be a man and about women. Boys learn from the media about the importance of being a rugged, non-emotional, very strong man, as well as about ‘moral relativism.’ “The idolization of athletes and of accumulating wealth has very negative consequences. Athletes can convey an image of self-involvement, being pampered and one who is above everyone and whose vices are condoned. Rabbis said: “I think yeshiva kids know very little. They are distorted from what Hollywood tells them. Hollywood gives them an inaccurate picture: either they depict it as perfect or dysfunction (the two extremes), but they never depict a normal relationship because that is generally not interesting.” “We live in a highly sexualized society where women are looked at in a demeaning fashion. Men’s perception of women is altered by media even in the most innocuous ways.” The media teaches boys that relationships are all about physical pleasure without boundaries. The head of one of the social service agencies said: The fifteen or sixteen year old boys that I have seen have an ugly and skewed vision of women and how to talk with women.” Positive masculinity needs to be taught: The rabbis agreed that boys need to learn how to ‘be a mensch.’ While the term lacks a singular definition (mensch is Yiddish for man) it is generally understood to be a good person. One rabbi defined it as “Being a ‘mensch’ means having proper manners, interacting with others, and accepting others are not like you,” while another said The media today does not stress being a nice or giving or even responsible person. I believe that is what being a mensch means. I would love to see more chessed as that is what being a mensch is: being responsible, kind and giving.” We need to teach boys how to create boundaries and how to relate to each other. Now we share everything with everyone.” Parents were partially blamed for being too permissive with their children as a way of avoiding conflict.

An interesting point was raised that is particular to this demographic – Orthodox boys and men are encouraged to talk in an argumentative style from an early age. Much of their day is spent studying Jewish texts in ‘chavrusa,’ two men reading and discussing Jewish texts together). One respondent wrote – “young men need to understand that their wife is not their chavrusa (learning partner)…. boys must understand that arguments do not need to be won!”

Resources are valued: Although not asked, several of the rabbi respondents offered that harmful relationships take up a lot of their time and that they are not equipped to provide appropriate intervention. They suggested that some ways the community can respond if a man is harming his wife is by validating the needs and concerns of the one being abused and providing safety for the victim. They were aware of the available resources, such as therapists and CHANA, and turn to them for help. Interestingly, although it is widely believed that orthodox rabbis advise not to talk to police or other government authorities (based on the Jewish concept of “mesirah”) the respondent rabbis did not appear to have that concern. Responses included “As a Rabbi, I would tell the abused person to contact the police to get the abuse to stop. Her safety comes first so I have no problem contacting the authorities.” Other rabbis said that if a congregant was experiencing violence they would turn to community resources such as CHANA and/or consult with another rabbi who has more experience with the issue. Baltimore’s Jewish Social Services Agency provides financial, counseling and vocational support; JSSA offers marital counseling, separation and divorce workshops and support groups for adults and children. JSC offers many services for families experiencing abuse, including therapeutic services, career services, financial assistance, referrals to lawyers, and anger management referrals. Talmudic Academy’s program called “Be Your Best” was cited as being terrific as it trains boys to be a mensch. Bais Yaakov (a girl’s school) has a program “Be a Mench” where an interpersonal lesson is gleaned from the weekly Torah portion and this teaches the children that the Torah demands you to be a mench. Need additional resources: The respondents to the social services interview were aware of the economic impact of domestic violence as they are turned to for financial assistance. The community needs more mental health professionals such as therapists and counselors for families experiencing violence. There is a need for more safe houses and shelters that meet the needs of the orthodox community in terms of kosher food. Housing is perceived to be a gap in terms of safe houses and shelters. The shelter provided by House of Ruth does not meet the needs of orthodox Jews, due to a lack of kosher food.

Need more public awareness: The community needs to be made more aware of the available resources so that people know how to help when they witness abusive behavior. There is a big need for a public awareness campaign addressing men, similar to the public awareness signs from CHANA that are in the locker rooms and rest rooms in community buildings.

VI. ANALYSIS OF KEY FINDINGS a. Identify strategic planning priorities: The Needs Assessment responses reveal important community support for the Good Guys program. Each of the respondents indicated that he or she would be interested in learning more about the project and in participating in it. We need to maintain their interest while the program is under development.

 Recognize importance of role models: Respondents agreed that role models are critical to young men’s positive character development. Male role models are considered to be of particular importance because of the gender segregated nature of the orthodox community. The boys live in a mostly male world composed of their friends (generally all male), and formal and informal male educators (teachers, coaches, camp counselors, youth group leaders). Boys sit in synagogue with their fathers and other men, study Jewish texts with their fathers, and participate in fun events such as sports together. Negative role models can also be used as opportunities for teaching and parents and teachers should expose and talk about their flaws.

 Use Jewish texts to discuss relationships: Jewish texts may be used as an entry point to discussing relationships and positive masculinity. One respondent gave the following example: “Look at our forefathers: Abraham and Sarah had trouble, Isaac hardly ever spoke to Rebecca, and do not even get me started with Jacob and Rachel and Leah. Maybe we should get kids to focus on our forefathers and what might have been really going on and what we can learn from their imperfect relationships. For example, the Torah tells us Abraham first pitched Sarah’s tent before his own. Maybe we should ask kids “why? Why do you think he did this?” One respondent cited the need for trained professionals to talk to youth about midos - (positive character traits).

 Teach skills that will promote Shalom Bayis in the long run: Learning ways to communicate differences of opinions, conflict resolution, and increased emotional sensitivity are seen as tools to reduce conflict and promote shalom bayis (domestic harmony). Finances were seen to be a tension point for many families and teaching boys about all aspects of family finances including their responsibilities for earning a livelihood and communicating about money was recommended by several respondents. Additionally, young men need someone to talk to about things they are bothered by and to help them process it. They must have the opportunity to process whatever might be needed to process. Boys can be encouraged to talk to an educator, parent, or rabbi when they need guidance about a difficult situation.

 Use life-cycle events as teaching opportunities: At the age of 13 the status of Jewish young men changes from boy to man – a status that enables teens to participate as adults in Jewish religious life. The time of ‘bar mitzvah’ can be

used to help young men understand what it means to be accountable and responsible.

Young couples – whether soon to be married or newlyweds can participate in conversations and counseling on healthy relationships and on ways to build and develop a good marriage. Young men need to realize marriage is the relationship where you learn how to become an eved Hashem (servant of God) and that being a husband is about mastering how to be a mensch.

 Create and implement public awareness campaign: The community understands itself is impacted when individual families experience violence. Greater awareness of effective intervention when a friend or neighbor is experiencing abuse will benefit the entire community and can be part of a community wide campaign. The campaign can also provide information about the existing resources to help families experiencing violence.

Current efforts to increase awareness about domestic violence are aimed at women. For example, women’s locker rooms and restrooms in buildings frequented by Jewish families have posters and awareness material about domestic violence and community resources. A similar campaign with messages targeted at Jewish men would promote positive masculinity and increase awareness about domestic violence.

 Provide training opportunities: Rabbis, teachers, parents, and informal educators will benefit from specialized educational workshops on supporting positive masculinity and healthy relationships. Some specific topics that were mentioned by respondents include understanding and responding to risky behavior, learning how to set boundaries and limits for boys, and tools to increase young men’s sense of personal responsibility.

b. Project Modification (if needed): i. Scope: The original project included developing a video of boys and adults talking about healthy relationships that would be used as part of the curriculum and programs. Based on the challenge of getting young men to respond to the youth survey, it has been determined that the video will not be produced to be part of the curriculum. Instead, we will video parts of the actual workshops and individual interviews with leading authority figures from the community. This video will be used to enable people who could not attend individual programs to benefit from the project and to encourage more people to participate in it.

APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Big areas we are trying to learn about  In what way do harmful interpersonal relationships impact the community?  What’s the long term meaning of harmful relationships on the family and on the larger community? This is what we’d like to hear about - resources spent on relationships that don’t work, impact on the children, impact on other family members, friends,  With those concerns, what resources would be helpful in addressing this? o Is it talking to young men about relationships? o Is it activities? Is it messages?  Perceptions of a man’s role in a relationship.  What young men need to know about becoming a man, where are they getting these messages from, and what resources would be helpful to men  What do you think of the available resources, and what are the gaps  Will you be part of this project – sign on as an ally

Theme: Men’s Roles in a Relationship/Marriage Areas of inquiry – roles, responsibilities, being a ‘mench.’ Some ideas for questions:

 What do you think men know about their role in a marriage?  What do you think are men’s responsibilities in a marriage?  What does it mean to “be a man?” In a marriage? As a father? In the community?

Theme: Harmful Relationships and the Community Areas of inquiry – what is the impact of harmful relationships on the larger community? Some ideas for questions:

 Have you witnessed harmful relationships in your congregation and/or community?  Do you think that people see harmful relationships as a community problem, or a private problem?  Do you think that the community itself is harmed when there are families experiencing harmful relationships? If so, in what way?  What are some ways the community can respond if a man is harming his wife?

 For Rabbis - Who would you turn to for help if a congregant was experiencing violence? o Social worker/therapist o Consultation with another rabbi with more experience on the issue o Neither, would handle by myself

Theme: Becoming a “Mench” (part of the grant is to design a program for middle and high school boys as well as workshops for men) – we’d like to know what they would like boys to understand.

Area of inquiry - what does it mean to be a ‘man’ and how are young men learning that? Some ideas for questions:

 How do young men learn what it means to be a ‘mench’?  What kind of messages do they receive?  What kind of messages do you think boys are receiving from the media (popular culture) about being a man?  How can any negative messages about what it means to ‘be a man’ be countered?  What is the role of the father, teacher, rabbi, in teaching young men how to be a man?  Do you think young men today are learning how to be good husbands?  What resources/tools would be helpful for men to teach their sons how to be a ‘mench’?  At what age do you think young men need to start receiving messages about what it means to be a man?

Theme: Messaging for men and boys Area of inquiry – what messages would respondents like to see as part of a public awareness campaign? Some ideas for questions:

 What do you want young men to understand about a man’s role in a marriage? What messages should they receive? How about the men in the community? If you could think of one message for young men to receive about their roles in a marriage – what would you like it to say? Who would be saying it? (rabbi, father, teacher, coach, sports hero, biblical figure, etc?

Theme: Gaps and Strengths Area of inquiry - Community Resources. Some ideas for questions:

 Are you aware of any existing resources– programs, services, public awareness campaigns, in shuls, schools, the community addressing these issues and what do you think about them?  Are there gaps in services that you would like to see filled?  What are the strengths of the community in addressing these issues?

Theme: Participation in project Area of inquiry – How to engage in project. Some ideas for questions:

 What would it take to engage you in this project?  What role would you like to play as an ally in this project? (example, promote workshops to men, be on a committee, help outreach to the community, etc)

APPENDIX B: ROSTER OF RESPONDENTS

 Rabbi David Finkelstein, Executive Director. Camp Shoresh serves the Baltimore Jewish community as a summer camp with a host of Jewish learning coupled with outdoor activities.  Rabbi Emanuel Goldfeiz - Rav of the Sephardic congregation Beit Yaakov (Beit Safra).  Rabbi Zvi Teichman (current Rabbi at Congregation Ohel Mose in Baltimore and former principal of T.A High School for 10 years).  Rabbi Menachem Goldberger, spiritual leader of Congregation Tiferes Israel.  Rabbi Jonah Lerner, Regional Director of National Council of Synagogue Youth (NCSY). NCSY is a youth serving organization bringing together orthodox teens for social activities, Jewish community building, and service projects.  Rabbi Benyamin Marwick, rabbi of Congregation Shomrei Emunah, and member of the V’aad Ha’chinuch at Talmudic Academy. Rabbi Marwick previously served as the Director of the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at Johns Hopkins University.  Rabbi Shmuel Silber, founder and Dean of the Institute for Jewish Continuity, and also serves as Rav of Suburban Orthodox, Congregation Toras Chaim in Baltimore.  Community Organizations:  Jewish Community Center of Park Heights – Phil Miller, Executive Director. The JCC is a hub of activity for the entire Jewish community and includes programs, classes, sports activities, meeting hall, pre-school, cafeteria and library.  Association of Jewish and Family & Children’s Agencies – Lee Sherman, Executive Director. Through advocacy, consultation, education and networking, the AJFCA promotes services and policies that assist Jews in need, sustains healthy Jewish individuals and families, and strengthens individual and family connections to the Jewish and general communities.  Jewish Community Services – Joan Grayson Cohen, Esq., LCSW-C, Senior Manager of JCS Access Services. The mission of JCS is to support families and individuals basic needs for economic sufficiency; in living independently; in achieving mental health and competence; and in feeling supported by and connected to the Jewish community in ways that are meaningful to them. Ms. Cohen manages triage/intake, consultation, teen outreach, and support groups, and previously worked with the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Project.  Yeshivat Chofetz Chaim Talmudical Academy (TA) – Mr. Chaim Zeiff, Guidance Counselor. The Talmudical Academy (TA) has a student population of 450 boys in elementary, middle and high school. It is a rigorous school with an intensive dual curriculum of secular and Judaic studies.  Community Members:  Menashe Efron is a long time member of the community who reached out to JWI when he heard about the project, due to his interest in promoting healthy masculinity.  Howard Reznick, LCSW-C, serves the Baltimore community in several capacities: he is on the faculty of the Institute for Advanced Psychotherapy, has a private clinical practice, manages the prevention education programs for Jewish Community Service, and is on CHANA’s board.

Boys to Mentches Strategic Plan

Vision Statement

The men of the Orthodox Jewish community of Baltimore, Maryland positively impact community attitudes, modeling healthy masculinity and building a culture that respects and protects women from abuse.

Problem Statement:

All men should respect and empathize with their wives and support victims of abuse. The Orthodox community of Baltimore is an insular community where male authority is often perceived to be the norm, creating environments where unhealthy and abusive relationships can exist.

Context There is a dangerous misperception that American Jews are a monolithic community of privilege exempt from issues like domestic and sexual violence. Unfortunately, abuse is a cross-cutting issue that impacts all communities, and the Orthodox Jewish community of Baltimore, Maryland is a particularly at-risk population with a severe lack of resources.

Baltimore’s Orthodox Jews are an extremely observant and insular community dominated by male authority, particularly by rabbis. Traditional gender roles are the norm; women dress modestly, are educated separately from men and are responsible for shalom bayit (domestic harmony). Physical contact of any kind (i.e., holding hands) with the opposite sex is forbidden before marriage, schools are often single-sex and offer limited sexuality education, and boys and girls are discouraged from socializing (Cohen, 2008). Marriage typically happens at a young age (frequently between 18 and 20); this gender separation before early marriage along with the Jewish religion’s patriarchal origins and emphasis on male privilege normalize the acceptance of male domination within families and contributes to a culture of abuse. Engaging men as allies through promotion of positive masculinity will help enable boys and young men to have healthy relationships.

Baltimore has the highest per-capita Orthodox population of any city in America (Sheskin & Dashefsky, 2011). The 2010 Greater Baltimore Jewish Community Study found that the Orthodox Jewish population is growing rapidly, and there has been a greater than 50 percent increase since 1999 (North American Jewish Data Bank, 2010). There is substantial poverty; 12 percent of community members have an income below 200% of federal poverty levels, and one in three respondents reported that they were “just managing” to make ends meet (ibid.). About 5% of this community holds immigrant/refugee status, with 4% or 5,000 individuals born in the Former Soviet Union and nearly 1,000 born in Iran. The community is multi-lingual, with English, Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and Farsi spoken.

Sources:

Berger, P. (2010, December 9). Orthodox Jews Begin to Reckon with Sexual Abuse. Religion Dispatches Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/sexandgender/3258/orthodox_jews_begin_to_reckon_with_sexual_ab use.

Cohen, D.R. (2008, May 3). Among Orthodox Jews, More Openness to Sexuality. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/us/03religion.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

North American Jewish Data Bank. (2010). The 2010 Baltimore Greater Jewish Community Study. Retrieved October 19, 2012 from http://www.jewishdatabank.org/Archive/C-MD-Baltimore-2010-Executive_Summary.pdf.

Sheskin, I. & Dashefsky, A. (2011). Jewish Population in the United States, 2011. Berman Institute – North American Jewish Data Bank. Retrieved October 19, 2012 from http://www.jewishdatabank.org/Reports/Jewish_Population_in_the_United_States_2011.pdf.

Wax, E. (2012, March 19). ‘Standing Silent’follows uncovering of sexual abuse in Baltimore’s Orthodox Jewish community. The Washington Post. Retrieved October 19, 2012from http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/documentary-standing-silent-recounts-efforts-to-uncover-abuse- in-orthodox-community/2012/02/28/gIQAewi9NS_story.html.

Goals, Objectives and Action Plan

Goal 1: Reach 750 boys ages 12-18 with the Good Guys curriculum on empathy and positive masculinity.

Goal 1, Objective 1: Tasks/Activities Convene program  JWI and CHANA will research and connect with other groups that have development worked on relationship programs with Orthodox boys to get a sense of committee and what is available and what partnerships can be built update program.  JWI and CHANA will convene a committee to develop the programmatic workshops.  JWI and CHANA will create a committee schedule and begin development on a modular lesson plan adaptable to different age groups.  Program content will be reviewed by community leadership before finalizing and being approved by OVW. Goal 1, Objective 2:  Identify extra-curricular programs, schools and camps that are Identify and secure appropriate settings for curriculum delivery settings for  Reach out to program leadership to coordinate program delivery. curriculum delivery.

Goal 1, Objective 3:  Coordinate and schedule pilot testing Pilot test curriculum  Design evaluation for program participants and facilitators to assess and revise strengths, weaknesses and areas to change  Revise lessons as needed Goal 1, Objective 4:  Working through CHANA’s community connections as well as Jewish Identify and train Volunteer Connection, JWI and CHANA will recruit Jewish men from the facilitators for boys’ Baltimore area to facilitate this program program  CHANA will screen trainers through Volunteer Connection  JWI and CHANA will develop a training of trainers (TOT)  JWI and CHANA will conduct TOTs Goal 1, Objective 5:  Roll out program to secured settings Implement  Distribute evaluations to program participants and trainers to report on Curriculum success Goal 1, Objective 6:  JWI and CHANA will develop an evaluation for program participants Evaluate Workshop around attitude changes, lessons learned and program impact

 JWI and CHANA will develop an evaluation for program facilitators, eliciting their ongoing feedback and reporting about program impact  JWI and CHANA will track number of participants

Goal 2: Engage male leaders in the community as allies in the Good Guys campaign.

Goal 2, Objective 1: Tasks/Activities Develop workshops  JWI, CHANA and the steering committee will develop workshops on for religious leaders, positive masculinity for rabbis, educators and fathers. educators and  Workshops will be adapted for each audience. fathers

Goal 2, Objective 2: Rabbis are highly respected and influential leaders in the Jewish community. Identify and train  JWI and CHANA will build relationships with rabbis throughout the 20-30 religious project leaders  JWI and CHANA will invite rabbis and other clergy to session about violence in the community and responding to young people on issues of abuse and relationships  JWI and CHANA will secure locations and schedule trainings Goal 2,Objective 3: Fathers are valuable influencers of young people and can be strong allies for Identify and train women as well as positive bystanders. 80-100 fathers  Through rabbis and other community members, JWI and CHANA will recruit fathers for sessions on the issue of violence in the community, focusing on how to discuss relationships and violence with their children  JWI and CHANA will secure locations and schedule trainings Goal 2,Objective 4: Youth group leaders, athletic coaches and camp counselors serve as role models Identify and train and trusted confidants for teens, and the highly organized Jewish youth informal educators movement provides an opportunity to reach hundreds of youth.  JWI and CHANA will invite informal educators from the Seaboard Region of the United Synagogue Movement, the Atlantic Seaboard Region of National Council of Synagogue Youth, B'nai B'rith Youth Organization’s Baltimore Council, athletic coaches from the schools, the JCC Athletic League, and the coaches of the Maccabi Games® (also known as the Olympics for Jewish teens) to workshops  JWI and CHANA will secure locations and schedule trainings Goal 2, Objective 5:  JWI and CHANA will develop an evaluation for program participants Evaluate Workshops around attitude changes, lessons learned and program impact  JWI and CHANA will develop an evaluation for program facilitators, eliciting their ongoing feedback and reporting about program impact  JWI and CHANA will track number of participants

Goal 3: Design and distribute a public awareness campaign.

Goal 3, Objective 1: Tasks/Activities Develop Good Guys  JWI and CHANA will research media communications firms

Campaign Materials  JWI will brainstorm media campaign ideas with steering committee  JWI and CHANA will procure the services of a media communications firm to design and produce campaign materials.  Materials will be multi-lingual, culturally appropriate and include brochures, posters, bus billboards and radio PSAs Goal 3, Objective 2:  The media firm will be responsible for placing radio and print interviews Disseminate about the campaign. material  JWI and CHANA will work through the steering committee and community leadership to have materials displayed at schools, synagogues and community centers Goal 3, Objective 3:  JWI will create a social media campaign using Facebook, Twitter, and Create social media YouTube to brand the campaign, promote community forums, and campaign directly engage the community.  Specific hash tags (#s) will be created to tag messages on Twitter to promote easily searchable posts, a Facebook group will be created for individuals to ‘like’ and tag in wall posts, and a YouTube channel will be created to have a central access point for video content to be uploaded and viewed. Goal 4, Objective 4:  JWI will acquire camera and editing software and write interview Facilitate youth questions for boys media projects  As male youth participate in the curriculum, they will create and submit short video clips of themselves discussing violence and positive masculinity.  JWI will accept these submissions online during year 2 as more youth receive the curriculum.  A large community-wide event for boys who did not receive the curriculum will be held at the beginning of year 3, where boys will receive the curriculum and create and submit videos.  After the event, JWI will review all video submissions and edit them into a longer piece, which will be distributed as part of the public awareness campaign Goal 4, Objective 5:  JWI and CHANA will develop an evaluation for program participants Evaluate Campaign around attitude changes, lessons learned and program impact  JWI and CHANA will develop an evaluation for program facilitators, eliciting their ongoing feedback and reporting about program impact  JWI and CHANA will track number of participants