Today, the topic of a safe community is a very burning issue. Unfortunately, almost every day we hear about very difficult cases of sexual harassment, abuse, and rape of girls and boys, women and men.
The Barkai Center for Practical Rabbinics and Community Development, that has trained close to 60 rabbis across the State of Israel believes that the community rabbi has an important part in leading the community on this matter.
Therefore, we just concluded at the Barkai Center a course for rabbis that trains them to be certified monitors against sexual harassment.
According to the law against sexual harassment in Israel, it is the legal responsibility of every educational institution, organization and place of employment to train a monitor that is responsible for the prevention of and dealing with cases of sexual harassment and abuse.
The training was provided by Tahel. Tahel was established in 1993 in order to provide emotional support, advice and referrals for women, teenagers and children during times of crisis. Over the years the Center has developed programs to help women and children deal with the trauma of war and terror in addition to helping victims of abuse.
The course delved into the legal, social, ethical and psychological aspects and gave the rabbis practical tools for prevention as well as dealing with complicated situations. The course was given by experts in the field.
Debbie Gross, the Founder and Director of Tahel said: "We, at Tahel, were proud to partner with the Barkai Center in this very important project to train rabbis to be monitors against sexual harassment in the community and the workplace. We encourage all communities and organizations to follow in the footsteps of this important and groundbreaking initiative."
Rabbi David Fine, the Founder and Dean of Barkai said: "We are attempting to make the community rabbi more relevant in the life of his community/ Therefore it was important for us to give the rabbis the requisite skills to lead his community during the complex times in which we live."