There's abuse in Jewish Communities!

I'm on the mailing list for The Awareness Center, have been reading the Jewish Survivors and Unorthodox Jew blogs regularly. I'm getting so overwhelmed reading what I read. I keep telling myself to stop, but I don't. I know how important what I have been reading is. I know the world is changing right before my eyes. There are so many cases of sexual abuse in the Jewish community. I know it's no different then any other community, but this is about my people. I know that most of the things I'm reading about are coming from religious communities. I am not from that kind of community. The problem is that we are all Jews.

I read about Rabbi Marc Gafni. I was in shock. I've met him a few times. Each time I met him my gut was telling me to run away, to stay as far away from him as I could. He really creeped me out. It wasn't anything he did or said It was more on instinct. It was the way he looked at me. I felt like I was naked in front of him. I saw the way he interacted with other women. At the time I thought I was just having a flashback or something. Now I know my gut was right.

I read all the stuff on blogs and cry. I don't know if it's tears of sadness or joy. I say sadness because I know the pain each of the survivors have been going through. I say joy because all this shit is coming out in the open. No more secrets!