Yad Sarah Family Center to Open New Location Serving Domestic Violence Victims in Israel’s South
ioneering program, which specializes in serving Orthodox families, expands its reach from Jerusalem to the Negev to meet critical community needs.
ISRAEL—Today, Yad Sarah, Israel’s largest volunteer-led organization, announced the opening of a Family Center in the western Negev to treat victims and perpetrators of domestic violence. It is the program’s second location, which is open to people in Israel of all backgrounds and has been widely recognized for its success in supporting the Orthodox community to address the complexities and sensitivities of domestic violence.
“We work very closely with community leadership on these issues,” said Dr. Shlomit Lehman, who directs the Center, along with a committee of Ashkenazi and Sephardic rabbanim who provide halachic guidance. “We were asked to open another center to serve people in the south, many of whom also suffer from the trauma and disruptions of the ongoing Gaza conflict.”
The organization’s Family Center in Jerusalem, which operates out of Yad Sarah House, has been successful in empowering women, men and children to deal with abuse and often reunite with family.
“Yad Sarah’s Family Center is continuing the work of Aharon HaKohen in facilitating reconciliation between spouses,” commented the Bostoner Rebbe, Rabbi Mayer Alter Horowitz. “Since a husband and wife are one unit, ishto k’gufo, if one person strikes another, whether physically or verbally, they are actually destroying themselves. Yad Sarah’s work in this area helps couples rebuild if possible—working through issues safely and, iyH, remaining together and raising children to Torah and yiddishkeit. I wish them much hatzlacha in this important work, both in Jerusalem and also the new center in the western Negev.”
The new location will open thanks to a generous grant from the Rosenbojm Komor Foundation, and is supported by local municipalities.
Two part-time social workers will form the core staff, and they will travel to communities throughout the Negev. Treatment options currently include group and individual therapy, but will expand to offer couples therapy, art therapy, conferences and school outreach programs, as at the Jerusalem center.
Yad Sarah opened its first Family Center in 2000, as part of its mission to bring help and hope to the people of Israel. The organization is well-known for its extensive volunteer staffed medical and home care equipment lending centers, but also provides elder care support services, home care, day rehabilitation, health education, travel support for tourists with special needs, in-home geriatric dental care, legal advocacy for elders at risk for abuse , and much more, all at little or no cost.
About Friends of Yad Sarah: Friends of Yad Sarah is the U.S.-based support organization for the largest volunteer-staffed organization in Israel, providing a range of free or low-cost health and home care support services that save the Israeli economy several hundred million dollars each year in hospitalization and medical costs. Founded in 1976, Yad Sarah currently offers more than 20 programs through 100+ branches across the country, with 6,000 volunteers bringing help and hope to more than 400,000 people last year alone.