The Shame Borne in Silence ─ Spouse Abuse in the Jewish Community

Providing a religious lens on the topic, this book directly addresses the problem of spousal abuse in the Jewish community, in hopes of confronting the truth and taking definitive steps to end this violation of all that Judaism stands for. A leading rabbi and psychiatrist reveals with striking candor, firmness, and compassion what may have been closely kept dark secrets in many Jewish families and offers urgently needed advice and direction. Rabbi Twerski’s book was one of the first titles to break open the issue, and this new edition relates the recognition of abuse, the warning signs, and how to respond.

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, MD, is the founder and medical director of Gateway Rehabilitation Center, a not-for-profit drug and alcohol treatment system in western Pennsylvania, cited by Forbes magazine as one of the 12 best drug and alcohol treatment centers in the United States. He has served as clinical director of the department of psychiatry at St. Francis Hospital and is currently associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He has written more than 20 books, including Addictive Thinking: Understanding Self-Deception; I’d Like to Call for Help but I Don’t Know the Number; Let Us Make Man: Self-Esteem Through Jewishness; Life’s Too Short; Waking Up Just in Time; and When Do the Good Things Start? He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.