Orthodox Jewish Community Research Articles

Learning from the Past: Considering the Ethics of Appropriation

Learning from the Past: Considering the Ethics of Appropriation

Scars of the Soul: <em>Get</em> Refusal and Spiritual Abuse in Orthodox Jewish Communities

Scars of the Soul: <em>Get</em> Refusal and Spiritual Abuse in Orthodox Jewish Communities

Memories of Two Generations: A Yiddish Life in Russia and Texas by Alexander Z. Gurwitz

Reviewed by: Memories of Two Generations: A Yiddish Life in Russia and Texasby Alexander Z. Gurwitz Joshua J. Furman Memories of Two Generations: A Yiddish Life in Russia and Texas. By Alexander Z. Gurwitz. Edited by Bryan Edward Stone. Translated by Amram Prero. Jews and Judaism: History and Culture. ( Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2016. Pp. xxiv, 416. $59.95, ISBN 978-0-8173-1903-8.) In August 1910, when he was fifty-one years old, Alexander Z. Gurwitz set out from a Ukrainian town in czarist Russia along with his wife and four children. A month later, the Gurwitz family boarded the ship in Bremen, Germany, that eventually brought them to Galveston, Texas, and a new life in San Antonio. Twenty-five years later, in his seventies, Gurwitz composed a Yiddish-language memoir about his traditional religious upbringing in eastern Europe and his experiences as an immigrant and member of the San Antonio Jewish community in the early twentieth century. Thanks to an older English translation by Rabbi Amram Prero and a new scholarly introduction and footnotes by historian Bryan Edward Stone, both scholars and laypeople will find Memories of Two Generations: A Yiddish Life in Russia and Texasa treasure trove of information about Jewish life spanning two eras and two continents. The first 240 pages of the memoir offer an intimate account of eastern European Jewish life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Gurwitz narrates in detail the rhythms of his family's religious observances, the particulars of his yeshiva education, and the vicissitudes of his life as a married man, kosher butcher, and teacher who spent twenty years of his adult life in eastern Ukraine. Regular readers of this journal will be drawn to the final sixty pages of Gurwitz's book, which describe his immigration journey and his impressions of America and Texas. [End Page 728] From the standpoint of southern Jewish historical scholarship, the memoir is particularly notable on two counts. First, it offers a rare full account from an individual who participated in the "Galveston Immigration Movement," the coordinated effort on the part of Jewish community leaders to redirect eastern European immigrants away from the East Coast in the decade before World War I (p. 4). Second, Gurwitz's memoir sheds valuable light on the inner workings of a small but viable Orthodox Jewish community in early-twentieth-century San Antonio, helping reframe the way scholars think about immigrant Jewish life in pockets of settlement far from the major urban centers of the East Coast and Midwest. Gurwitz himself offers a somewhat unusual portrait of an eastern European Jewish immigrant, as editor Bryan Edward Stone notes. Poverty did not drive him and his family away from Russia; unlike the majority of his contemporaries, Gurwitz enjoyed relative economic stability at the time he made the decision to emigrate. By leaving for America, Gurwitz hoped to protect his family from a cholera outbreak raging in their town, and from the ever-present threats of anti-Semitic violence and czarist persecution. "Thus," Stone writes, "Gurwitz reversed the conventional narrative in which Russia was the site of traditional Jewish worship and America of assimilation and secularism. He came to America believing it was a better place for an Orthodox Jew to lead a traditional life than Russia was" (p. 2). Notwithstanding a few minor errors in the book's glossary of foreign terms, Stone is to be commended for shepherding this valuable new edition of Gurwitz's memoir into our hands. Joshua J. Furman Rice University Copyright © 2017 The Southern Historical Association

Travel- and Community-Based Transmission of Multidrug-ResistantShigellasonneiLineage among International Orthodox Jewish Communities

Abstract Shigellae are sensitive indicator species for studying trends in the international transmission of antimicrobial-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Orthodox Jewish communities (OJCs) are a known risk group for shigellosis; Shigella sonnei is cyclically epidemic in OJCs in Israel, and sporadic outbreaks occur in OJCs elsewhere. We generated whole-genome sequences for 437 isolates of S. sonnei from OJCs and non-OJCs collected over 22 years in Europe (the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium), the United States, Canada, and Israel and analyzed these within a known global genomic context. Through phylogenetic and genomic analysis, we showed that strains from outbreaks in OJCs outside of Israel are distinct from strains in the general population and relate to a single multidrug-resistant sublineage of S. sonnei that prevails in Israel. Further Bayesian phylogenetic analysis showed that this strain emerged approximately 30 years ago, demonstrating the speed at which antimicrobial drug–resistant pathogens can spread widely through geographically dispersed, but internationally connected, communities.

Travel- and Community-Based Transmission of Multidrug-ResistantShigellasonneiLineage among International Orthodox Jewish Communities

Shigellae are sensitive indicator species for studying trends in the international transmission of antimicrobial-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Orthodox Jewish communities (OJCs) are a known risk group for shigellosis; Shigella sonnei is cyclically epidemic in OJCs in Israel, and sporadic outbreaks occur in OJCs elsewhere. We generated whole-genome sequences for 437 isolates of S. sonnei from OJCs and non-OJCs collected over 22 years in Europe (the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium), the United States, Canada, and Israel and analyzed these within a known global genomic context. Through phylogenetic and genomic analysis, we showed that strains from outbreaks in OJCs outside of Israel are distinct from strains in the general population and relate to a single multidrug-resistant sublineage of S. sonnei that prevails in Israel. Further Bayesian phylogenetic analysis showed that this strain emerged approximately 30 years ago, demonstrating the speed at which antimicrobial drug-resistant pathogens can spread widely through geographically dispersed, but internationally connected, communities.

Social capital and social learning after Hurricane Sandy

The post-disaster context is one characterized by profound uncertainty. Those affected by the storm, or earthquake, or flood, must determine what strategies to pursue in response to the disaster and must find ways to coordinate their recovery efforts with others in their community. Ex ante it is not clear what strategies will be most effective. If communities are to recover after a disaster, community members must engender and engage in a process of social learning involving experimentation, communication, and imitation. This paper explores the post-disaster social learning process. Specifically, we focus on the importance of social capital in facilitating social learning after a disaster, including facilitating community members’ ability to communicate their desire to return, to assess damage, to overcome barriers to rebuilding through collective yet voluntary action, and to learn from and imitate others’ successes. Focusing on how this process took place after Hurricane Sandy in Rockaway, New York, especially within the Orthodox Jewish community, we examine how community groups (a) adapted existing organization structures and (b) created new procedures and imitated the successful actions of others in order to spur recovery.

‘There is something about working together’: Improving talking therapies provision to the Orthodox Jewish communities of North London

This qualitative study explored changing opinions within Orthodox Jewish communities towards talking therapies. Community members and workers reported greater acceptance of talking therapies, increased knowledge of psychological difficulties and reduced stigma, but with much more still to be done.

Marital Sexual Abuse in the Orthodox Jewish Community

Objective: The recent past has seen a sharp increase in our awareness of the pervasiveness and devastating impact of child sexual abuse. In contrast, the topic of sexual abuse within marriage continues to receive relatively little notice, clinically, legislatively or academically. Aim – The aim of this presentation is to review current legal and clinical perceptions of marital sex abuse and to examine this phenomenon and its manifestations in the Orthodox Jewish community, as an example of the impact of social norms and values on this critical area. Design and Method: Method – We will initially summarize and present the current literature on this topic with an emphasis on the role of cultural norms and values in defining marital sex abuse across a tolerable/illegal spectrum. We will then examine 1) one ethnic group, Orthodox Jews, to locate potential points of this abuse and 2) that communities understanding and coping with this phenomenon. Illustrative case material will be presented. Results: Results/Conclusions – This traditional community may be representative of other similar ethnic groups and the challenges presented in dealing with marital sexual abuse where norms and values may not always reflect contemporary standards. We expect this presentation to shed light on this phenomenon, expanding our knowledge and sensitivity to the victims and their social contexts. Conclusions: We will conclude with suggested points and techniques of intervention, which take into consideration the needs of the victims and community acknowledgement of a problem.

U.S. Physicians' Opinions About Accommodating Religiously Based Requests for Continued Life-Sustaining Treatment

ContextFamilies of critically ill patients occasionally request that physicians continue life-sustaining treatment (LST), sometimes giving religious reasons. ObjectivesTo examine whether U.S. physicians are more likely to accommodate requests for LST that are based on religious reasons. MethodsIn 2010, we surveyed 1156 practicing U.S. physicians from specialties likely to care for adult patients with advanced illness. The questionnaire included two randomized experimental vignettes: one where a family asked that LST be continued for a patient that met brain death criteria and a second where the son of an elderly patient with cancer insists on continuing LST. In both, we experimentally varied the reasons that the family member gave to justify the request, to see if physicians are more likely to accommodate a request based on a religious requirement or hope for a miracle, compared to no mention of either. For physicians' religious characteristics, we assessed their religious affiliation and level of religiosity. ResultsFor the patient meeting brain death criteria, physicians were more likely to accommodate the request to continue LST when the family mentioned their Orthodox Jewish community (85% vs. 70%, P < 0.001). For the patient with metastatic cancer, physicians were more likely to accommodate the request when the son said his religious faith does not permit discontinuing LST (65% vs. 46%, P < 0.001), but not when he said he expected divine healing (50% vs. 46%). ConclusionPhysicians appear more willing to accommodate requests to continue LST when those requests are based on particular religious communities or traditions, but not when based on expectations of divine healing.

There Ought to be a Law?: Comparative Case Studies in the Role of Community Engagement and Policy Making Targeting HSV-1 Infection Following Ritualized Circumcision

This paper compares and contrasts two different public health case studies in which public health authorities sought to address HSV-1 infection in Orthodox Jewish communities following ritualized circumcision. Using these cases, the author critiques the use of a governmental regulatory approach when public health authorities target a minority community for a practice which is not valued by the dominant political culture. Lastly, the author describes the benefits of community engagement in addressing such non-emergent public health concerns, particularly if the community involved is a religious minority one.

Abstract P2-09-23: Factors associated with BRCA genetic testing intention and uptake among Orthodox Jewish women

Abstract Background: Ashkenazi Jews have a 1 in 40 prevalence of carrying a BRCA1/2 mutation, mainly due to 3 founder mutations. Prior literature suggests that population-based genetic testing among Ashkenazi Jews is cost-effective and may detect over 50% more mutation carriers than family history-based screening. Orthodox Jewish women are an understudied population with unique social, cultural, and religious factors that may influence BRCA genetic testing. The aim of our study was to examine factors associated with BRCA genetic testing intention/uptake among the Orthodox Jewish community. Methods: A one-time online survey was distributed to Orthodox Jewish women by 3 shuls from Washington Heights, NY (53% response rate) and through additional referrals. The questionnaire obtained information regarding demographics, breast cancer risk factors, genetic testing knowledge, decision self-efficacy, perceived breast cancer risk, breast cancer worry, and religious and cultural factors affecting medical decision-making. The Tyrer-Cuzick model was used to calculate lifetime breast cancer risk and accurate risk perception was defined as within +/-10% of actual lifetime risk. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify independent predictors of genetic testing intention/uptake. Results: Among 342 evaluable participants, median age was 26 years (range, 19-77); 92% were Ashkenazi and 8% Ashkenazi/Sephardi; 98% had a college education, including 47% with post-graduate degrees. Despite being highly educated, only 54% of women had adequate genetic testing knowledge. Median lifetime breast cancer risk was 16% (range, 2.3-60.9) and only 44% had accurate breast cancer risk perceptions. Although 48% had a family history of breast cancer and 16% had a relative that tested positive for BRCA1/2 mutation, only 5% had undergone BRCA testing while 48% had the intention of undergoing genetic testing. Higher lifetime breast cancer risk, high decision self-efficacy regarding genetic testing, overestimation of breast cancer risk, and increased breast cancer worry were associated with genetic testing intention/uptake. The most important factors in the decision to have BRCA testing were to help prevent dying of cancer (55%), to help prevent getting cancer (54%), and effect on children (40%). Multivariable analysis of factors associated with BRCA genetic testing intention/uptake OR95% CIp-valueDecision Self-Efficacy (range, 0 [not confident] - 4 [very confident])1.41.02-1.980.038Actual Lifetime Breast Cancer Risk (range, 0 - 100%)1.11.03-1.100.0005Accuracy in Breast Cancer Risk Perception Accurate (referent)1.0--Underestimate1.20.50-2.850.691Overestimate2.61.45-4.610.001Breast Cancer Worry (range, 1 [none] - 7 [worry all of the time])1.51.18-1.980.001 Conclusions: By understanding the religious and cultural issues regarding genetic testing in the Orthodox Jewish community, we can develop targeted interventions designed to enhance decision self-efficacy and improve accuracy of breast cancer risk perceptions to decrease unnecessary worry. This may in turn increase informed decision-making about BRCA genetic testing and implementation of cancer prevention strategies among Ashkenazi Jews. Citation Format: Trivedi MS, Tang EY, Kukufka R, Chung WK, David R, Respler L, Leifer S, Schechter I, Crew KD. Factors associated with BRCA genetic testing intention and uptake among Orthodox Jewish women. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-09-23.

Caloric Intake on the Sabbath: A Pilot Study of Contributing Factors to Obesity in the Orthodox Jewish Community.

The American Orthodox Jewish community has specific cultural factors that may contribute to overweight and obesity. This study aimed to look at caloric intake on the Sabbath and its contribution to overweight and obesity. Twelve married or previously married women who identify themselves as Orthodox Jews were recruited to do 24-h food recalls over the phone. The participants were divided into three weight groups (normal, overweight, and obese) based on their BMI. The overweight and obese participants' data were combined into one group for the purposes of statistical testing. Paired t tests looking at the data for all participants showed significantly great caloric intake during an average Sabbath day than an average weekday [t(4)=7.58, p<0.001]. A repeated-measures ANOVA showed significantly greater energy intake on the Sabbath for the overweight-obese women compared to the normal weight women [F(1)=7.83, p=0.02]. No statistical difference was seen between the weekday energy intake of the normal weight women as compared to the combined group of overweight-obese women [F(1)=0.501, p=0.499]. These results support the hypotheses that all groups eat significantly more on the Sabbath than on weekdays, and overweight and obese individuals eat significantly more on the Sabbath than normal weight individuals. This supports the theory that caloric intake on the Sabbath is a contributing factor to overweight and obesity within the American Orthodox Jewish community.

Challenges of Pre- and Post-Test Counseling for Orthodox Jewish Individuals in the Premarital Phase.

The Jewish community has traditionally taken ownership of its health, and has taken great strides to raise awareness about genetic issues that affect the community, such as Tay-Sachs disease and Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer syndrome. Thanks in part to these heightened awareness efforts, many Orthodox Jewish individuals are now using genetics services as they begin to plan their families. Due to unique cultural and religious beliefs and perceptions, the Orthodox Jewish patients who seek genetic counseling face many barriers to a successful counseling session, and often seek the guidance of programs such as the Program for Jewish Genetic Health (PJGH). In this article, we present clinical vignettes from the PJGH's clinical affiliate, the Reproductive Genetics practice at the Montefiore Medical Center. These cases highlight unique features of contemporary premarital counseling and screening within the Orthodox Jewish Community, including concerns surrounding stigma, disclosure, "marriageability," the use of reproductive technologies, and the desire to include a third party in decision making. Our vignettes demonstrate the importance of culturally-sensitive counseling. We provide strategies and points to consider when addressing the challenges of pre- and post-test counseling as it relates to genetic testing in this population.

Cultural Concerns when Counseling Orthodox Jewish Couples for Genetic Screening and PGD.

There is a spectrum of attitudes within the Orthodox Jewish community towards genetic testing and PGD. Increased understanding of the belief systems of the Orthodox Jewish population will enhance the genetic counselors' ability to better serve this unique group of patients. By improving cultural competence, genetic counselors can help patients choose the testing options that they deem appropriate, while simultaneously respecting the patient's belief system.

Sociology and Evaluation Research: My Chicago School Training and Subsequent Career

This is a brief account of the author’s career beginning with his student days in the Department of Sociology, University of Chicago and the School of Public Health, University of Michigan. The following evaluation projects are summarized: the impact of an interstate highway on the Detroit Orthodox Jewish Community funded by the Michigan Department of Transportation; Healthy University Health Promotion Project funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation; Drug Use and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Demonstration funded by the DHHS Center for Substance Abuse; utilization of the Ryan White Care Act (HIV-AIDS) funded by DHHS Heath Resources and Services Administration; and National Environmental Health Action Plans in Europe funded by the World Health Organization/Europe.

Family size and psychological functioning in the Orthodox Jewish community

Caring for children is a known psychosocial stressor; however, its effects on psychological functioning may have substantial cross-cultural variance. We explored relationships between family size and a variety of psychological outcomes among Orthodox Jews in four separate studies: (1) an international treatment-seeking sample (n = 82), (2) a community sample from Canada (n = 226), (3) an out-patient clinical sample from greater New York (n = 82), and (4) a large dyadic sample of Israeli couples (n = 789). Surprisingly, results suggested that family size was not associated with greater stress, anxiety, depression, global functioning, family functioning, family communication, family satisfaction, or even parenting stress. It is possible that the high religious value placed on family life as well as structural adaptions in families buffer against potential stressors associated with child rearing, and further research on these potential effects is warranted.

Teachers' perception of struggling students in the orthodox Jewish community

This study looks at teachers’ perception of the emotional struggles of students in their classrooms within one Orthodox Jewish Community. Seventeen teachers within one school were surveyed using a 29 question Likert scale instrument. It was hypothesized that while stigma of mental illness in the Orthodox community may have decreased over time, misunderstanding of mental illness and cultural biases continue to prevent children from receiving the maximum help possible. The majority of respondents reported that between 11-20% of their students were struggling with some form of emotional/behavioral problem. Attribution was primarily linked to poor parenting, a lack of coping skills, and inborn personality rather than to bullying and abuse. These findings suggests that cultural stigma and teachers’ lack of preparedness in understanding the full range of their children’s emotional needs may be an issue for the educational system. Potential solutions would include the development, with input from school administrators, teachers and social workers, of a comprehensive teacher-training program. This intensive training would go beyond classroom management and teaching methods. Its focus would be to educate teachers in child development, and a basic understanding of child psychopathology. Further research is needed to determine if the findings of this study are reflective of the larger Orthodox Jewish community.

High Holy Days in the Hospital

High Holy Days in the Hospital

Religious Premarital Education and Marital Quality Within the Orthodox Jewish Community

Although a majority of premarital education occurs in religious contexts, research in this area is limited. The current authors studied the religious service delivery model of premarital education among 1244 married Orthodox Jews. Results indicate that education focusing on the religious approach and practices regarding the sexual relationship is significantly associated with greater marital quality. The findings also suggest a need for increased premarital education related to communication and conflict resolution.

Barriers to Mental Health Care: A 25‐Year Follow‐Up Study of the Orthodox Jewish Community

The current study is a 25‐year follow‐up to a mental health needs assessment in the often overlooked, but rapidly growing, Orthodox Jewish denomination. Results suggest increased acceptance of mental illness and its treatment and satisfaction with quality of care, along with decreased mistrust of the mental health field, belief that religion and psychiatry conflict, and tendency to attach stigmas to psychiatric problems. However, issues of stigma and affordability continue to be obstacles to treatment.El presente estudio es un seguimiento tras 25 años de una evaluación de necesidades de salud mental en la población frecuentemente ignorada, pero en crecimiento rápido, de individuos de denominación judía ortodoxa. Los resultados sugieren una mayor aceptación de enfermedades mentales y sus tratamientos, así como la satisfacción con la calidad de los cuidados, además de una reducción en la desconfianza hacia el campo de la salud mental, la creencia de que existe un conflicto entre religión y psiquiatría, y la tendencia a estigmatizar los problemas psiquiátricos. Sin embargo, problemas relacionados con la asequibilidad y el estigma continúan siendo obstáculos para el tratamiento.