I once, no lie, heard someone say, "What do you mean he hit her? They're Jewish! That doesn't happen in Jewish families!" As much as we might like to believe our community is exempt from all sorts of issues, including domestic violence, sadly, we are not.

You heard the lady!: When push comes to shove, it's no longer love. Now, scram, woman beaters.So, I'd like to introduce you to Jewish Women International, an organization that has developed many different programs such as the Mother's Day Flower Project (delivering words of support and encouragement to women's shelters in the US and Israel-- more on the program here), the "be safe, be strong, be healthy" program called When Push Comes To Shove, It's No Longer Love that helps young girls and women better understand dynamics of healthy and unhealthy relationships and to build skills to respond to domestic violence, and a toolkit that includes the documentary When The Vow Breaks, conferences, and my personal favorites: Strong Girls, Healthy Relationships, a program designed to engage girls in guided discussion and practices to examine their sense of self-esteem in the context of relationships they choose, as well as a section of the program designed for older girls who are already dating an may be already developing unhealthy relationship patterns or know someone who has and LifeSavings, a young women's financial literacy program operating with the understanding that a woman's financial independence is often linked with her

Their website is filled with ways to get involved, too, from petitions to sign, a secure and easy form to give a onetime donation or to set up a recurring monthly donation, a shop with pretty cool t-shirts that both help raise awareness and fund the organization, a teen leadership toolkit, and a guide to find related advocacy initiatives.