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Jewish Survivors
UNITED
who we are
...and what we believe about serving survivors
Sara Rosenberg, Chaim Levin and Asher Lovy share over 30 years of experience in the Jewish survivor advocacy space and have learned a thing or two about providing safe, healthy and relevant support to survivors. One of the things they noticed was that there was a gaping hole when it came to the services that were offered in the Jewish community for survivors of sexual abuse. Something was needed beyond a referral for therapy or treatment - such as more understanding, compassion, and safe spaces to accomodate all kinds of Jewish sex abuse survivors.
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After talking to many survivors, learning about their needs and wants, and figuring out how best to implement a plan to offer all of those things, Jewish Survivors United was born.
Our Mission
The JSU Mission is simple. To believe, support and empower Jewish survivors of sexual abuse through trauma-informed, survivor-centered peer support services, delivered with safety, kindness, and compassion at the forefront..
Our founders
Sara Rosenberg (she/her)
Sara stumbled into the world of advocacy in 2012, when she was just beginning her own journey of healing from sexual abuse and opened the first rendition of Jewish Survivors Forum as an old school virtual bulletin board that attracted over 200 Jewish survivors at the time.
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While Sara's background is in finance - she's most comfortable on a trading desk - and entrepreneurship, her passion lies in ending the stigma around mental health. She has learned to live with and manage Bipolar II Disorder, anxiety, and CPTSD. She is a Level 7 crisis counselor at Crisis Text Line, a certified peer support specialist, certified in adult mental health first aide (through Healthy Minds Philly) and has gone through JARS training through Women Against Abuse. None of that qualifies her to provide any kind of therapy services, and in fact, it means she knows exactly when a trained, licensed therapst is needed for safe, trauma informed care.
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Sara lives in Philly with her partner, Steven, her sons, Zev and Amitai and her emotional support pets. In her free time, she corrects the wrongs on the internet and chatting with the amazing people in the JSU support chat!
Asher Lovy (he/him)
You may know Asher as the CEO of Zaakah!
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Asher has been a strong advocate for Jewish survivors in the frum community since 2012 and has spent countless hours, not only speaking to survivors about their legal rights and the resources they need, but has also spent a tremendous amount of time affecting legislative change across the state, advocating for the passage of the Child Victims Act, Adult Survivors Act, and various other laws that would help survivors seek justice.
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Mental health is also central to Asher's work and in 2020, the Zaakah support warmline was opened in an effort to provide a listening ear for callers and texters over shabbat and yom tov, who are otherwise cut off from their typical support system. The Zaakah warmline saves lives.
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When Asher isn't taking calls from survivors, fielding complaints from his distractors or editing his podcast, Outcry, he's in the kitchen, whipping up amazing dips, kugel, challah, and vegetarian chulent for his lovely wife and his friends. Want his menu? Go ahead and follow him on Facebook! He posts it every week, along with his weekly news commentary.
chaim levin (he/him)
Chaim Levin is a Philadelphia based writer, advocate, and occasional activist.
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For the last ten years he has been advocating on behalf of Jewish LGBTQ people from Orthodox Jewish communities. He has also worked with survivors of childhood sexual abuse and advocated on their behalf.
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In 2012 he participated in a first of its kind lawsuit that resulted in the closure of a Jewish conversion therapy provider, and he continues to call out inequalities and discrimination in the Jewish community and works to remedy them and to be a voice and inspiration for LGBTQ members of the Jewish community.
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In the summer of 2021 he earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in television and radio studies from Brooklyn College.
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Born and bred in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Chaim currently resides in Philadelphia with his partner and two cats, Otis and Louie. You can find him magically manifesting reservations at Zahav or sweating it out at hot yoga.
The people that do the work:
Lauren Weingarten (she/her)
Lauren is our fearless peer support group leader! She is also the Founder of MTMV Communty, one of the first online-based support communities established for survivors and supporters of survivors, where she works tirelessly to help survivors of sexual assault find their voices and connect! Lauren works hard to create conscious, safe spaces for our JSU family to feel heard!
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Before MTMV, Weingarten had a successful, decades-long career working behind the scenes in TV/Film production. She has since found purpose in understanding trauma and leading conversations surrounding abuse and sexual violence to build and foster a community amongst survivors and their supporters. With years of advocacy training and trauma education, Lauren has focused on developing survivor-led peer support groups, workshops, and virtual community events, bridging local and global communities alike. She also works as a consultant helping research teams and professional organizations strengthen their survivor-informed care. Her best friend is a pup named Donut and she loves pizza, falafel, and tending to her plants.
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Jennifer Molinari (she/her)
Jennifer is an integral part of the JSU peer Empowerment Teams, where she works closely with Sara and our survivors to plan goals, discuss and overcome obstacles, gain valuable resources and implement plans that take our survivors from point A to the life they want to live and are proud of.
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Jen is a retired NYPD SVU detective with a vast understanding of sexual abuse in the Jewish community. She has dedicated her life to supporting survivors of sexual assault both in her days in the precinct and now. "Retirement" isn't actually a thing for Jen!
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Jen has extensive training in mental health first aide, safety and goal planning, family intervention and has expertise in the inner workings of the legal system as it pertains to sexual assault and abuse victims.
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Jen also recognizes that working with the police, retired or active, can be triggering for some survivors. She is respectful of that and works to create a safe, mutually respectful space when a survivor is ready to join our Empowerment programs.
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Perel (she/her)
atr-Bc, atcs
Perel is our fabulous debrief therapist and peer support supervisor! She is our go-to when it comes to support for our peer support staff. Yep - support people need support, too!
With extensive training in trauma therapy, art therapy and therapist supervision, Perel truly understands the importance of peer support and makes sure that we are delivering trauma-informed care in a way that is safe for our staff and survivors, and that we are up-to-date on our knowledge of available resources, as well as best peer support practices.
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She believes that art is a powerful coping tool for trauma survivors and regularly plans fun art programming for JSU members that is healing and fun!
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Perel also volunteers with Zaakah as a debrief therapist, and enjoys spending time with her family and creating art of her own!
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Jessa Bliliuos (she/them)
Jessa is our incredible Programming and Event Director!
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They tell us exactly what's going on, what time to show up and where to go and plans activities that are fun, educational, and inclusive! Organizational skills on fleek!
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Jessa is also an amazing advocate and champion for survivors and we can't wait to watch her grow in this space!
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When she's not planning our events, Jessa is spending time with her partner and their puppies, Luca and Kahlua, going to concerts and knitting.
Ariella Kay (she/her)
Yes, *that* Ariella - the talent and creative mind behind the Zaakah social media accounts!
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We are lucky enough to have her as a moderator in the JSU peer support chat on Telegram! She's quick with her words of support and empathy and she makes us laugh every day! We are so grateful to have her as a staunch ally!
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When she's not researching lawsuits and creating the best Tiktoks in the game, she's actually working at her real job, spending time with her family and being awesome!
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Our Board:
Rikki Herbst, lcsw, M.Ed.
Thomas Frey
Cathy Shapiro
Our advisor:
We
believe...
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That it's difficult to reach out for help, and that when survivors do, they deserve to be treated with respect, compassion and empathy.
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That survivors deserve privacy and transparency when working with JSU.
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That trauma-informed, survivor-centered care helps our members get the resources they need to be empowered in their own healing.
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That we do not need a rabbi, halachic endorsement or rabbinical board to guide us in supporting survivors.
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That, as an organization, it is important for all of us to always be learning how to best deliver peer support in a way that is safe, relevant and helpful.
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That JSU is a safe, conscious space for all Jewish survivors, no matter their gender, sexual orientation or level of religious observance.
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That peer support is an integral part of healing.
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That survivors deserve to be in the drivers seat when it comes to making their own informed decisions. Our job is to support those choices.
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That as peer support providers, we make sure to stay in our lane. We are not therapists and we do not diagnose or provide therapy.
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That our staff are mandated reporters and will make mandated reports to the proper authorities when warranted.