We are at a time when the reality of abuse and harm caused by and within religious institutions is finally and slowly being recognised. The term 'Spiritual Abuse' has begun to be used and the foundational work of Professor Lisa Oakley is being built upon. The Shiloh Project is crucial in exploring this area - do have a listen to their podcast. You'll see that the last podcast episode was with myself and the wonderful Yehudis Fletcher on Abuse within Jewish communities.
The pain on suffering within a community of harm and leaving such a community is immense and complex. There is much to be done on teshuvah/accountability for individuals and institutions and support for those affected.
As we continue on our path in Elul of Cheshbon Nanefesh (an accounting of the soul) I offer this poem as we continue to ensure our religious spaces not only keep to the high ideals they espouse but that they go further in creating holy and aspirational, liberative spaces for us all.
You can find this piece in the Yom Kippur Machzor Seder Ha-t'fillot, p.711 which you can buy here. Please cite the author (AKA me!) if you are quoting or re-producing the poem. Photo by Yener Ozturk on Unsplash.
For When Religious Institutions Fail
By R.Robyn Ashworth-Steen
A land flowing with milk and honey
A space that recognises the spark
Of the divine in each human
The Torah we are taught
The words and images we imbibe
All of this we seek and expect
What pain in the void
What wounds when
The promised land appears a fallacy
Abuse seeps onto the bimah
Words used as weapons
Ungenerous spirits
And a fear of the ‘outsider’
The cover up
The closed doors
The ‘that’s not how we do things’
How far we have fallen as we curate
Our museums of Jewish religious life
We ask where the young people are
But
Do we ask where the shechinah is
And why she hovers above and not within
Holiness cannot spark
When dreams and visions are trampled
We were promised so much
Community, study, debate
But
We received hate packaged up as tradition
Aliyot meted out as rewards rather than welcome
The Shechinah is weeping as
Her home is desecrated
Through pain we now create art
Through exclusion we find inclusion
Through hate we demand compassion
Through abuse we seek courage
The promised land needs us
To break down the museums and
Find each other anew
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