Sarah Ruth Hoffman, at The Blogs

Jul 12, 2024, 5:41 AM

The Shidduch Crisis: A Crisis Of Male Accountability

Introduction A while back, I called a knowledgeable person whose halachic authority I trust in search of advice during a frustrating situation years ago. That conversation changed my life. The situation was that matchmakers kept setting me up with men who...

Mar 20, 2023, 10:00 PM

When Only One Victim Comes Forward

Introduction One of the most traumatic aspects of my rabbinic abuse case was the fact that I was the only one to come forward. During my abuse, I learned of many other victims, past and present, some in great detail....

May 16, 2022, 12:02 AM

Finally, a textbook about rabbinic sexual abuse

Dr. Elana Sztokman is an anthropologist-sociologist who has gifted the Jewish community with no less than 310 pages of deep and compelling examination of rabbinic sexual abuse and its many manifestations in the Jewish community in her upcoming book,...

Jan 3, 2022, 6:04 PM

Recognizing Human Trafficking: Difficult Up Close

In 2018, a Reform rabbi was removed from the pulpit and suspended by his national rabbinic association for a pattern of sexual misconduct. When I first reported him, I did not yet fully understand my experience -- I just...

Dec 26, 2021, 12:45 AM

CCAR’s External Ethics Investigation: A Participating Survivor’s Perspective

The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) is the rabbinic association for the Reform movement in the United States. In 2014, CCAR secretly reprimanded a rabbi for sexual misconduct and facilitated his move to a new community where in...

Sep 16, 2020, 8:36 PM

A High Holiday Guide for Rabbinic Sex Abuse Survivors: 5780-5781

Jonas entsteigt dem Rachen des Walfisches. Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568–1625).

Last year in this blog, I shared a 22-page high holiday guide written by clergy abuse survivors for clergy abuse survivors. This year, the guide has been expanded to 29 pages, touching on the realities of life as a...

Feb 6, 2020, 4:44 PM

No Return To The Pulpit For Sexually Immoral Rabbis

Despite the severe level of harm required for Suspension, Suspended Reform rabbis can return to the pulpit. But the standards and procedures for this process are unclear. A Reform Rabbi who appeared on the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR)...

Sep 26, 2019, 12:20 AM

A High Holiday Guide for Rabbinic Sex Abuse Survivors

Imagine having the guts to call out a sexual abuser in your community only to be blamed, bullied, shunned, not believed, or otherwise merely tolerated. Imagine sitting in synagogue through inspirational songs and sermons about spiritual progress, fully awake...

Aug 4, 2019, 1:58 PM

What Tisha B’Av Means Now

There is a conversation from my 11-month clergy abuse period that continues to stand out to me, even two years after the fact. It was one of those moments in which I was reminded of how people -- and...

Jul 31, 2019, 10:09 PM

Class, Privilege and Sexual Exploitation by Clergy

Susceptibility to exploitation can come from a place of fear and lack of security (e.g., financial distress). A highly skilled manipulator will aim to become a nest for their victim to fall back on during difficult times. My abuser...

About Me

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not represent the views of any organization that she is affiliated with. Sarah Ruth Hoffman was a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when an older male rabbi (now suspended by his rabbinical association) groomed, raped, and abused her. She has since completed the PhD and converted to Orthodox Judaism. She continues to write as part of her healing, and she often writes what she would have found comforting and useful to read during her lengthy exodus from the ongoing sexual violence that was inextricably linked to roles and scripts in Jewish institutions. She hopes that this blog will help the public to understand the dynamics of clergy sexual abuse, whether the victims are adults, or children. Much of what is written can apply to non-clergy relationships as well. If any one person is helped by any of what is written, then the purpose of this blog has been fulfilled.