Thirty years ago, a Jewish woman experiencing domestic violence had few places to turn. Community leaders strongly resisted acknowledging violence for fear that it would harm marriages and break up families. Few services existed for women seeking support in a Jewish setting. Prior to 1994, the U.S. government did not even recognize domestic violence as a federal crime.

Since then, we have witnessed a bold transformation in national and Jewish communal responses to violence against women. Today, more Jewish women than ever before who are experiencing domestic violence are coming forward. Approximately 175 Jewish programs and organizations are in place to respond to their complex needs with lifesaving services. Jewish clergy have recognized that in times of crisis, survivors often turn to them for support, guidance and refuge, and they are working together to promote awareness and share best practices when counseling families experiencing abuse. Jewish domestic violence organizations also are engaging in political advocacy, leading prevention programs for young people, and working with other faith groups to accomplish their goals.

WASHINGTON – During the just-ended February, Jewish communities across North America observed Jewish Disability Awareness Month. For us, it was an opportunity to raise awareness of the needs, strengths, opportunities, and challenges of individuals with disabilities in our communities, and to ensure we are building more inclusive communities that celebrate all of our neighbors.

The Jewish community, through its institutions and social service agencies, has been increasingly effective in serving the critical needs of individuals with disabilities and their families. At the same time, we recognize the indispensible impact that Medicaid has on the ability to provide for these needs.

It was moments before the service at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, held to elevate 22 new cardinals. The irrepressible archbishop of New York, Timothy Michael Dolan, eschewed Catholic solemnity, and suddenly reached over the low security barrier to demonstrably embrace a kippah-wearing, name-tagged (with title) rabbi.

That hug at St. Peter’s in view of thousands of Catholics from all over the world was a powerful visual that today’s Catholic Church, a half-century after the Second Vatican Council and its revolutionary Nostra Aetate, is a different church.

Purim is a holiday based upon a fictional tale that nonetheless contains a very truthful and salient message.

As we prepare for Purim this year, I cannot help but think about the fact that a modern-day Haman, who held the position of prime minister to the king of Persia, has a direct counterpart in the president of Iran, the modern name for the land of Persia. Like Haman, who was beholden to the king, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is subservient to the “religious supreme ruler.” Like Haman of Persia, Ahmadinejad of Iran sees Jews as scapegoats upon whom he can place all the failures of his kingdom. Like so many other anti-Semites throughout history, both the biblical Haman and the present-day Ahmadinejad allow their hatred of Jews to blind them to the policies that are in the best interest of their own people.

WASHINGTON – A spate of recent media reports has discussed the inclusion of ultranationalists in the Russian protest movement. Jewish organizations, sensitive to the fragility of a newly emergent Russian civil society and Jewish community, need to speak out against this inclusion.

Ultranationalism and xenophobia are not unique to Russia. Every democratic society has its share of extremist fringe groups. However, a successful democratic society is the antithesis of extremism; a successful democracy coalesces around the center. Diverse viewpoints about policy, authority and social behavior must be supported by a core foundation of society’s respect for individual human dignity, self-determination and freedom of expression.

RAMAT GAN – In Israel, an estimated 15,000 individuals are involved in prostitution, including 5,000 under the age of 18, according to reports shared with the Task Force on Human Trafficking by Knesset member Orit Zuaretz of the Kadima Party, as well as other experts and activists. The reports say that the average age of entry is just 14 and that more than 90 percent of those involved in prostitution in Israel are subject to severe physical abuse, often by their clients.

Justifications abound for having prostitution be legal. Some claim that prostitution is a source of easy money, or that its lengthy history points to its inevitable continuity. There is even the dubious claim that it is a necessary conduit allowing men to fulfill their biological needs. Such myths clash dramatically with the truth and conceal a sordid underworld of violence, rape, and the worst forms of abuse.

Like many of us in the Middle East, I am concerned about a nuclear Iran. While I find the term “existential threat” to be an overstatement and counterproductive to Israel’s reality and interests, the fact remains that a nuclear Iran poses many dangers to Israel, the Sunni Gulf states, and Western interests in the region. It is unnecessary to elaborate further on the nature of these dangers, as it seems that at least within the Jewish community we are doing little else but analyzing their multiple facets.

Like most people in Israel, I have no clue as to what Israel will do to neutralize the threat, or whether what it can do would be effective. Like most Israelis, I would love for the threat to disappear and for the world to act in a way that reflects a recognition that a nuclear Iran is a world problem, not primarily a problem for Israel.

On Jan. 14, one less Holocaust survivor remained to tell his story. That was the day my father, Joseph Fox, peace be upon him, a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto, a proud partisan, loving husband, father and grandfather, passed away. He was 89.

He was rarely ill until the end and had his full faculties until the very end. He worked until three years ago and could still talk politics and sports with opinionated authority. Fortunately, his illness was short and he did not suffer very much. This was in stark contrast to when he was a 16-year-old, and was forced to join fellow Jews in building the Warsaw Ghetto’s walls.