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Comments

  1. Domestic abuse does exist in the Jewish community and people will take a picture with their phone if they want to keep the phone number ( or tear off the little piece of paper). Similarly with the phone numbers of help lines for suicide or teen issues. The utility of affirming slogans has not been proven.

  2. Kudos, Erica! Terrific idea to rethink bathrooms in our institutions. Along with coat rooms (often a dumping ground for stuff), these spaces are among the most visited and “first-visited” places in synagogues, schools, and JCCs. There have been changes: I remember years ago advising synagogues to add baby changing tables to men’s bathrooms after noticing them in airports. And, adding tallit racks outside women’s bathrooms. When our kids celebrated their b’nai Mitzvah, my wife Susie put lovely toiletry displays and potpourri in the synagogue restrooms, as we have in the guest bathroom in our home. (I realize potpourri can be a problem for some with allergies, but bathrooms shouldn’t smell…period.) I wonder whether we will see unisex bathrooms in our institutions soon enough. Perhaps. Meanwhile, if you decide to take up Erica’s wonderful suggestion, please post photos.

  3. I grew up going to huge NYC public schools, and the last place I wanted to be was in the school bathroom, where there was a great likelihood I would be subjected to torment. So I know what the author is talking about regarding public bathrooms being “uncomfortable.” But I do not share the author’s distaste for the placement of domestic abuse signs on the back of bathroom stall doors. These signs help some of the most vulnerable members of our community find empowerment, and sign placement in bathroom stalls is one of the only places those in violent or abusive relationships will be alone and feel safe enough to jot down the number. These signs can make a real difference in the lives of people who have no where else to turn.

  4. Why not both. We can provide resources for people in abusive relationships while ALSO encouraging them to have confidence and optimism to make their own section of the world better. These two views are not at odds to anyone but the bully