JEWISH FAMILY INTEREST GROUP

Charlotte Spiegelman presented her work on dealing with the traumatized survivors of the attack on the North Valley Jewish Community Center in a section of Los Angeles.

She described the details of the shooting, the political/religious affiliation of the shooter, and the variety of personal and institutional responses she encountered when she began her work as a trauma debriefer at the JCC.

Charlotte worked with the staff, the families, and the children individually and in groups. She referred many people for therapy as well, and found the local Jewish Family Service agency very responsive. After a period of several months, people began to calm down.

She found some differences in gender responses among the staff to the trauma. Men had violent revenge fantasies. Women tended to focus on what they could or should have done to protect the children. Parents' responses, too, broke down along gender lines, with women feeling that their husbands were not talking enough and men thinking that there had been enough talk.

Charlotte was very impressed by the rapid support of the local community, the staff, and the national JCC organization. The heroism, resilience, and commitment of the JCC staff, especially the ones present at the time of the shooting also impressed her. Jews and non-Jews alike responded with courage and skill. No staff member has left the center following the trauma.

Charlotte also described the effect on herself in doing this work, namely the feelings of rage and horror she experienced. She also conveyed how moved she was by the many stories she heard. She will return to do a two-day session on the anniversary of the attack.

Participants in the interest group asked many interesting questions regarding this event as it related to Jewish identity. What does it mean, for example, that this incident and others like it were directed against Jews?

This then led to a discussion about AFTA and the feeling of invisibility felt by some members present in terms of their Jewish identity. Illustrative of this point was the fact that there has never been a plenary dealing with issues of Jewish identity as profound as Holocaust survival, anti-Semitism or Jewish survival. The feeling in the group was that these issues continue to imprint Jewish family life and that as family therapists we should be open to learning more about them.