Rabbi Julie Spitzer, z”l

Julie Spitzer, a leader in the fight against spousal abuse, died of ovarian cancer in October at the age of 41. Spitzer, a rabbi, educator and activist within the Reform movement, was an early voice addressing issues of domestic violence within the Jewish community.

Spitzer was the author of When Love Is Not Enough: Spousal Abuse in Rabbinic and Contemporary Judaism (Women of Reform Judaism) and editor of Kulanu: A Program for Congregations Implementing Gay and Lesbian Inclusion (UAHC Press). A member of the national advisory board of the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, she contributed an article to the first issue of their Journal of Religion and Abuse: Advocacy, Pastoral Care and Prevention, which came out in Fall 1999 (The Haworth Pastoral Press). Entitled “Without Justice, There Can Be No Healing,” Spitzer’s essay explores “the necessary inclusion of Jewish historical and religious experience in confronting abuse.”