Only few copies left Tempest in the Temple Anthology Edited By Amy Neustein

Amy Neustein, after breaking open the ugly secrets of the family court system in From Madness to Mutiny: Why Mothers Are Running from the Family Courts - and What Can Be Done about It in 2005, has made a second major contribution to the literature on child sexual abuse. She is editor of Tempest in the Temple: Jewish Communities and Child Sex Scandals. This book -- a brave collection of essays by rabbis, educators, lawyers and psychotherapists on sexual abuse within the Jewish clergy -- was published in 2009 by Brandeis University Press/University Press of New England, ISBN 1-58465-671-9, in their American Jewish History, Culture and Life series, with a Foreword by Rabbi Dr. Elliot N. Dorff.

This book, the first critical study of child sex abuse committed by Jewish clergy, is finally opening a door on a previously taboo subject. In Tempest, Dr. Amy Neustein -- scholar, activist, and author -- redresses the dearth of scholarly material investigating sexual abuse within the Jewish clergy. The book brings together many practicing rabbis, educators, pastoral counselors, sociologists, mental health professionals and legal advocates for abuse victims, each of whom offers insights into different facets of the problem.

Honest and Controversial Because it shines a light on a painful topic, this book sparked controversy within the Jewish community even before it appeared, but has won plaudits and supports from a wide range of professionals and lay people who believe child sex abuse by Jewish clergy has been ignored for too long. The book contains discussions of some of the most scandalous and talked-about sex abuse cases in modern Jewish history, including that of Rabbi Avrohom Mondrowitz, whose “cold case” was revived, against the will of powerful Orthodox rabbis and the law enforcement officials they influenced, by methods described for the first time in this book. It also contains essays by prominent therapists and mental health professionals who have worked with the victims of child sex abuse -- or the perpetrators. Within weeks of publication it was praised by the influential 15 Minutes on-line magazine as a leading “page-turner” on a timely and important subject. It is also “highly recommended” by CHOICE: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries (a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries).

This book is blazing a trail into a complex and serious problem that has never before been explored in print. Amy Neustein has assembled the work of rabbis, therapists, advocates and legal experts to produce a rigorously documented, lucidly written examination of a subject ignored for too long. Tempest in the Temple will be remembered for opening the doors.