Many Jewish survivors of childhood sexual abuse have a difficult time over holidays, just like Hanukkah. Unfortunately, in some homes abuse gets worst when tensions mount. For some Hanukkah can be a mixture of both good and bad memories of family gatherings. Being an incest survivor, years ago I realized I needed years I needed to create new traditions, since being with my family was out of the question. It was a difficult task and one that I have to work at each year that a holiday comes up.
This year I was playing around on Youtube and came up with the idea of a “Driedel Challenge”. I know many of you out there are pretty creative. Instead of focusing in on what we don’t have, painful memories and losses, I was thinking how about it might be healing to focus on something that can be both fun and silly. How about coming up with a better video better then the link I’m providing below and submitting it to the “Driedel Challenge” contest?
The rule of the “Driedel Challenge” is that your video has to be an original, be empowering and healing — and have the song “I had a little dreidel” in it. Once you come up with a video, post it to youtube and send the link to vickipolin@aol.com. The Awareness Center is currently putting together a panel of judges. The top 10 dreidel video’s will be featured on The Awareness Center’s web page.
The deadline for entries is Noon – Friday, December 18, 2009. The winner will be announced motzi Shabbos on December 19, 2009.
Here’s a helpful article for Jewish survivors and those who care about them.
Surviving Hanukkah: Jewish Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/SurvivingHanukkah.pdf
Sample Driedel Video
