Aleinu
Keilim
Aleinu - Safeguarding Our Children
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About Aleinu

Aleinu is a foundational toolkit developed by Sacred Spaces, a nonprofit organization that provides Jewish institutions with the professional services necessary to prevent abuse and guide them responsibly should abuse occur. 

Aleinu includes Jewish text studies and real-world examples to promote and support youth safeguarding efforts within our communities. The resources are designed to be applicable across Jewish affiliations, practices, and backgrounds, and address both universal and particularly Jewish obligations.

History

To develop Aleinu and each of its tools, Sacred Spaces reviewed the best practices (sometimes called “norms,” “standards,” or “guidelines”) identified by leading health organizations and child protection initiatives worldwide. We met with the experts involved in setting these norms, studied their selection processes, examined their unique contexts and cultures, and investigated their impact. In addition, we surveyed the existing literature, consulted with and listened carefully to victim-survivors, interviewed offenders, and drew from our own extensive experience working with youth-serving organizations in Jewish communities. We underwent a significant development and revision process and then asked experts in child protection to review and provide feedback. Finally, we beta-tested the Best Practices and their accompanying resources and tools with youth-serving organizations in Jewish communities across North America.

2020
  • Sacred Spaces launches Aleinu as an interactive website for Jewish youth-serving organizations to promote best practices in youth safeguarding.
  • 25 New York City Jewish institutions that collectively represent more than 22,000 youth participating in local camps, schools, synagogues, and community centers join an Aleinu pilot cohort funded by the UJA Federations of New York.
  • Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh introduces Aleinu to the Pittsburgh Jewish community through a 5-part training series for parents, educators, and organizational leaders; and a community assessment surveying 208 community members. 
  • The National Coalition to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation selects Aleinu as one of five innovative prevention programs at their annual conference.
  • Academy on Violence and Abuse (AVA) Global Health Summit features a presentation called “Aleinu: A Program to Change the State of Child Safety in all Jewish Youth-serving Organizations.”
2021
  • Sacred Spaces leads A Conversation on Safeguarding Youth in Jewish Communities: Traditional and Contemporary Perspectives for World Day for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention, Healing, and Justice at Harvard University.
  • Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago and JCFS Chicago partner with Sacred Spaces to launch a safeguarding cohort of 8 Chicago youth-serving organizations.
  • Sacred Spaces and GRACE engage in a cross-faith conversation articulating a shared mission to standardize safeguarding practices in our respective faith communities.
  • The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and Sacred Spaces partner to launch a safeguarding cohort of 9 Pittsburgh youth-serving organizations.
    2022
    • Sacred Spaces joins Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh for a panel on youth safeguarding, hosted by JFCS Pittsburgh.
    • Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago and JCFS Chicago support Chicagoland organizations to receive free Bystander Intervention Training from Sacred Spaces.
    • Sacred Spaces presents “Aleinu: It’s on Us to Empower and Engage Youth in Organizational Safeguarding Practices” at Jewish Education Project’s annual summit.
    • Aleinu opens enrollment nationally!
    2023
    • Sacred Spaces hosts its first Youth Safeguarding National Training Institute, welcoming professionals from 56 Jewish organizations, representing nearly 18,000 youth, for two intensive training days.
    • Aleinu achieves enrollment milestone with 76 Jewish youth-serving institutions — representing nearly 50,000 children and teens nationally — registered.
    2025
    • Sacred Spaces launches Aleinu open-access, giving Jewish youth-serving organizations everywhere free access to the tools to improve youth safety.