The location of “Beit Noam”, a house on the outskirts of a modest agricultural community is not accidental. It resides on society’s margins, seemingly on the fringe but rooted deeply within. Residents of this house are all that we, the surrounding community, try to repress. Violence, in its various manifestations, is part of us, encoded genetically for ages. The thirteen men who are treated at Beit Noam define “violence” as an illness that needs a cure. To find it they must investigate their lives in order to recognize the different variations of violence — physical, verbal, psychological, sexual and financial, and come to terms with the causes of their own violent behavior. The men are Jewish, Christians and Moslem, Ashkenazy and Sephardic, religious and secular, some are immigrants, others natives. Yichye, Yosef Achmad and Shimon are perpetrators of domestic violence crimes against their spouses and kin. At Beit Noam they are exposed to a rigorous treatment program of four months aimed at teaching them alternative methods of communication and behavior. The daily routine challenges patients to demonstrate personal responsibility, develop an awareness of the other, understand and identify with the role of women, and practice a new vocabulary of verbal communication as an alternative to physical violence.
