Yudit Sidikman says she learned judo not so much for self-defense, but because it provided an opportunity for "fun and sport."

Sidikman, who grew up in Somerset and Highland Park, moved to Israel in 1984 while she was in college, married, and had five children. She was pregnant with her youngest when she was asked by a group of women to join a neighborhood judo group, earning her yellow belt "by throwing around a group of 15- and 16-year-old boys."

And she found something more than fun and sport.

"It helped me get in touch with my body, self, and power," she explained. "People ask if I've ever used my Judo, and my answer is I use it every day. It's not just about fighting. It's about feeling good about yourself and knowing your fight and choosing to be in it or not to be in it."

Sidikman now uses those lessons to help other women and girls become strong and independent.

Sidikman divorced her husband and eventually founded El Halev-Israel, the Israel Women's Martial Arts Foundation. The nonprofit Jerusalem-based organization helps women confront the trauma of domestic abuse through martial arts and women-oriented self-defense.

"In general the Jewish community, especially the Orthodox, likes to believe abuse doesn't happen in this community," said Sidikman during an interview Nov. 26 at the South River offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County, where she had just conducted a self-defense training class for female employees.

Her roots in Middlesex County go deep — her father, Larry Zicklin, was president of both Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple in New Brunswick and the federation.

"Yudit works with women at the Jerusalem Shelter for Battered Women, which has been supported by our federation for 10 years through the Jennifer Lalin Memorial Foundation," said federation executive director Gerrie Bamira. "Her program empowers the women and their daughters, physically and emotionally."

In the United States to visit friends and family, she had earlier in her stay conducted a similar class for the youth group of Anshe Emeth. Her own involvement there as a youngster led to her spending a semester in Israel at age 16 through the Reform movement's North American Federation of Temple Youth.

The former Andrea Zicklin, now a Modern Orthodox feminist, said her varied background affords her the opportunity to work well with those of different ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds.

"I used to be much more Orthodox," she said. "I'm a returnee to the middle ground so I can play well in all communities."

Now a third-degree black belt in judo and skilled in other martial arts forms, Sidikman said El Halev offers referral services, scholarships, and networking opportunities for women from all backgrounds. They are also taught self-confidence and self-respect through discussion and exercise.

Sidikman also directs two related institutions. The Martial Arts Center at Gush Etzion focuses on young people, particularly at-risk teens. Merkaz Edna, named after her late grandmother, Edna Sulam, shares space with El Halev and is a rehabilitation center for women with psychological problems.

Sidikman, who serves as a Special Olympics judo referee, was honored earlier this year for her 20 years of working with special needs children.

One of Sidikman's proudest moments came in 2002 — 18 years after she left college to make aliya — when she completed her degree through Thomas Edison State College, a distance learning institution. Her children traveled to New Jersey to watch their mother receive her diploma.

Her children — the two oldest are in the Israeli Air Force — range in age from 14 to 21 and are all skilled in Judo. Sidikman herself has taught in Holland, Houston, and Utah and will again teach at Anshe Emeth and Arizona when she returns to the United States in February.

During her federation program, Sidikman had the women practice raising their voices, making faces, holding their outstretched arms out, and pushing others off as techniques to ward off those "who were getting in their space" and making them uncomfortable.

Under Sidikman's instruction, every woman broke a wooden board placed across cinderblocks.

In another exercise, the women discussed degrees of abusive behavior.

"Women want to be nice so we take all those bad feelings and put them up in our heads," explained Sidikman. "We tell ourselves, 'Well, he's well-educated, he's wearing a suit, drives a nice car, comes from a good family.' Believe me if it feels icky, it is icky. Get out of there because better safe than trying to figure out how to get out of an abusive relationship."

Sidikman also said embarrassment can be a powerful tool in stopping women from reporting harassment and related one of her favorite stories, which took place on an Israeli bus.

"This woman lifted this man's hand and yelled to the entire bus, 'Has anyone lost a hand because I just found one on my thigh,'" said Sidikman, as the women laughed and applauded.