It is no secret that the past 10 months have been some of the most trying, tense, and traumatic for Israelis. Many of us have seen close family and friends go off to war. Many have lost people we care about. Many know those who are, or have been, held hostage in the tunnels of Gaza.
We have done our best to talk our children through whatever fears or questions they have about what is going on in the world around them that they cannot possibly understand. Half of the time, we barely understand what we are seeing and experiencing ourselves.
It would have been natural if all of us in Israel had spent the better part of the past year hunkered down in our own houses, with our own families, secluded in our sadness and pain, waiting for the worst to pass. Yet, that is far from what this country has experienced. The spirit of Israel and the Israeli people has held strong and steady. Despite everything, despite trauma and darkness, the love and care we have for one another and our strength and resilience remain steadfast. Emunah Israel branches and institutions around the country are just one amazing example of this phenomenon.
During the past week, a group of women who were evacuated from Kiryat Shmona months ago – and still unable to return to their homes – decided to make a solidarity trip to the South to go visit and show support to others. They went to see the Emunah Sarah Ronson Therapy Center in Sderot and heard from Tami Beck, the center’s director, about the intensive and amazing work they are doing to help heal the nation’s southern citizens after the trauma of October 7.
Afterward, they carried on to Netivot, to hear about what had happened there on that terrifying day from the Netivot security director. In the evening, the women of the Emunah Netivot branch cooked for their visitors from Kiryat Shmona and they all gathered to eat together and offer each other comfort in their time of need.
At the Emunah Sarah Ronson Therapy Center in Sderot, Tami Beck and her staff have been working around the clock, before and after October 7, to provide much-needed therapy to the citizens of Sderot and surrounding areas. But more must be done. We don’t give enough thought to all of the caregivers in the country who have been working with the evacuees, hostage families, and the victims of the October 7 atrocities.
These therapists and counselors, many of whom live in the South themselves, have to relive the trauma over and over as they treat their patients. It’s a cycle that will not be sustainable without intervention. Therefore, Tami and her staff at the Emunah Sarah Ronson Therapy Center in Sderot have decided to step in and ensure that everyone is getting the help they need. They are now providing therapy to all of the Sderot municipality’s social workers, to ensure that they are in the best emotional state to continue to treat others.
YET, THE care and consideration evidenced among our people is not limited to adults. Young adults and children have gone out of their way to show their love and appreciation for their brothers and sisters around the country, too. The girls studying at Emunah’s Midreshet Be’eri have been volunteering with families bereaved by the war – helping to take care of their needs in whichever ways they can.
At Emunah’s various high schools, such as Ulpana Techologit Beit Weinstein, the girls have been visiting wounded soldiers once a week. Girls from the Emunah Achuzat Sara children’s home have been making necklaces with hopeful messages on them to raise people’s spirits. These are just very few examples of Emunah’s contributions via staff members and volunteers across many institutions.
More than Emunah
Emunah is far from the only example. All across the country, individuals, companies, and NGOs have spent the better part of the past 10 months volunteering, serving, and helping out in any way they can to care for their friends, family, and country. The spirit of Emunah is the spirit of Israel.
As we observe Tisha B’Av, a day that marks the breaking apart of the Jewish nation, we would do well to reflect on how our people today, under the darkest of circumstances, take care of one another.
The writer is the head of operations for World Emunah.