Since that terrible Shabbat morning on October 7th, our nation has undergone tremendous change. We have ridden a wave of emotion and trauma and spend each day wondering what the next might bring. Rising out of this turmoil have been incredible community initiatives, grassroots activism and so much more - all incredible efforts to help Israel and the Jewish people overcome trauma and challenges that we are facing every day. Every cause has an organization looking to help them. It’s a beautiful thing to witness and these initiatives should all be praised for their work.
The question that gets asked often in Jewish and Israeli circles - how have you changed or stepped up since October 7th - is an interesting one for Emunah. After all, there is no one person or organization that hasn’t been changed by the events of the last two years. But Emunah is no stranger to trauma and resilience.
For 90 years, Emunah has looked at the challenges and needs of Israeli society and answered the call. In our earliest days, those challenges were caring for orphans coming to Israel out of the ruins of the Holocaust. Back then, Emunah stepped up by opening our very first children’s home. Today, Emunah still operates 5 children’s homes across Israel, caring for children who come from especially difficult circumstances and backgrounds and providing them with safety, stability, love and care.
Emunah has continued to meet the needs of Israeli society over time - by opening some of the country’s first day care centers to allow women to go to work and support their families, opening therapy and counseling centers to help struggling families through hard times, schools and more.
Of course, the horrors and difficulties of October 7th and the ensuing war have affected Emunah and our centers, just like they have the rest of the country. Emunah cares for children and families who are already in trauma and in difficult circumstances. The war became a trigger for many of them - those already in crisis and those who had been in a good place as well. We at Emunah worked very hard to provide tools and resources and support to all those in our care who needed it to help them find strength.
We also faced many of the same challenges that other organizations faced. The male counselors in our homes vanished - going to serve in miluim for months at a time. In an environment where children depend on routine and stability, this becomes a massive challenge to overcome. We are incredibly thankful to our past staff members and Bnot sherut who stepped in and came back to work and helped out where they could.
It is also due to our expertise and resources that we were able to be innovative and provide support in areas where we knew communities needed extra support. The Emunah Sarah Ronson Counseling Center in Sderot was uniquely positioned to be at the forefront of treating the residents of Sderot and neighboring communities for trauma and other counseling needs. In addition to that, our therapists were called upon to treat the Sderot municipality’s therapists and social workers who themselves were going through severe trauma and needed support and treatment.
Emunah’s work continues every day, as part of a routine, to ensure that we are supporting the disadvantaged and in need of Israeli society - in times of war and peace. That work is made possible by support from our global Emunah branches. This support has been vital to Emunah’s work for 90 years, but no less so than immediately after October 7th. With the start of the war, and led by World Emunah, the global Emunah network launched an Emergency Appeal that raised money specifically for war related needs of the Emunah centers. Their dedication is inspiring and they are as much a part of Emunah’s daily story as those on the ground in the centers.
Trauma in Israel is not something that began two years ago and unfortunately, it’s not a phenomenon that will fade away quickly and quietly. The difference between now and two years ago is that it now affects the majority of the Israeli population in one way or another. Emunah has spent 90 years working to help those in trauma and need and we’ve faced every challenge as it’s come. Emunah was built on the idea of כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה. It is a responsibility that we hold dearly and we will continue to meet each challenge as it comes, caring for all of the children and families that come through our doors.
The author is the Director of World Emunah.
The article was written in collaboration with World Emunah.