Yom Hashoah--Israeli Holocaust Remembrance Day

Last night I had the opportunity to hear a survivor speak at a synagogue in Tel Aviv. I have heard several speakers before, but never in Israel on the eve of Yom Hashoah. It was truly a touching experience. The stories he had were gruesome. The horror that he had to endure, the nightmare he went through, is very difficult to grasp. 

He said to us, "Every town the Germans encountered, they asked all the Jews to pack two suitcases and head to the center of town where they were picked up by trucks, and then, they disappeared." When his family heard news that the Germans were coming they packed a couple potato sacks with food and clothing and fled to the woods (Suitcases would lead people to believe that the family was Jewish rather than peasants). They knew if they were caught, they would be shot on the spot. They were actually caught on a couple of occasions. His father was killed, he was kept in a prison for two weeks, until they escaped the night they were to be shot, and they hid in a wine cellar for two years. In they end he survived, and made it to Israel. 

However, he could not escape his nightmare, as he called it. It was literally a nightmare. He said every night he could not escape dreams of Germans chasing him, shooting him, stabbing him, torturing him, murdering his mother, father, strangers. In the army, his unit couldn't stand him because he woke them up every night when he would scream awake from his dreams. He could not escape the pain. He had PTSD. Not until he went to a military drill, where he ran, screaming as artillery fired into the air and shrapnel pierced his chest, did he escape his pain--when he knew that he was safe, that his mother was safe, that the Jewish people who have endured so much trauma, were safe as long as soldiers like him were fighting to protect this nation.

Being in Israel, it is impossible to escape the memory of the Holocaust. Reminders are here, whether it is a memorial in the middle of town, an old man carrying groceries with numbers tattooed on his arm, or the Yad Vashem memorial museum in Jerusalem. It has long been a reason that drives Zionism--that after countless generations of persecution, pogroms, and finally the holocaust, the need for a Jewish state was undeniable. Today on Yom Hashoah, we not only mourn over the six million lives that were lost as a result of the Holocaust, but we give thanks that there is a place that any Jew can run to in refuge--Israel.

Yad Vashem.

Yom Hashoah has been a national holiday since 1953, enacted under Prime Minister David Ben Gurion. It's date differs from the International holocaust remembrance day because Ben Gurion wanted to lead it into Yom Ha'atzmaut--Israel's national independance day. Here, the Holocaust and Zionism are very intertwined. In fact, the full name of the rememberance day is Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah, literally meaning Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day. It reminds us of Jews who saved their own lives, saved their children's lives, as well as the many non-Jews who risked their lives in order to save another's--something I, and the entire state of Israel is very greatful for. 

But remembering is not enough, we must reflect on what Yom Hashoah means today for the Israeli people. After the Holocaust nearly 250,000 Jewish refugees from Europe tried to make their way to then British Mandate Palestine. Many didn't make it, whether they were lost at sea, or turned away by the British, all the while carrying with them a nightmare that can never be forgotten. When Israel was founded, they had two options--the same two options that some Jews had--to kill, or to be killed. As tragic as this may seem, it was the truth. Even today, the majority of Israel's neighbors do not except her existence, and wish to see the state destroyed. In the face of adversity, Israel won the war, being one of the first times that the Jewish people resisted their own destruction, and changing the face of the Jewish people.

Exodus Ship Carrying Refugees to British Mandate Palestine.

Israel chose not to make their holocaust rememberance day on the same day as the international holiday because it is held on the date of the liberation of Auschwitz. Ben Gurion didn't want the day to be about remembering our suffering, but about learning from it, and how we can learn to defend ourselves. There was a lot of shame involved in WWII with the Jewish people. It is the same shame that we had from the pogroms--that our people went like sheep to the slaughter without running, fighting, or generally resisting.

We remember the holocaust to ensure that it never happens again, that Israel can always defend its people. 

This sense of shame is discussed in Nachman Bialick's 1903 poem, "In the City of Slaughter," which reflected on the Kishinev Pogrom of Russia where 50 Jews were killed, 500 injured, and over 700 homes and business ransacked. He wrote:

"Crushed in their shame, they saw it all; They did not stir nor move; They did not pluck their eyes out; they Beat not their brains against the wall! Perhaps, perhaps, each watcher had it in his heart to pray: A miracle, O Lord,—and spare my skin this day! Those who survived this foulness, who from their blood awoke, Beheld their life polluted, the light of their world gone out— How did their menfolk bear it, how did they bear this yoke? They crawled forth from their holes, they fled to the house of the Lord, They offered thanks to Him, the sweet benedictory word. The Cohanim sallied forth, to the Rabbi's house they flitted: Tell me, O Rabbi, tell, is my own wife permitted? The matter ends; and nothing more. And all is as it was before."

Watching their daughters and wives getting killed and raped, they hid and did NOTHING. They went to their Rabbi to ask if their wives were still pure to sleep with. They said thank you to G-d. They said prayers, and acted as if nothing ever happened. The aftermath caused an public outcry for Zionism, that the Jewish people need somewhere to go, to stand together against their enemies.

In this way, Zionism is a movement to protect us--to be the shield of the Jewish people. Today, if a pogrom were to occur, Israel would be there right away to protect the Jewish people. In a way, this movement has been founded as a result of the Post-Traumatic stress of the Jewish people.

Natal, the Post-Trauma organization that I volunteer for, says that they are here to treat the "National Disease" that is PTSD in Israel. Today, nearly everyone has been affected by the Arab-Israeli conflict, whether by terrorism or by war. But this trauma stems deeply from our roots. We have never escaped it. It is entrenched in the Jewish heritage all across the world. The Jewish people have had to learn to endure trauma after trauma as generations in exile beat down on us in the harsh form of pogroms, death camps, book burnings, scapegoating, ghettos, forced labor, and separation of families. The entire Jewish people were ran out of Israel over 1000 years ago, and forced into many nations who never welcomed them. 

Today, things are a lot different, and I believe it is due to the free nature of the world. We say never again, and I truly believe that so long as the State of Israel exists, it will never happen again. It is because we can fight back. It is because today, Israel has one of the strongest armies in the world. In fact, when Ben Gurion first thought of creating the Yom Hashoah, he wanted it to be on the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Yom Hashoah reminds us of the historical change we made as a people. 

Today, Yom Hashoah reminds us of the 6 million who perished, but it also reminds us of the necessity for this state of Israel. No matter what, the Jewish people are here to stay. We have issues, the conflict is as complicated as ever, but one thing is for sure--we are here to stay. We must learn to cope with the trauma that continues to plague us. We must learn to grow from our history, to be stoic, and to help those around us who suffer from the result of trauma. Just as Israel was there to provide help for Holocaust refugees,we must provide help for those suffering from trauma today. 

Natal's Center for Victims of Terror and War is here to help.

Hiking the Golan Heights

Last week was Passover, a holiday which is very important to the religion of Judaism. Our program gave us a week long break to do whatever we want--to travel, to visit family, or to just relax. My cousin and I decided that we were going to backpack through the Golan Heights with our friend Itai. It ended up being much more than a pretty hike. It turned out to be an extremely thought provoking experience that I will never forget.

I always have thought of the Golan Heights as Israel's northernmost wilderness. I never knew much about it other than that it borders with Syria, has beautiful mountains and streams, and is mostly land which hasn't been built on. As it turns out, the Golan Heights is rich with history--Jewish, Syrian, and Turkish. It has endured many wars, and is still considered sovereign Syrian territory according to the international community, but Israel disputes this. It is basically a massive rocky plateau formed in the Anti-Lebanon mountains, supplying Israel with a third of its drinking water and drawing nearly 3 million tourists each year. 

Before the Six Day War in 1967, Syria, perched on the edge of the Golan heights peering into the Galilee, was shooting artillery and sniper fire indiscriminately at civilian populations. When the war began, Israel had two options, sit in the galilee and get bombed to oblivion, or push the Syrians out of the Golan heights and down to the other side. Somehow, Israel did it, but with many consequences. There were around 100,000 Druze and Circassian refugees which fled deeper into Syria, with only 7,000 Druze staying back. At first, after the war, it was clear that Israel would eventually give back the golan in a peace agreement, but it never happened. Some 5 prime ministers have offered to give up to 97% of the Golan back in exchange for a comprehensive peace agreement, every time Syria has declined, refusing to accept the existence of the state of Israel, and refusing for any of the Golan to be under Jewish control. President Bashar al-Assad said "The Golan Heights is all Arab, and will always be Arab."

Cartoon from a Syrian Newspaper pre-1967

After years of broken down peace talks, another war began. In 1973, the Arab nations initiated a war against Israel on all sides, to destroy the Jewish state. It began on the day of Yom Kippur, the holiest day for Judaism when all the people were fasting and praying. After a brutal attack on the Golan, Israel ended up somehow surviving, pushing Syrians deep into their territory. After this war, the Golan has been considered very much Israeli by the populations here. They have established 41 settlements, resurrected ancient Jewish ruins and synagogues, and have made an effort to make the area more Israeli. Today 10% of Druze residents have accepted Israeli citizenship.

This gets me to the trip. We began in Majdal Shams, a villiage of 8,800 people, the largest population center in the Golan heights. It sits on the southern foothills of the Hermon Mountain. It was a beautiful city. Knowing the situation before leaving, I expected to see a completely Arab town. However, upon arriving, I noticed that nearly every storefront had Hebrew written on it rather than Arabic, even though the population was clearly Arab Druze. We tried to get a taxi, but there were no taxis here. We were in the country. So we started our 125 Km hike from the city, missing the first 3 km down the Hermon. 

We passed through 3 Druze villages during our trip. The second two villages were Mas'adeh and Buq'a'tah. As we walked up and down the mountains, through scores of vineyards, olive groves, and almond trees, we encountered several local farmers, all of whom were very friendly and helped us to navigate when we were lost. I was amazed at the friendliness of the Druze people, so many of whom were so excited to meet us American hikers. While at a convenience store in Buq'a'ta, I spoke with the cashier as I purchased some mars bars and pasta. She asked me in Hebrew, "Are you american?" I said yes, of course. She said, "cool, I am Israeli." As basic as this sentence was, and as normal as it may seem, it blew my mind. 

Walking through Buq'a'ta

Buqata was Syrian for nearly 90 years. It's civilians link back to Syrian culture for countless generations. But this cashier called herself an Israeli. The signs in the town were written in Hebrew. So it has been 45 years that Israel has occupied the Golan heights. These days, it is seeming like it will never be given up, that a comprehensive peace with a war torn Syria may be impossible for the time being. Buqata today, and Majdal Shams seemed very much Israeli to me. The Wikipedia page says that the Golan Heights are still considered Syrian to the international community, but come there today and tell me that again. 

The thing is, you see this region on a map, with dotted lines all over the place and no solid borders, you imagine a war torn region. You can see it here too. Everywhere you walk, there is a minefield likely within a couple hundred meters. Nearly every expansive view includes ruins of settlements and farms, ancient and recent, as well as an abandoned tank here and there. However, it truly isn't as intense as it seems. I think it's actually the most serene and relaxing place that I have visited during my time here in the middle east. People here are very kind--both the Jews and the Arabs, as far as I can tell you. I encountered no hostility. I could understand if I got into a heated conversation with a local about the conflict, things could get hairy. They may show solidarity with the refugees. But I understand. It is terrible that so many people have been negatively impacted by the regional wars. As much as everyone would like to find a solution, where peace is born, everyone is happy, and all rightful ownership of property is restored, that can never happen. 

So many people see the conflicts here and think they have the solution. They think there is an aggressor and a defender. But I can tell you something, after 9 months here I have no solution. The lines of right and wrong, instigator and bystander, aggressor and defender are very blurred. I don't think anybody here has a solution. It may be one of the most complicated conflicts in the world. All we can be sure of is who the ruling power is right now. Take a look at history and notice one thing. The focus of power changes all the time. People learn to live and to cope. Life goes on. 

Moving on, past Buqata, we found the border with Syria. Well.....not exactly a border actually. Since the armistice agreement of 1981, there exists a huge buffer zone between Israel and Syria which is occupied by the United Nations. Actually, the peak of the Hermon mountain is there. This view that we saw was absolutely stunning. It is actually why the Golan is such a strategic area. From the Golan plateau, one can see the entire length of the Syrian border and peer into all of its border cities. The horizon stretches all across the plain, and all of it is Syrian. With binoculars, on top of Har Bental, a mountain whose army base was the most strategic point in winning the Yom Kippur War, we could even see Al Quneitra, a ghost town in the demilitarized UN zone, which once housed 20,000 residents.

The Story of Al Quneitra is pretty amazing. During the '67 war, Syrian troops stationed in Al Quneitra received bad intel from the Syrian Army command that the troops were retreating. In a quick last second move, the soldiers left their tanks, evacuated the city, and retreated. That day, Israel rolled into the city expecting one of the biggest battles on the Syrian front, only to find thousands of empty houses, cars, and tanks. When Israel gave the city back in the UN brokered armistice agreement, Syria decided to keep it abandoned as a memorial to the war.

We actually had another opportunity to walk through a destroyed Syrian army base.

Just as the Syrian residence in this place was so apparent, so was the Jewish residence. That night we camped at an Israeli settlement built near the ruins of an ancient Jewish settlement which existed during the tribal period of Israel, before the creation of Jerusalem. The settlement of Keshet today exists isolated in an area surrounded by uncultivated land that extends to the horizon. 

The next day we camped next to a Mikvah near the ancient Khurva Sinagogue which overlooks a beautiful valley which extends into the Galilee.

We saw many of these clear examples of ancient Jewish residence in the Golan heights--a fact which has lead many far right politicians to demand that Israel officially annex the Golan heights. 

After writing all about my long distance hike in the Golan, you must be asking yourself, what is this doing in a blog about Post-Traumatic Stress. This hike placed me in an area which Israel occupies, which is disputed over. Thousands of lives have been lost over the battles for who controls this strategic area. Today, Israelis consider the Golan heights very much a part of Israel, considering the costs it has been forced to endure in order to keep this sliver of land. 

The Golan heights exemplifies the very real phenomenon of Post-Traumatic Stress in this region of the world.  There is no escaping the war that exists there. I was forced to follow a trail where in parts, everywhere around me were mine fields surrounded in barbed wire, and there was only one path. The way that an Israeli would interpret the things they see here could evoke anger, nationalism, or general apathy which would lead him or her to try to leave this volatile region. To me, this sounds like basic symptoms of PTSD. 

It might not be a serious personal problem. It is, however, a serious national problem. I hope that things can change. That everyone here will rise above their differences, overcome hate and paranoia, and ensure lasting peace of nations, of mind, and prosperity. I'm not sure what is to come.

Passover commemorates our exodus from slavery and our beginnings as a people brought together by common hardship. This situation in which our hardships keep us together as a people, even in exile, has repeated itself time and time again throughout history. It is probably the reason that Jewish people still exist. Whether it was living as slaves under an ancient king, surviving in a wild desert, being oppressed by foreign nations in which we lived, surviving a genocide, or trying to create a country in a region which doesn't welcome us, the struggles that the Jewish people have endured have been the events which have brought us closest together. Together, we can help alleviate our mental angst. We can give our hope, our love, and try our best to understand. This trip brought me one step closer.

Interviewing a Hotline Specialist

A while ago, during my internship at Natal, I was given the opportunity to speak first handedly with one of the psychologists who works for Natal's Stress Hotline. As I have spoken about before, Natal's hotline is a toll free number that anyone can call in times of stress, including wives and children of soldiers, soldiers themselves, or those associated with or affected by terrorist attacks. The woman who I got the opportunity to speak with was Sigal, a very sweet woman with a soft voice and a good sense of humor.

For some reason, I had expected something else. I assumed that a psychologist volunteering to help these people must somehow be stern and blank faced, offering intillectual insight while holding their emotions behind a glass window. Considering the weight of all the stories they hear that must take a toll on their own emotional and psychological health, I couldn't understand how a person who listens to first hand accounts of extreme psychological trauma could be so enjoyable to be around. But Sigal was very even tempered, and her smile assured me that she was doing a good job to help her patients.


Typically when I hear the word hotline, I think a number you call when you are really freaking out, to keep you from doing something dangerous. However, Natal's service is more than that. It is real therapy.

She described the process of treatment to me. By first call, Natal Hotline Psychologists determine the therapy treatment according to the severity of a patient's case. Sometimes, one call is just enough, as a child tries to cope with a father's emotional unavailability and earns the insight to deal with the issue from the call. In order to make sure, Natal calls back the patient to make sure everything is alright, a procedure that make Natal unique. In other cases, patients develop a longer term over-the-phone therapy which can last weeks, months, or even years, in which hotline specialists reciprocate phone calls with the distressed individuals.

Sigal told me that during a difficult time in Israel, such as one of the heights of the second intifada or during increased Gaza rocket fire, calls increase. It can be expected immediately after watching the news. Sometimes even, the hotline hears about the attacks before they make it to the headlines.

PTSD really is a national disease here. A nation who has learned that terrorism is not all that unlikely, and the same goes with war. Sigal told me that she has and still is treating people who still suffer from trauma after many many years from Israel's multitudes of wars. She told me that even a man who fought in Israel's war of independence in 1948 was in treatment.

After he had fought in 1948, and was forced to surrender Jerusalem, he felt ashamed. The Jordanians held him captive for several years as a Prisoner of War, and when he got out he didn't want to deal with the trauma. He left Israel and met a wife in England, and eventually moved back here to Israel in his late adult life. Even as an old man, he found himself dealing with the effects of PTSD, having difficulty dealing with his wife's Parkinson's disease and finds himself screaming at her. So in 2008, 60 YEARS after the war, he finally decided to seek treatment. Since then he has found a new love, and is actually improving--even after so much time.

This brings a bit of light into the society of Israel. It used to be unacceptable to deal with the problems of trauma--it was looked upon as a weakness since the country has constantly dealt with war and terror. But today, when it's finally socially acceptable to deal with you problems, thousands from across the country who have dealt with trauma for a significant portion of their lives are seeking help. It's beautiful. I'm so glad that there is a place that can help.

I can see it. I have been here for nearly seven months now. The culture here seems electric, there is an abundance of music and art, but still the souls seem to be shocked. There is a certain tension here that I can't seem to forget about. Every one is in on this. Israel is still a country with a lot of enemies, with a lot of violence in their history, and a still uncertain future. The stress needs to be relieved. Without a gateway to relieve the pain, Israel is doomed. I truly believe that.


At the end of the interview, I asked Sigal if the burden of all the stories of trauma she hears leaves a psychological toll on her. She told me that she herself had dealt with PTSD as her husband was shot down while flying over Egypt. That helping people deal with their own stress, and her learning about the was PTSD works by treating them, helps give her insight on her own issues.


Truly PTSD is in the blood of Israeli society. For the wounds to heal, Israel as a whole has to heal. Some people have the strength to get through their issues, and many of them are at Natal to help. I am glad to be here to witness it.