On 8 October 2023, as sirens blared in the background, Telfed staff gathered on Zoom to devise an action plan.
With so much uncertainty around us, one thing was clear: our community needed support. The first priority was reaching out to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Olim, starting with those in the Gaza Envelope. We were all scared, worried, and deeply shaken.
In the weeks that followed, Telfed’s Social Worker led a team of volunteers making calls to check in on community members. Recognising the growing need for mental health support, we welcomed an additional Social Worker, focusing on Olim evacuees, survivors of the massacre, and bereaved families.
We partnered with trauma experts to offer webinars, support groups, and much-needed resources. Parents faced an overwhelming challenge: how do you reassure your children when you’re struggling yourself? How do you talk to adult children returning from the frontlines after witnessing the unimaginable? While many resources were available in Hebrew, it was essential to provide dedicated support for English-speakers.
Through this journey, we also realised that healing happens through connection. Our events naturally evolved into volunteer opportunities, bringing people together with a renewed sense of purpose.
“We see a growing need for initiatives promoting mental health and wellbeing in response to the trauma of the war. As a community organisation, we are well positioned to use the reach and relationships we’ve built over the past 77 years to provide this support,” says Robby Hilkowitz, Chairman of Telfed’s newly established Mental Wellbeing Committee. “We have a team of outstanding professiowwnals and lay people with an interest in mental wellbeing who are committed to building resilience and healing,” he adds. “The Committee is working on several programmes to encourage mental wellbeing, starting with the launch of R U OK? in Israel for English-speakers.”
Originally launched in Australia, R U OK? is a peer-to-peer support initiative brought to Israel by Enosh, the Israeli Mental Health Association. Telfed has now made it accessible to the English-speaking community in memory of Dina Oraya Isaacson Z”L.
Workshops have already begun, teaching participants how to check in on those around them. Telfed Regional Volunteers, who serve as a key connection for new Olim across the country, along with PRAS student scholarship co-ordinators, were among the first to participate.
For Telfed, the message is simple: It’s okay not to be okay – but it’s not okay to be alone. ●
Telfed www.telfed.org.il Email: info@telfed.org.il
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