Last Tuesday evening, the Young Israel of New Rochelle hosted a moving and timely community event: a public conversation on trauma and recovery, titled “Healing in the Wake of War.” The gathering brought together local residents and visitors from neighboring communities to hear from two leading experts in the field of trauma and post-war mental health. The evening offered an opportunity to better understand the emotional toll of war—and how Israeli soldiers and communities can begin to heal, even while the battles continue.

Chaim Landau, director of development and partnerships at Metiv, the Israeli Psychotrauma Center, opened the program with a sobering look at how drastically their work had shifted since Oct. 7, 2023. Prior to that day, Metiv had arranged 18 Peace of Mind trips—therapeutic journeys for Israeli combat units to Jewish communities around the world. Those units had flights booked for locations including New York, Miami, Boston and London. But then the war broke out. Instead of boarding planes, those same soldiers were deployed to Gaza and Lebanon.

Faced with a new reality, Metiv pivoted quickly. They launched trauma care programs first in Israel and eventually in Europe, and then America. The trips have been generally successful, and by 2025, they expect to operate in more than 16 communities across New York and New Jersey alone. Their mission is clear: to help Israeli army veterans reintegrate into civilian life, recognizing the unique needs of each unit.

New Rochelle community member Dr. Randi Shane, who coordinates Peace of Mind trips in the area, introduced the featured speakers. She emphasized that while Peace of Mind is a vital initiative, it represents just one facet of Metiv’s work. Founded by Dr. Danny Brom and affiliated with Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem, Metiv is a global leader in trauma research and care. Its mission has expanded to include education, community resilience and support for healthcare providers, all with the goal of strengthening society’s ability to withstand prolonged adversity.

Brom, a clinical psychologist and trauma expert, began by dispelling a widespread misconception: “People are saying that all Israelis are traumatized and suffering from PTSD, and all Israelis need to be treated.” In reality, he explained, only 10%-15% of combat soldiers develop PTSD. But the broader Israeli population is still experiencing significant distress—frequent sirens, dashes to safe rooms, and a constant state of high alert. “Israelis are living in a crazy environment,” he said sadly.

The challenge, he explained, lies in providing care in a country where the trauma is still ongoing. “We’re trying to wipe the floor dry while the tap is still open,” he said. The trips provided by the Peace of Mind program are just part of a longer, structured nine-month process that includes diagnosis and therapy aimed to foster post-traumatic growth. Soldiers begin to unpack their experiences, even though many must return to combat soon after. Not all are healed by conventional therapy. For those whose trauma remains unresolved, Metiv is exploring second-line treatments like
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.

Brom was then joined by Dr. Rachel Yehudah, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Mount Sinai Hospital and a global authority on trauma and PTSD. She has been to Israel multiple times since Oct. 7, working to implement therapeutic approaches, including cutting-edge psychedelic treatments.

Yehudah noted a key difference between Israeli and American soldiers: “In Israel, everyone serves. The whole society is connected to the military. In America, it’s voluntary, and fewer people serve.” American veterans often return from overseas deployments to civilian life with time and space to reflect. In contrast, Israeli veterans come home to a society that is still very much in the fight. There is no safe container for reflection, no ability to exhale.

Another factor complicating the soldiers’ experiences currently, according to Yehudah, is the cellphone. The modern Israeli soldier may be in combat one moment and on the phone with his spouse the next. “When you go to war, it’s not healthy to get a call from your wife about what happened to your kid in Gan that day. You’re not fully integrating into survival mode, into the life of combat. You can’t get into the compartmentalization required to do the work because it’s too close. Your mind is going back and forth—bouncing between the battlefield and your domestic life. The compartmentalization necessary for survival is being disrupted.” And on the home front, spouses and families are managing their own traumas, often without adequate support.

The discussion turned to what makes combat trauma different from other trauma. Both experts agreed that combat trauma is uniquely intense, because it’s tied to mission, identity and connection. Soldiers form deep bonds—sometimes forged in the presence of real danger—that release stress hormones and oxytocin, creating a feeling of belonging even in life-threatening conditions. “One soldier who had been in the war in 2014 told me when this war started, ‘This feels like home,’” Brom recalled. That emotional familiarity with combat can make it much harder to readjust to civilian life.

Yehudah explained that PTSD often involves trouble sleeping—a normal outcome of a brain conditioned to stay alert in danger. “You can’t sleep when you feel unsafe. And when soldiers come home, they’re still in that mode.” This often leads to dependence on sleep aids, energy drinks during the day, and other bad habits. “I don’t like sleeping pills,” Yehudah said. “I would rather help them work towards the state where they can sleep because they know nobody is going to kill them. That internal logical explanation is the goal—so that they can rest without fear.”

The conversation turned philosophical when discussing moral injury—a trauma that arises not just from what happened, but from what a person did or failed to do. The psychological fallout of taking a life, or questioning the morality of one’s actions in war, can be long-lasting and difficult to process.

One audience member asked a difficult but crucial question: How do you treat soldiers who are still on active duty and may soon return to combat? Yehudah responded: “It’s tricky. If they’re going back to war, you don’t treat PTSD yet. You strengthen them. PTSD isn’t brain damage. The brain is neuroplastic. It can heal.” Yehudah explained that PTSD can’t be fixed while the war is ongoing. All that can be done is to manage the symptoms, offer coping tools and reassure the soldiers that the healing will come when the war is over.

The evening closed on a sober but hopeful note. While Israeli society is still deep in survival mode, efforts like Peace of Mind and the general work of Metiv offer a roadmap for recovery that recognizes the complexity of trauma, and believes in resilience and the human brain’s capacity to heal.

For more information, visit: https://metiv.org/en/home/