Our Stories Matter

Dr. Efrat Bron-Harlev and Reem Abed Elhai, CEO and Senior Nurse of Schneider Hospital, respectively, discuss their journey of finding connection during a time of war. They speak candidly about navigating personal and professional relationships between a diverse staff of Arabs and Israelis and how they cultivated a space of compassion and transparency, ultimately providing staff with a space to feel safe as they expressed their own personal struggles with the ongoing war. Furthermore, they discuss their abiilty to foster cultural competency amongst staff and how this benefitted both the patients and the staff. Lastly, they touch upon the long-term psychological impacts of war and how this, unfortunately, is only the beginning. 

Dr. Yehudah Pryce, a Senior Director of National Mental Health and Well-Being Programs at a national nonprofit organization, psychotherapist, and clinical social worker, discusses his journey of finding joy and healing since the tragedy of October 7th. Dr. Pryce expresses his struggles with processing his pain and grief with the way society has responded to the tragedy. Lastly, he discusses the intersections that come with being part of the Black and Jewish communities.

Jonathan Bar Giora, renowned Israeil composer and head of the BFA School of Audio and Video Arts at Sapir College, shares powerful stories of grief and resilience. Describing the time after October 7th as a "marathon of pain and tragedy," Bar Giora describes how he found strength within his community. He details the commmunity he created with his students and how they engaged in collective healing. In addition, Bar Giora speaks to the medium of film as a meaningful way to process one's trauma. 

A poem from multi-faceted creator and Somatic healer: Sarit Z Rogers. This poem, Us and We, is published in Never Again: Allies Speak out Against Antisemitism -- A Proof of Life Anthology edited by Sharon Zohar. 

Dr. Or Duek is a licensed clinicial psychologist and assistant professor at the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Community Health Sciences at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. His research focuses on the effects of exposure to stress on humans. Using his clinical background, Dr. Duek joined the IDF as a mental health lieutenant where he helped soldiers navigate their own trauma during the war. Drawing on a strength-based perspective, Dr. Duek shares how he is helping soldiers reframe their traumatic experiences into a coherent narrative that promotes strength and resilience. 

Dr. Miri Bar-Halpern shares her writings, her collection of poems related to the October 7th massacre. She is inviting you, our listeners, to send in your poems relating to a traumatic event in your life. Calling all poets.