First responders, including ambulance drivers, health care workers and forensic teams who identified many of the dead, witnessed “carnage and horror” that caused lasting trauma.
An organization called Mashiv Ha'Ruach, which means “Recovering the Spirit”, provided psychosocial and mental health support through retreat workshops supported by WHO/Europe. These sessions allowed workers to discuss their trauma and develop coping mechanisms.
The organization's founder, Eyal Kravitz, said he created the group days after the attacks and wondered: Who will help the helpers?
the workshops
Many of the recovery volunteers who offered help after the attack developed insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and high levels of depression and anxiety, causing a “ripple effect that impacted their families and workplace.” .
The Mashiv Ha'Ruach workshops were part of a retreat and took place in the desert, away from the “noise and distraction of daily life” and encouraged participants to share what they had experienced.
“At first, no one thought they needed to talk about their experiences,” said Daniel Chermon, co-founder of Mashiv Ha'Ruach.
“So at first we had a hard time convincing them to come, but once they came, people started listening to their colleagues about the value of the retreats.”
Oz Tal, one of the first responders on Oct. 7, said the workshop gave him “language to describe and express his feelings.”
“First of all, most of the volunteers, when I tell them to come to the retreat, they tell me that they are fine. They don't need anything. They don’t want to come,” Tal said.
He continued: “But during the retreat, after we start talking about our feelings, the first one starts talking and starts sharing his problems, then the whole group starts. “You can’t imagine the spirit in the room at that moment.”
Working with volunteers
Atzmon Meshulam developed the workshop program and said the sessions help participants change the way they talk about what they experienced. He noticed that many volunteers seemed calmer after the sessions.
“I received a message from the wife of a volunteer who attended the workshops. She wrote to me that she had gotten a new man back, that it was the first time she had slept through the night since October 7,” Meshulam recalled.
Hodaya Leshem, one of the workshop attendees, a mother of four and married to a soldier, said: “I had no support before attending the meetings.”
“I had to keep everyone in the family and community together, but there was no one there to hold me together,” he continued.
Mashiv Ha'Ruach has now expanded its workshop to affected staff partners and volunteers “to build a broader network of resilience and support skills.”
Testimonials
Soroka Medical Center, a hospital almost 40 kilometers from Gaza, treated 680 patients (120 of whom were seriously injured) in the 16 hours following the October 7 attack.
The WHO said many staff members lost close family members or lived in areas that were attacked.
Dr. Dan Schwarzfuchs, director of the Emergency Department at Soroka Medical Center, said the workers would not have survived the job if they were not strong.
“I knew in my gut that I had to find something to help them stay resilient,” she said.
He said the therapy provided through the workshops helped foster bonds between the medical center staff.
“Colleagues who previously did not want to talk about their experiences are opening up because they are hearing the experiences of others,” Dr. Schwarzfuchs said. “People I didn't expect to ever attend are doing so now.”
The retreat was also beneficial for Ayelet Harris, head of the Kibbutz Movement's Community Department, who said the sessions provided a space for first responders to express themselves for the first time.
“At the retreat, I felt like it was one of the first times I felt revitalized, as the focus was on me and my needs,” Ms. Harris said. “It was a safe place to express what I had been through and someone was there to listen to me… This was refreshing and renewing.”
Provide support
Since the beginning of 2024, Mashiv Ha'Ruach has helped almost 1,000 people through its retreat workshops.
“We did not start Mashiv Ha'Ruach under good circumstances. But the fact is, people need it and will continue to need it for years to come,” said co-founder Chermon.
Founder Kravitz said his partnership with the health organization allowed him to reach a wide reach of people.
“We are proud to be the only resilience initiative in Israel that has received recognition from the WHO, thanks to the recommendation of the Israeli Ministry of Health,” he said. “This partnership has been invaluable and I want to express our deep gratitude to WHO.”
In addition to supporting Mashiv Ha'Ruach, WHO has also assisted the Israeli non-governmental organization Mosaica through an initiative involving
religious leaders from Jewish and Muslim communities, to connect people with helpful mental health care resources, increasing acceptance and reducing the stigma of seeking treatment.
