Ariel Center

Key Themes

• Gila Rockman lost her brother Ari—an accomplished and beloved figure—to suicide without any prior warning signs.
• A few years later, her stepbrother Avi was killed in combat.
• Ari’s death catalyzed the creation of a therapeutic sports center designed to meet the mental health needs of the wider community.
• The family’s experience illuminated the disparity in public and institutional support between families of fallen soldiers and those who die by suicide.

Stigma Around Mental Health

• In Israeli culture, particularly among men and youth, there is a strong reluctance to seek therapy due to stigma, fear of judgment, and practical concerns (e.g., military profile consequences).
• Many individuals with significant trauma—including combat soldiers and doctors—avoid therapy altogether.
• Gila’s own family members, including her children and father, exemplify this widespread hesitation.

The Israeli Context: Ongoing Trauma

• Unlike in the U.S., Israeli reservists face repeated cycles of mobilization and return, creating chronic psychological stress.
• The persistent threat of conflict—exemplified by the Yom Kippur War and the October 7th attacks—generates collective trauma that often remains unprocessed.
• Civilian life is regularly punctuated by war and fear, affecting even those not directly on the front lines.

The Role of Sports in Healing

• The organization uses sports as a form of trauma-informed intervention, especially effective for individuals who reject talk therapy.
• Activities like cycling, rock climbing, and team sports serve as safe, embodied outlets for stress relief and emotional processing.
• Sports teachers and coaches receive training in trauma sensitivity, enabling them to identify and support struggling children and adults.

Program Examples and Impact

• Therapeutic sports programs were quickly deployed to serve evacuated communities and emergency responders post-October 7th, often leading to significant emotional breakthroughs.
• The organization launched crash courses in trauma-informed care for summer camp counselors working with displaced children.
• These programs have expanded through partnerships with government agencies and NGOs to reach broader populations.

Societal and Systemic Efforts

• In the wake of the October 7th attacks, the organization mobilized thousands of volunteers, raised emergency funds, and supported evacuees with mental health tools.
• It now provides trauma-response training to emergency professionals (e.g., Magen David Adom) and integrates emotional first-aid into national service frameworks.
• The organization advocates for inclusive trauma care—addressing not only soldiers but also civilians, children, and marginalized groups.

Insights and Reflections

• Sports as Therapy: Physical activity can be a powerful gateway to healing, especially for those who resist formal psychological treatment.
• Community and Peer Support: Group-based sports foster trust, empathy, and emotional openness, allowing participants to process grief and trauma collectively.
• Early Intervention: The goal is to address emotional needs early—before PTSD and chronic mental health issues set in.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Interventions are tailored to Israeli cultural realities, recognizing deep-rooted stigma, military influence, and the emotional resilience of everyday life.

The organization’s mission is to provide innovative, accessible, and culturally responsive mental health support through therapeutic sports and community engagement. By addressing the emotional gaps left by conventional mental health systems—and by acknowledging the pervasive nature of trauma in Israeli life—it aims to build sustained resilience, hope, and healing across Israeli society.

• Secondary Trauma: Kayla Kalkstein describes the emotional impact of supporting others through crisis. Though not directly in harm’s way, the intensity of bearing witness and holding space for others left her drained and disoriented in the early weeks.
• Coping Mechanisms: She found strength and stability through daily self-care routines, particularly by joining a gym, which offered physical release and restored a sense of agency amidst uncertainty.
• Support Systems: Conversations with her uncle, a veteran trauma counselor with the VA, helped her develop tools to metabolize the trauma she was absorbing, and to practice emotional boundaries. 

Challenges of Trauma in the Community

• Immediate Impact: The sudden shift from daily life to emergency mode—especially among reservists and their families—created a ripple effect of trauma throughout Israeli society.
• Speechlessness and Silence: Many individuals found themselves unable to articulate what they were feeling. Kayla drew a parallel to Moses in the Torah, who, after experiencing trauma, was described as “slow of speech.”
• Jewish Tradition as Anchor: She emphasized that Jewish texts and traditions provide powerful metaphors and models for healing—stories of exile and return, mourning and hope, rupture and repair.

Healing and Helping Others

• Kintsugi as Metaphor: The Japanese art of kintsugi—repairing broken pottery with gold—was used to illustrate the possibility of creating beauty and meaning from brokenness.
• Grassroots Response: Many of Israel’s trauma-response initiatives were born from pain and loss, transforming grief into tangible, organized care.
• Culture of Volunteering: Kayla noted how many Israelis live double lives—holding ordinary jobs while also serving as medics, reservists, or community organizers. This culture of layered responsibility fosters collective strength.

Community Support and Future Plans

• International Engagement: A growing number of American therapists are eager to offer support. Conversations are underway about how to create structured, culturally sensitive pathways for diaspora professionals to contribute.
• Current Limitations: Much of the support remains informal or reactive due to the urgency of the situation. However, long-term plans include training programs and sustained therapeutic deployment.
• Resilience Training: Workshops focused on resilience are already being implemented for first responders, educators, and soldiers, and campaigns are in motion to recruit facilitators and ambassadors. 

Closing Messages

• Hope and Action: Kayla underscored the importance of choosing life—even in the face of despair—and of channeling energy into helping others as a way to reclaim meaning.
• Invitation to Contribute: She encouraged everyone present to recognize their own capacity to support healing, whether through listening, volunteering, or sharing resources.
• Therapeutic Diversity: A call was made to widen the range of healing modalities, including creative arts therapies such as dance therapy, to meet the diverse needs of individuals and communities. 

Key Takeaways

• Trauma affects both those directly and indirectly exposed to conflict.
• Self-care is not optional—it is foundational to personal and collective resilience.
• Jewish tradition offers powerful tools for finding meaning and grounding during crisis.
• There is a critical need to expand and organize therapeutic resources in Israel and across the Jewish world.
• Everyone has a role to play in healing: presence, empathy, and creativity matter.

Resources

• Slideshow Presentation – The Ariel Center Crisis Response: Critical Resilience Support for Israel’s Frontline Responders

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Bios

Gila Rockman served as director of the Department of Service and Citizenship at Shalem College. In this role, she designed and led missions to California and Washington for the Koret Jewish Peoplehood Project. She developed and led the mandatory freshman course “Challenges in Israeli Society,” an experiential introduction to hot-button issues in Israeli society. In addition, she facilitated the college’s communal learning programs, student activism, volunteer initiatives, and extracurricular activities. She has been active in numerous Israeli organizations that support youth at risk and agunot. She co-founded Run4Afikim, the world’s longest annual charity run from Jerusalem to Eilat. The Ariel Center is a leading healing and empowerment center in Kiryat Malachi for soldiers and civilians in memory of her brother Ariel. At the outbreak of the Iron Swords War, she co-launched the Jerusalem Civilian Command Center (JCCC), an emergency wartime coalition of seven NGOs that formed in order to meet Israel’s urgent civilian and military needs. In addition to being one of the leaders guiding JCCC’s strategic direction, Gila also oversees the group’s fundraising and allocations teams. Previously, Gila spent eight years as the Director of Educational Programs in Israel for Yeshiva University, and holds a master’s in Jewish communal leadership.

Kayla Kalkstein is Marketing and Development Manager for the Ariel Center, and has a diverse background in management and instructional positions in informal Jewish education and within the nonprofit sector. She proudly takes part in the Jewish journey, giving what she can to maintain its balance-equal parts past and future. She is also an illustrator.