Rising Heroes - Full Webinar

Good evening everybody. Um, what an unbelievable pleasure and honor it is to be with you this evening. Um, I know that it's 8:00 p.m. for you guys out there on the East Coast. For us in Israel, it's a little bit later than that. It's 2:00 in the morning. Um, but we are all incredibly happy um to be able to do this. Uh, it's an important thing that we're doing this evening. Um, for those of you who are new to me, my name is Johnny Daniels. Um, I am involved in Israel advocacy and the work of my foundation and incredibly happy to be here this evening supporting Rising Heroes and the unbelievably important work that they're doing. Um, tonight's topic, as you all know, is when the battle ends. Rising heroes and the journey to healing. Uh tonight we're going to discuss how Israel's heroes are rebuilding strength, purpose, and peace from within. Rising Heroes is a US501c3 nonfor-profit organization dedicated to helping IDF soldiers cope with the trauma they experienced by teaching them practical tools to prevent PTSD, fostering their emotional recovery, and strengthening their mental resilience. We're going to hear a lot more about the organization this evening, but as we all know, PTSD and all the difficulties associated with that are the fight that we're all going to be fighting now in Israel moving forward. And really, this is such a key in terms of looking at how we deal with our future here in Israel, uh, and the future of all of us around the world. Tonight we're going to be able to hear from an unbelievable group of people. The keynote speaker this evening is Talam Tal is a remarkable person. He's an Israeli survivor and a returnee, a former hostage who was held by Hamas savages for 505 days until he was released. His unbelievably powerful story of endurance and recovery often offers a moving testament to the strength of the human spirit. As a keynote speaker, Tal shares his journey of resilience, hope, and the will to heal after unimaginable trauma. We also have the unbelievable opportunity to hear from Ben Milman who's an IDF special forces air force commander, a practicing clinical psychologist and a key member of Israel's hostage negotiation debriefing team. He's also the founder of Rising Heroes. Omir Kashi, an IDF combat soldier who will share his experiences and also a graduate of the Rising Heroes program. And Dr. Iran Shadar, an Israeli clinical psychologist and trauma expert who specializes in treating combat related PTSD and resilience training. He's worked extensively with IDF soldiers and first responders, helping them recover from psychological impact of war and crisis. Um, again, what a wonderful and incredible opportunity for all of us to be here to hear from these amazing speakers. There is a Q&A box as you can all see. Um, and throughout the evening, feel free to drop your questions in there. We'll answer the questions at the end. Um, and often your questions will be answered even before you've had the opportunity to write them. So, hold on with that. Uh, but feel free to ask whatever you like. And first of all, we have the opportunity to hear from the man who's brought us here all this evening from the incredible bin Milman. Ben, please kick this evening off. >> So, hi guys. Uh, very nice. uh to be here in that uh special event. I want to thank everybody who joined us tonight. I would share about the story of Rising Heroes, why is it so important and where it's all started. So in the past two years, Israel is dealing with an event that uh us generation and in general we never experienced before. In October 7, the life of so many Israelis, reserveist, active duty soldiers have been changed dramatically with one-time event that was extremely traumatized. The unique situation is the fact that this event is only the beginning of our story in the past two years. And in terms of mental strength, resilience and the mental tools that our soldiers needed to succeed in the mission and we understood very fast that we need to change and adapt to the new situation in order to complete the mission. Rising Heroes started in October 8, seeing soldiers right after the different events in the Gaza envelope, debrief the different teams, organic teams, people who fight together so they can really organize their emotional experience, understand what they need to do now and go and complete the mission in the most uh accurate and successful way and the first three months we were really focusing on the mission itself. We entered into the majority of the first part of the war and really this was an experience of complete chaos. The amount of reserveist that been called created a new term in Israel of a warlife balance. The average reserveist had to balance between his time in reserve and in the battlefield. And then at every time he would come back home, he will need very fast to adjust and uh and and keep track with everything he left behind. This was extremely hard and challenging. I could share an experience that you would feel that the only thing that you want when you're in the field is to go back home to your wife and kids and when you go back you being quiet silent. The only thing I wanted is to be back with my friends and a feeling that I could and I should do more. And this is how so many people find themselves going back home. And the only thing that they're thinking of is being back on the field back and forth. Starting around January 24, the entire army started these cycles of reserves of of reserve duty. And reserveist started to serve one week at the field, two weeks at home, a month in the field, two weeks at home. Every unit changed by itself. And this was the right time to launch the retreats outside of Israel. What we do basically we take organic teams, people who fight together as we want to heal together as much as we fight together. There is a term that a stranger will never understand what we've been on the field. And we found the participants much more open to share open to work in an emotional different way and share the experiences among each other with their organic teams of who they fight for. And what uh unique in what we are doing is that we are tailor made costume retreat for any team that uh goes on our program. So we take the the team outside of Israel for about a week together with two psychologist facilitators and throughout this week they will work with their body. They will work with their mind. They will share their experiences with themselves so they can really build a cognitive timeline of their own personal war story and receive the strength that they need for completing the mission and go back home safe mentally and also secure with their team. The program have five major goals. The first one is to allow every participant to win you his energy, his resources to go on and continue serving in reserve. The second is processing our experiences. With trauma, we are in a big race against time. The faster we reach out to the individuals, the higher the success we receive in a prevention of PTSD. This is the number one goal that we are sick for. It's to prevent the trauma. We understood that it's by far more efficient, cheaper, and easier to prevent what we are dealing with than to treat it after individuals suffer from PTSD. And they receive a unique opportunity to process the army experiences very close to where the experiences happened. Each one of them received this opportunity to open up and share with his teammates, the people who fight alongside with him what they've been through in a new and and different way than what we use to speak and and share when we wear uniforms and we are when we are on the field. So the second very important goal of those retreat is to allow this fast ability to process the experiences and we do that in a many different ways. Some of them are more direct and some of them are um very emotional. The third is psycho education. We allow every participant, every reser that goes on the retreats to receive practical tools of how to get back home, what should I speak, what should I share with my family and what am I allowed to share, what do I want to share and we legitimize the different feelings that each one of us feels and not all of us speak of about them. One of the examples of a practical tools is just to make um preparation before coming back to my family and to do like a simulation of how I would meet my family and who should I meet with what should I say whereas my mind could be all the the way in the field. The fourth is to strength the cohesiveness of the team. We found that the team Natalie, I see that we see the WhatsApp on the on the screen and I'm about to touch the achievements of this year. The strength of the team, the cohesiveness of the team is the number one key to maintain the resilience of the group of the individual. It's a source of energy, power, motivation that really helps legitimize and share each one's challenges that he feels throughout this uh very challenging two years. Some of us experience challenges at home in our relationship. Some of us feel the challenges in our career and a lot of us carrying experiences from the battlefield that it's not always easy to open up and share. And the group really helps for that. The fifth goal is to locate people and participants who needs this further treatment and reach out to them very early on time. I would like to deliver this message in my short time that the time is a key factor of when and and how we reach out to the individuals. We work with the army. We work with the units theself to reach out and to locate the guys that needs further treatment and we are there. Rising heroes is an address for every individual. Every retreat starts in Israel and ends in Israel a month after. We follow up with every individual. What's unique in what we are doing is that we are tailor made program. We learn each participants story. The individuals themselves and the team, the facilitators reach out to their commanders, to individuals. Each one of them goes through a personal interview and the relationship between the participants and the facilitators continuing after. In terms of budget, we are in a strong relationship with the army. Some of the units even launch and pay with reserve duty days for the participants to participate in the retreat which is a great achievement that we are very proud of. We launch over 40 teams and more than a thousand soldiers in 2025, which this was the goal of the first month of 2026, and we already passed those numbers. Um, each soldier cost us $1,800 to participate in in the retreat. It's a full week, including the food, the transportation, uh, the facilitators and everything. The army participants, the ministry of defense has the budget that it gives to every participant and we need to the help to to expand dramatically. In a personal note, we are in a big big challenge. Uh this is a time in uh the history of Israel that this is the most difficult war we experienced since we established and we have no other way but to keep Israel strong. Our reserve is the people who fight. Those are the people that carrying Islam that carrying this country on their shoulders and we cannot allow them to collapse under the burden of the emotional experiences they've been through and the most intensive two years of our life. This was my part. I would invite each one of you to reach out to contact to ask any question and I'll be very happy to answer and to give more information. I would like to handle it back to Johnny and hear from our hero guest speaker Tal. The last word that would say, sorry Johnny. sure >> is that rising heroes is all about post-traumatic growth and the ability to locate and find what other experiences in facts also happening alongside the catastrophe or the challenging that our participant going through. Tal's story for me is more than inspiring and uh is a great example of how we can all rise under pressure although that the challenges are very big sometimes. Thank you. >> Thank you very much Ben. Um now again it's an un unbelievable honor to be able to be here and to share the time with Tuan Tal. I'm going to ask you a few questions if that's okay. >> Um, firstly, thank you. I I it's late for all of us and and I can imagine it's uh not the easiest to do it this late at night. So, thank you very very much for being here. Tal, you spent 505 days in captivity. The most unimaginable length of time to be held and also cut off from the world. Can you share a little bit of your story with us? >> Yes. So, I was abducted on October 7th from Kibutsbury uh together with all of my family, my wife and my two children. We were immediately separated and and took into Gaza separately. Um I spent most of the time in captivity with Gilbadal and Davidid of which 8 and 1/2 months we we've been together underground 60 ft or 90 ft underground. I experienced um the how can I describe it? like um the the most awful and and evil side of humanity coming toward us. And and with that also the the ability to um to find strength from within and and to handle and struggle with whatever is happening in in a in a comprehensive comprehensive and and and building way toward the future. So yeah. Wow. You know, for you you touched on it before that for most of the time in captivity, you were held together with Gerbo Dalal and David. That bond that you created between the three of you. How how important was that for for you to be able to manage and survive in a situation that no one could ever prepare for, be ready for? So in the beginning it seems to me that I will be able to to handle my captivity alone. I was in solitary condition. But after a while I I started to notice that the fact that I'm alone and separated from everything else and everyone else starting to to get under my skin. Um and and I actually started to pray that they will bring in to me or will take me to other hostages which they did eventually on on the 34th day. And since then um we formed a brotherhood and not by by blood but by share faith and the chemistry between us was really really good. We were smart enough to to find practices and ways to deal with the starvation with the the fact that we we don't have anything um at all in in in our in our little world. uh we found the ways to to combat the um the frustration and anger in in a in in a way that was that could give us a lot of strength. Some of the time I I used as a father to them cuz because there is a a really big age gap between us and and I have a lot of experience much more than them in in in life. But but I I I feel really really fortunate to to to have them in my life and to be together. As Ben described, there are things that a a stranger won't understand ever regarding regarding captivity and and and the struggle in it. And I'm really really happy that they came back now and and we can reunite as a whole together also with the Ome. Wow. You know, you you spoke about the the how difficult it is for for an outsider to understand for for someone who hasn't experienced it to understand. And just a few days ago in in Montreal, I met with a Holocaust survivor and the Holocaust survivor was talking to me about the feeling of hunger. And he said, "You can't understand hunger until you've really experienced hunger like we have." What what for you from from all of these experiences is something that we could maybe attempt to think about understanding? What what is the overwhelming feeling from this time that that you think is important for us as people who love and care and want to help should know? >> So um first I would say that I agree with with this person. I I really hope that no one will suffer or feel a real starvation cuz it's it's really overwhelming feeling the spread all around the body and it's like 24/7 it's it's real like a deep deep pain. Um I I think that that in the end our experience it's it's in in in part it's a private experience but in other parts it's it's a a wholesome experience of of Israelis as a as a nation and Jews all around the world and also other communities that are really really supportive to Israel and Jews as a whole. And I I think that it it will be really hard to describe or to to share the feeling of of being in in in in those places. But um but to feel the the the big hug and cover and and willingness from everyone around us is something that gives so much strength and and and and support to this struggle and recovery from it. I'm I'm not sure that this is what you ask but but this is what comes. So >> you know what it's the answer was better than the question. So so that was absolutely perfect. I can tell you on a on a personal level that you know we we we all watched on and and were unbelievably happy to see you coming home and coming home to your family. Um and on a personal level I've was in touch with your family I think on the second day. um on October 9th was the first time I spoke to your family personally, but that's a whole another story. Um so we're very very happy. Now, when we're dealing with the issue of mental health, how from your perspective, how important is it that Israel continues to invest in the emotional recovery and resilience not only for soldiers and for survivors of captivity, but for the nation as a whole? >> How important We we have a we have here a joke that it's actually true that we are a PTSD nation as a whole and I think that that there is an essence a true truly essence in it which we which is like forcing us to to develop and and and find ways to deal with with the situation with children and civilians in in the south uh that are suffering for 20 years now from from terror attacks and and outcomes of it. And you know right now uh we reunited here and our medical team or the psychologist that they are escorting us and and working with us need to to to develop ways to deal with hostage children which there is no literature uh to work with. They they need to to reinvent it. And I think that like in other areas like with water supply and water purification that Israel started to export technologies. I think that the same thing will happen with the with the PTSD and other effects of of being under war and under a life threat. as a basic basic way of life or even I can call it commodity of life because because this is what we we're dealing with every day and and I think that soon we will the world will will discover that Israel have a lot to offer to other places in in this field as long as other fields as well. Yeah, >> absolutely. And as we know, that's something that that you know, they call us a startup nation. Unfortunately, this is a new startup that we're having to develop. Um, and we're lucky, very, very lucky that we have groups like Rising Heroes who are doing such a good job at at bringing this to the front and helping those who really need it the most. Now, is there one thing um what would be one thing perhaps that you do each day that helps you grow and move forward? uh and enjoy life. Is there anything in particular that you do every day? >> So, you know, in in in the deepest of the tunnels where you you don't have anything, you don't have a cell phone, a TV, a newspaper, nothing at all from from the normal world. I I discover then that there are really short list of of things that are actually important. Um, the family, of course, my family, to spend time with them, to spend time with with good friends and close friends, but also um to find ways to be in service and and to make the world a better place and and um so it's it's not as much to enjoy life, although I am enjoying life, but to to find ways to fulfill it cuz life is short and I want to do good in in in my life and around me. And this is partly what what attracted me to to Rising Heroes because I think that together we can do really really good things. As Ben described, the the reserve unit of soldiers are are are us in particular. I mean, this is this is our people. I mean, it's not only the the young one, it's everyone. and and for me these kind of activities and uh to to try to help others it's the most crucial and and important part of of my journey and it was really really I I found the emphasized it was emphasized in in in those days and time when when I had nothing actually. So I try to remember it every day and and to live by it every day because in the end when when my life will finish or end I want I I want to make sure that the world is a better place after world. Thank you, Tela. And I I can tell you that the the light that you're sharing definitely makes the world a better place and the courage that it takes to retell your story and relive it and share what you do with us makes the world of difference. Thank you on behalf of all of us. Um truly we greatly appreciate you and I know that rising heroes and all of us personally are with you as well and whatever any of us can ever do we are always always here for you. Tal keep being amazing. Thank you very very much. >> Thank you. >> We we also um have an honor to hear from somebody else really really very amazing this evening. Omar Kashi is an IDF combat soldier um who's going to share his experiences with us. Uh, Omare is also a graduate of the Rising Hero program. I think he's going to speak a little bit about that as well. So, Omar, I'm going to pass this over to you. Thank you also for being here this evening. >> Thank you very much. Uh, first of all, I'd like to pay my big respects for Tal which is a true hero indeed and it's an honor to speak here alongside him. So, uh, that's it for the beginning. Uh I would like to start also by saying uh thank you for your time and for your ears. I really appreciate it. And I would like to say in advance that I'm sorry h if my English may be lacking as I'm trying to deliver our story, my team story in a bit. Uh so first of foremost I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Omar and I'm 22 years old and I'm part of the 846 recon battalion of the Givi Brigade, part of the IDF ground forces. Uh for the non-military associate guys, which is the most of us here. It basically means that we're the tip of the spear. Uh the special men the special missions that the brigade gets, it's us. Uh we do the most extreme things that the brigade needs to do inside the combat zones because we're the recon battalion. Uh we've been uh fighting since October 7th. We've been deployed in each and every corner that the IDF stood against terror. Uh we've known Gaza like our own homes in the past two years. And that's it for the beginning. I think u I'd like to talk to you today and not as but uh I want to speak as a small part of a much bigger system that really contains the most noble, brave and modest fighters and humans uh that I know in the short time of my living. Erh, and I want to talk about the opportunity as a whole. The whole opportunity that we got through the rising heroes program uh which I've been through with my team like two two and a half months ago uh in the summer. So uh first I need to talk about how an organic team like Ben mentioned how an organic team in a special unit actually works. So basically we learn for long period of time how to speak without words. So it means when we're operating behind enemy lines and we going on our missions the we coming back we do whatever we need to do. don't really speak about things because we know how to operate without words. So, we basically don't really talk about what's going on inside, what's going on through the mission. And after the mission, there's no really a good reason to to talk about things because most of the times the only guys that will understand you and what's really going on inside is the guy next to you, which is your team. So we don't really get the opportunity to speak loudly about things that we've been through and things we did. So we pretty much used to it because that's the job. That's how we learned. That's how it works and that's how we continue doing it. So uh that's it basically on how we're operating in terms of speaking about things. We don't really speak about things. So uh after a long long period of time uh when all we knew was fighting because that's what we did in the last two years until now uh we came across the opportunity to get into the program as the team and start making a really really really great journey together. So uh first of all the program gives us the rare chance to speak on what's going on inside our mind. As I said earlier we don't really do that. So that was like a very rare occasion to anyone of the team fighters and I think like not even talk about what's going on in our minds and just talking about our feelings as well which is something that we don't really talk about as well which is something that we didn't even knew that we can speak of cuz we don't learn how to do it. Uh so that's I think the first thing I need to mention because it it was truly remarkable that we don't know how to speak about ourselves. I think that I need to mention that we met with wonderful therapists that the program provided us with and the two of them beside of course doing an excellent job and kind of reaching to any one of us in a point that we didn't even know existed. they really became a part of the family like the team is a is a very closed family that you know brothers bond and anything beyond that only we can understand what we've been through as Ben mentioned earlier uh it was so unique that someone from outside got to enter into this kind of beautiful connection of the team and not interfering in but just making it better, making it stronger. They they really got into the family. So that was truly remarkable and like we're in great connection. We speak like uh on a very close basis. It's truly remarkable. I had to tell you that. And another amazing thing, we got to feel the opportunity. We got opportunity to feel the the amazing energy and the man and the caring from from the other side of the world. I need to tell you that for the most of us it was the first time in the US, the first time meeting people from the other side of the world and the amount of love, amount of kindness and compassion we got from you, from all of the amazing people that we've met in this journey. We didn't even consider in our mind that there can be such things like we were used to to do our thing as a job. Of course, I need to tell you that we look at it as a privilege. We look at it as a privilege. We are in the right time and place to do the most important things that our people needs right now, which is taking care of great people like Tal that were taking from them homes and it's our responsibility to get them back. It's our responsibility to fight terrorists that want to harm our country and our people. And we feel privileged that we got the honor of a true fighter to come and face that as a team. We look at it as a privilege, but to see other people outside of Israel in the other half of the world that share the same feelings that people here have towards you. It's something that is truly unique and we couldn't even consider that we will get such love, such compassion like there's a very strong will that we felt from everyone over in New Jersey that to to come and give their support and give their part which is again words can't even describe the feelings that we have spelled there that and I need we need to we can't take any of this for granted because wow just in one word wow even and if I like need to think about the minor things even the chance to experience different kind of atmosphere to let's say for example open our mornings with something more chilled than guns and bullets like yoga session or surfing session just doing like something like regular people doing something that regular people does in their mornings it's a unique it's a unique thing for us and another important thing that I need to tell you is that after the after the session in New Jersey after the week we had in New Jersey with all of the experience I mentioned right now we came back to fighting We came back to fighting. We just came out of Gaza two weeks ago. We've been there for like almost two months right now straight. And we've been through we've been through events over there like like things we remember from the beginning of the war. We lost people, people got injured, like the same experience that that we were used to. But the tools we got from the program to handle the situation that we had right now, things were totally different. Like it didn't affect how we operate. like we operated as good as every other day before the program, but the tools we got to just talk with each other and make sure that everybody is okay after the event is something that we truly feel and embrace to this day. So, I'm talking as a guy that has been in fighting before the program and after the program, so we really know the big influence it had on us. So uh to sum up as I said earlier I'm a part of a much bigger and greater group of people that are fighting for a greater cause. Tal spoke before me. I don't think I need to explain about this greater cause because I think it's well known to all of the people here. Uh today, as I said, I'm speaking on behalf of all of the combat soldiers that I fought alongside and all on behalf of all of the people that are put in such great effort behind the scenes, which their voice is silent because they don't know that they can speak, that they can share, that they can go through a process, that they can become better. Sometimes between combat soldiers to speak on your difficulties, sometimes people think about it like it's a weakness. And we learned that it isn't. And we saw on the battlefield that it isn't. It actually made us better. It didn't affect our operations in a bit. It just made the outcome better because we learn how to process things more properly and to learn from it to other events that may occur in the future. So, um I'm speaking to you because I want to encourage you because of the things we got in the process, the mental tools, because of how beneficial this whole experience was and is to this day for us. Um, I want to encourage you to to do the right thing. You have so much so much compassion and so much love towards us and it's the same. So, I want to encourage you to to go and give your part, to go and do whatever you can in order to to make people like me become better, make their life better, make better decisions, to actually actually feel better with themselves after they come out of the battlefield. Because in Israel there's there's an opportunity. They're going to return to the battlefield, but they're going to return from their different persons for the good because they will have the tools to to be with their friends and to share their experiences and become better fighters and humans because the mission is is never stopping and we will need to be in the front lines. So I want to thank you for your for your ears tonight and uh again I was honored to speak to you. Thank you Omar. Thank you very very much. Your English is fantastic by the way. There's nothing to be ashamed about. So see brilliant. Um and Omar also made a very good point about doing the right thing and about helping out and supporting. in the chat that you can all see below you, there's a link and that link takes you to the page where you can donate and donating to this unbelievable organization. Once again, a 501c3 in America, so it's taxdeductible, is a very, very worthwhile and important thing to do. And whilst you're all donating, uh, I'm going to introduce the incredible next speaker, uh, Dr. Iran Shadak is an Israeli clinical psychologist and trauma expert. um a brilliant man who will give us a much better insight into the super important work that they're doing. Um and doctor, you look like a doctor, all those books behind you, by the way. It's brilliant. All of us are sitting here at our homes and you got that doctor's office going on. Uh doctor, we're very very happy to to hear from you this evening. Thank you so much for being with us. >> Good evening everybody. I am honored to be here. I was both moved and impressed by the stories of a talent. I never heard them before. Um what I would like to share with you in the next 10 to 15 minutes. Uh is a I would talk about trauma and post trauma in Israel at large and the reserve forces specifically. But before that I would like to introduce myself. My name is Iran Shadash. I am a lieutenant colon reserve. I'm still doing my reserve duty in these days. I serve with the same unit with Ben. Um I am a senior lecturer in the psychology department in academic college of the Vivafo and I'm also a research fellow in the institute for counterterrorism and an adjustant lecturer in RMA University. Um my specialist my my research is on psychopathology and groups and personally in a more personal note on 1982 in the first Lebanon war I was a young cadet officer in Lebanon we fought uh with the commandos and division armored division brigade We were on my own tank commander was wounded during the fight and fell into my my hands during the fight. He was evacuated. He was okay. He was evacuated to hospital and he was recovered. But I took those memories. I was 21 and it stayed with me. I never spoke about it. I I didn't do anything with it. Two years ago, 9:30 a.m. in the morning in uh I was 63. Uh uh I was sitting uh at my home and I was called uh part of an emergency response team and I find myself after a few hours in in in Tal's Kibuts in Kibutz B. Uh my job, my team's work was to negotiate and to try to release 16 hostages that were captured by Hamas terrorist in the house that was had the name of the house of Pesi. Uh we failed. The story full was published in newspapers, articles and television documents, documentaries. Um and it was very very tough experience. Um so few months later when uh Ben approached me and asked if I would like to join him in the rising heroes I said yes of course I know trauma. I said to myself I know trauma I want to try to help. And uh since then I'm I'm here with Ben. Now let's go back to the to our to our work. Natalie, can you take it to the first slide, please? Thank you. So give me a place to stand and I will move the earth. Archimedes said it of course. H why did I put why did I put it here? Because trauma and post trauma involves immense unbearable agony, mental pain and distress for the person who struggle with it. No one in the world that I know at least of and I know of many could raise himself by his own force and get himself out of this agony. However, if there is someone that stands beside the circle of agony and he has the right tools, he can stand in other place. This leverage may help to alleviate and even to cure sometime the pain of the trauma. Natalie, please let's go to the next slide. So, what is PTSD? PTSD is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. If you would like to take a look at the lower picture, you see there, it's a bit small, but I hope you will be able to see it. This is the shelter of my apartment house during one of the Iranians missile attack. Missiles attack. If you will look carefully, you will see at the far end a young woman with a white sweatshirt bending forward. This is my older daughter and she's bending forward because he trying to relax our dog who was under immense duress. Next to her is my wife and next to my wife very nice neighbors. uh we have in the apartment house. We spend many many hours in the shelter wondering if the next missile will fall on our shelter and actually the clinic of my wife she's also a clinical psychologist. The clinic her former clinic was hit directly by a missile and was devastated. Luckily no one was hurt because everybody were in the shelters and in the in the protected spaces. So we heard the the booms and we heard the walls shivering, the windows shattered in in our house in next houses. It was really really terrifying. And up there you can see the Iranian missiles and on the right up hand side you can see our soldiers maybe friends I don't know they're fighting in Gaza. My point is that um unlike any other war in the history of Israel, not even the independence war, not even the Yonipur war, this war amounted to what we in our line of research and work, clinical psychologists, researchers, we call collective trauma. What is a collective trauma? It is a trauma that engulfves the whole community, the whole civil society, not only the soldiers. I remember when I came back from Lebanon, the first Lebanon war, I came back to Tel Aviv from Lebanon and I was stunned by the by the uh calmness and and and and regular manners of the people in the central bus station. Everybody minding their own business. I was stunned. My my friends are bombed and and exploded up in Lebanon. Every day is like a Russian roulette and here people are going their own minding their own business. I was stand I couldn't understand it but this is how it should be. This war the October 7 is characterized by four distinct characteristics. The first one is the immense sheer pervasive brutality and cruelness of the Hamas terrorist attack. The immense damage inflicted Israeli civil settlements and Israeli civilians. The second element is the shock that was caused to us by the impingement and by the invasion to our sovereign borders. It only happened before in the um independence war in the 40 1948 war. Never after that in Yonipu war they never went down the Golan Heights. here they went into Israel and this was shocking and it shattered the confidence of Israeli society in Israel's government leadership and army. The third element was the kidnapping of so many people including children and Tal mentioned it and Omar mentioned it. These are three elements. But the fourth element, the last ingredient we need in order to get so to speak a collective drama is when the ghosts of the past infiltrating into the present. And I worked and I also participated in the chapter we wrote about the trauma of October 7. It will be published in Hebrew and English. I hope soon in a book. People saw again the ghosts of the Holocaust, the concentration camps, the Gestapo entering houses, murdering, kidnapping, maybe also the programs of Kelnitzki in Ukraine. These were the ghosts that we heard from people. And when all four elements combine together and the fourth element is that the ghost of the past are experienced as real, they are not a reality but they sure are real. Then we get a collective trauma and when there is a collective trauma the whole society suffers not only the soldiers. This is a unique and Ben mentioned it earlier. This is a unique unprecedented uh situation. Let's move please to the next slide Natalie. So let's h get a short overview of what is what is PTSD. So PTSD post-traumatic stress disorder in order to have it with the person would present between two to four usually all four of the following symptom clusters. intrusion. He will feel he will have flashbacks, flashbacks, nightmares, dissociations when he re relive the trauma. Avoidance. He will do his best to avoid memories, talks and places that has to do with the trauma, negative changes in cognition and mood. He will suffer immense guilt and shame feelings and probably depression and lastly elevated arosal hypervigilance irritability anger burst and this irritability this arosal I saw it as a clinical psychologist in my clinic it's devastating families all families when when the men or the woman usually There are men. It's a it's a gender gender issue. The men come back with trauma post trauma. The family will get ruined. They will vi become violent and we saw many many families destroyed. So it is very important for our next topic here. Let's move please for the next slide. Okay. So I can say that it's a collective trauma because I as a theor theoretician and psychologist I believe it's a collective trauma. I gave you the reasons but data does not lie. So let's look at the ta at the data. Look at the upper row. PTSD the average prevalence in the whole world is 3.5%. It's a lot. It means that 3.5% of the world population at any given moment are suffering for PTSD. It's a lot. Schizophrenia is only 1%. This is 3.5%. But look what happens in Israel. Israel before October 7. 16%. I don't remember who said it. Maybe Ben, maybe Tal, maybe Omar, maybe all three. But one of of you for sure said that Israel is a special country. I think tal all the time we're under under juress. So look, Israel is 16% average. It's five times more than the world average. But now look what happened since October 7. The 16% were doubled. It's now almost 32%. So this for me is the proof that we are confronting a collective trauma. with depression and anxiety. The same picture. We won't go over it. We don't have time. But you can take a look and you will see it's the same picture. Seven of October was a changing point. Next slide please. Natalie and I will add that according to estimations for half a million of Israeli society, civil society will suffer from PTSD in the next years. Half a million at least. Okay. So, Omar Omar explained how crucial it is to engage the post-traumatic trajectory trajectory and to prevent it or at least to try to uh uh weaken it a little bit. So, let's see. We have to understand how it is this developing. So every person, every one of us, men and women that is confronting a traumatic event like someone, someone almost ran over me with the car, some some dog barked at me, someone honked or someone went up to me and threatened me. This is a stressful traumatic event. We call this ASR, acute stress response. Everyone will feel it. This is not a problem. This is not a psychiatric diagnosis. This is a survival normal adaptive reaction. However, if it stays persists for three days at least up to one month, the second row, this becomes a diagnosis, a psychiatric diagnosis, ASD, acute stress disorder. And what is very interesting here is if you look if the traumatic event was caused by nature or by accident like for example a flood or earthquake or by car accident. So about 20% of the people who confronted a traumatic experience will develop ASD. But if the atrocity was performed by humans, by people with malicious intention like we have with the kamas terrorists and with Iran, then up to 50% of people that will confront this stressor or this trauma will develop ASD. So this is what we are dealing here. Post-traumatic stress disorder is if if the ASD is keeping to to be present more than one month. Now sometimes we will not see anything on the person on the warrior on the person but after six months you will h develop the the post-traumatic stress syndrome. If it takes at least six months and up to many years. I had a patient that after 30 years it was for yonipur war 73 war and after 30 years the first time he experienced PTSD full-blown PTSD. So this is called delayed onset PTSD. This is one of our major challenges in rising heroes to prevent the delayed onset to work on time and chronic PTSD is whenever it whenever it present more than 12 months regardless of the timing it considers chronic PTSD very very difficult almost impossible to heal. Let's move to the next slide please. So I stress this this trajectory because it's crucial for us for you to understand how crucial it is to intervene on time what what Omar mentioned so so so precisely so the unique story of war life balance Ben mentioned the war life balance so usually as I mentioned um the soldiers fight at the front and they come home to a calming supporting stable uh uh routine family community. Natalie, the next one please. However, we are dealing with collective trauma. So when those warriors of reser comes back home after the deployment turn, they will not meet a calm wife and a relaxed children. and they will meet a family and a community under duress that suffers itself from a severe trauma. Next, please Nataline. Thank you. Therefore, it's a unique situation. When I came back from Lebanon war, I came back to my kibbuts to my family and I could lean on them. They supported me. I could trusted them because they were okay. But now when Omar and his friends and let alone Tal and his friends of course coming back they are coming to a shattered destabilized society. So as absurdic as it might sound they find themselves at the ones who needs to support they cannot lean on and be supported. They need to support. Okay it's very important to understand this distinction. Next slide please. Now regarding veterans Omar and his friends, we know by research that increased deployments increase the risk of severe PTSD. And Omar and his friends are doing again and again deployment turns. Maybe two, maybe three, maybe four, maybe five, maybe even six, maybe more on in these two years. So they are at high risk to develop ASD and then PTSD and then chronic PTSD. Intervention. We know we researchers, we clinical psychologists, we know that intervention should be uh produced both before the deployment. This is specific research on veterans on on soldiers before the deployment, during the deployment and after the deployment. when there are multiple deployments like Ome and his friends and Israel reseries. So whenever you put your foot in like rising heroes are doing you are both after before and sometimes even during a deployment. So needless to say how crucial this intervention is also according to uh established research. So tragically I would say sadly veterans on their own accord tend to approach for help to initiate helpseeking only 12 years after last deployment. when they do it already 75% of veterans are diagnosed with fullblown PTSD usually chronic PTSD almost beyond recovery. You can try to help them of course but the resources invested are huge and the benefits are relatively modest and it is tragic situation. Let's move to the So I would say our mission the he mission of rising heroes is to intervene rapidly on time on on stage and not to wait until the post-traumatic uh syndrome getting consolidated in the brain because it is important to say this is not a psychological disorder alone. This is a neuro uh uh heo uh pharmacological disorder. We know that there are changes in the neurochemistry and in the structure of the brain. So it is very difficult to reverse this process once it is established. However, if you prevent it, if you intervene, if you engage before it was consolidated, the chances are very very good to prevent it or at least to significantly amilarate or reduce its devastating impact. Last slide, please. Oh, not yes. So I go back to my first slide to conclude and I would like to ask the question who we who this Archimedes can be. Who can take the role of Archimedes to stand outside the trauma and help the reser to lift the agony to lift to raise to release of of of the mental pain. So for their families it's them they coming back home and they have to support the families for them for the reserveists Natalie next please is us rising heroes and other volunteers but who will be our medis who will be the archimedis for us the next one please who who do it for us for us. Next one is you. And at this point, I want to join Omar's concluding comment or words. uh you are our for us to help the reservist for them to help their families and communities and to keep Israeli society healthy and not post-traumatized. This is the link and you are crucial and valuable um part of this h of this league. maybe the most valuable part of this link. Last slide. Thank you very much, doctor. Thank you very very much. Um, greatly appreciate um your incredible words. As you saw, the Q&A was in the box below and I saw that Omar and others took the initiative to answer in the Q&A. So, anybody who also has a question whilst we are doing the final part of this, please feel free to drop your question in the Q&A and people will answer directly. Um, again, friends, the opportunity to stand up and help is here. Uh, and I strongly strongly recommend all of you jump on that and do that. Um, we have and we're going to ask everybody um for a few closing words uh on this wonderful evening's event. Um, Tal, let's start with you. >> Yeah. So, I I would just want to share my my appreciation for everyone here in the the share or share attempt to to to to help and assist. um to to hear Omar. It's the first time I'm I'm hearing him and I have so much appreciation and gratitude uh to those soldiers that protecting us daily and and were there to to to try to to help us and rescue us and and to protect our future. And uh with them I I I see and and I feel in in my community also the the necessity uh to also help them back and to see that they will have the the power and strength and and ability to keep doing it because we have no other option than to secure our future and to fight back. So, so we will have a a a proper life and a future for our children and and nation. >> Thank you very very much Omar. >> So to sum up uh I would like to say of course thank you to to Tal on the inspiring words. Again I'm humbled to speak alongside you. I want to thank Ben and uh to all of the great people at Rising Heroes and all of the great people behind the scenes that uh allowed me to come and uh speak on what's on my mind and to come and share this experience with you guys this evening. And I want to thank you because uh you're going to be the face of the future of this program. You're going to you're going to decide if it's going to continue and being a better place to combat fighters like me to come and and become better for their families, for our nation, for our people in all of the all of the things yet to come. And thank you. I was honored to speak here. Thank you very very much. Omar doctor final words. >> Yeah. So I I hope and my hope will got stronger after this evening that with people like Tal and Om we will be able to cope with the collective trauma and to keep Israeli society I would say better and out of the pit and I'm more optimistic tonight. Thank you very much for all of you. Thank you Dr. Ben. >> Thank you. And I would like to start with uh this great appreciation to all of you. Thank you Johnny for hosting this style Omar. This is a great privilege to you guys. This is the shield of an Israel. This is our mission. Israel have a great and important mission to rise from everything that started two years ago and everything that we've been through. This is clearly our mission to help every individual to rise under the pressure or to rise alongside the trauma and the pressure that we all experience. And this is the future of Israel. I encourage you to take an action to share to support to ask any information that uh still left here and you would like to ask we'll be very happy to answer and please uh we shared all the details really feel free to reach out. Thank you all for staying with us. Thank you all very very much. And you know I'm going to I'm going to close this by jumping on to something that everybody here has said. And we we spoke this evening a lot about everybody in Israel and what everybody Israel is facing and the importance of helping and supporting Israel and all to all of our wonderful friends who are watching this around the world. I don't think there are many Israelis awake at this time. So I presume that most of you watching this are going to be around the world. I know all of you know this already, but it's important to stress that Israel isn't just important as a far away thing. Israel is the safety net for Jews all around the world. Israel is what provides all of you with your safety and security wherever you may be. And the difficulty that every Israeli has faced as the doctor said so clearly is immense and it is difficult and it is tricky and all of us are navigating with it and negotiating with it and trying to figure out how we move on. Tal spoke about the importance of not just understanding how we help hostages but their families as well. Omar spoke about the individual soldiers and all of us in Israel understand the need for this support and love and I can tell you as a father of two young beautiful girls who are asleep just in the room over there who I'm probably waking up by speaking to loudly they also have experienced PTSD and also experienced this trauma. They also experience this difficulty as we all have of being here at this time. And it's organizations like these who are really helping and supporting and are making sure that everybody gets taken care of and help as much as they possibly can. And to help organizations like this, we all need to step up and do our part because without our support, they won't be able to reach as many people as they possibly could. And they do need to reach many, many, many more people. So many people need their help. And this responsibility falls on all of us, friends. As you saw, it's in the chat, it's in the Q&A, it's everywhere. The link to the website, rising-heroes.org, and how you can donate and how you can take part in helping support this phenomenal, phenomenal organization. As I said before, it's a 501c3, meaning your donation is entirely taxdeductible. You can also check out their website, email them, look them up. They're very responsive and they're happy to answer all of the questions that you have. Friends, thank you all very very much for being here this evening. Thank you for taking part in what was a fascinating and important webinar. And as always, uh we hope to be able to come back with even more good news. And I know that on behalf of all of us, we send all of our prayers to our soldiers who are still standing there on the front lines who are taking care and protecting our country. And our minds and hearts are with all the hostages who have returned and are thinking of those 12 hostages that still remain in Gaza. As we know, hopefully one was released this evening, a slain hostage. We're still waiting for that information. whether it's 12 or 13, our prayers are with their families that they are returned speedily and their families are able to get the closure that they need. That is our prayer. That is our hope. And it's through helping organizations like Rising Heroes that were able to play our part in making the world just a little bit better. From me, from all of us, good night.