Resource Category: General Education

Your Guide to “Arguments for the Sake of Heaven”

In Jewish tradition, arguments with a shared goal are holy and called “arguments for the sake of heaven!” Engaging in spirited debate conveys that both sides believe in the goal and care enough to fight for it. But shared goals don’t always mean constructive conversations, and a destructive conversation can have negative ramifications on your mental health. Here are three tips to ensure your arguments for the sake of heaven stay that way.
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Voices of Resilience with the Wellness Institute | May 15th 2024

Hear the moving stories of an educator, therapist and Jewish professional, whose families faced mental health and/or substance use challenges with strength and resilience. What supported them through their ordeal? Which resources did they turn to? How did they and their children heal and grow? Witness firsthand their journey of healing and growth, each having navigated through their own crises and offering unique perspectives.
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Therapy: Know Your Options

Knowing how to take care of yourself means knowing what options you have in a crisis. However, with the plethora of choices now available to most people, deciding which one is best for you can be overwhelming. We hope this short guide to the options you have for mental health care gives you some clarity about the different types of therapies and treatments are out there.
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Lashon Hara: How to NOT Talk about Mental Illness

Lashon Hara is gossip and hurtful speech that damages communities and relationships. The language we use makes a difference. As you continue to learn mental health terminology, it is important to think about which words and phrases are helpful to say and which should be avoided. This is not an exhaustive list; rather, it serves as a starting point to help us think about the way we are using language and how it affects others.
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Jewish Responses to Traumatic Death with the Shomer Collective

What can we possibly say to a person who is grieving a traumatic death? We know too many examples of such events in our own lives, from the shock of death by suicide, to the realities of death by natural disaster, to the horror of death by terrorism, and more. And yet, too often, we are stunned into our own silence, and moreso, into our own inaction, not knowing what to say or do in response to a traumatic death in our communities.
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October 7th – The Jewish Collective Trauma Response

By Talya Gordon | I don’t have the answers for how or even if we will be okay. Right now, all we can do is sit with the pain and be honest about how we are doing. We are not okay. We need the world to do more. We need to mourn and cry and take care of ourselves. We need support from non-Jews, so we know people outside of our community care about our safety.
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The JED Foundation: Protecting Student Mental Health in the Face of Antisemitism and Islamophobia

On college campuses, which are homes for student activism and academic debate, students are describing hostile environments, hate speech, and incidents of violence based on perceived or actual religious affiliation or nationality. These attacks threaten their sense of safety and well-being. To protect the mental health of all students, The Jed Foundation (JED) suggests colleges and universities take the following actions to engage students and support their mental health during this time and beyond.
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