Resource Category: Trauma

A traumatic event is a shocking, scary, or dangerous experience that affects someone emotionally. It does not have to involve physical harm, but it often does. The circumstances of the event do not determine whether it is traumatic; rather, how a person emotionally experiences the event does.

A traumatic event may be natural, like a hurricane, or caused by other people, like a crime or terror attack.It can be divorce, loss of a job,
a medical diagnosis, a death in the family, or another situation in which a person feels powerless. The more frightened and helpless someone
feels, the more likely they are to be traumatized by the event. One can sustain trauma by being present at the site of the event or witnessing it
from a distance.

It’s worth noting that children are especially vulnerable to trauma, and childhood trauma can have long-term effects—especially if a person
doesn’t receive treatment or support.

Remember to Nishmah | Parshat Mishpatim

In the aftermath of trauma, one can easily become consumed by a sense of restlessness and a need to “do,” or a task to “na’aseh,” without taking time to pause and “listen” to their hearts. When the Jews escaped Egypt and transitioned into life in the desert, they likely felt that way, compelled to “do” without listening to how they were feeling in that moment. Perhaps God was reminding them to do so at the end of the Torah portion Mishpatim, where the iconic phrase, "Naaseh Ve'Nishmah - We Will do and We Will Listen!" is found.
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Coping with Grief and Trauma Following October 7 and Recent Events in Israel, Gaza and the United States

By Ruth Weinberg, LPC | There is no one Jewish experience or perspective. Clients expressed a huge range of feelings, reactions, opinions and political beliefs. This has been an unbelievable time in our world. My heart goes out to all living beings struggling with the terror and violence they have lived, witnessed or been exposed to. In addition, I empathize with all those who have endured hateful and painful experiences as they try to cope with these events. Though sadly there is no easy fix for our pain, this article offers strategies for coping with grief and trauma arising from the recent violence in the Middle East and the reverberating antisemitism that has followed.
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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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Catching Friends Before Rock Bottom

It is true that people aren’t always ready to accept help, even when they desperately need it, but that doesn’t mean we need to wait until they hit rock bottom before accepting or seeking help. We can and should intervene before our friends get to that point. But we need to understand how to do it most effectively and sensitively.
Person helping another person up.
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