Finding My Voice and Strength Through IMPACT
I knew for a long time that I should take a self-defense course. My mother drilled into my brothers and I as children, what to do if someone tried to hurt us. Scream as loud as you can, run away, tell...
View Article“Dynamic Therapy” and a vision for the future
Sam is a mother of five, a black belt Tae Kwon Do martial artist, an American olah, and a survivor of domestic violence. On Sunday morning, she walked through the doors of Yad Sarah’s Jewish Family...
View ArticleA Special Need for Martial Arts
“Special Needs” is a vague term. At El HaLev, We classify it as anyone who struggles with an on-going emotional, mental or physical challenge that impairs their ability to live a regular life. In...
View ArticleTo the Heart of International Women’s Day
On March 8th, the world celebrated International Women’s Day. Thousands of posts, tweets and hashtagged voices called out for women; to end the violence and oppression against them, to celebrate their...
View ArticleEmpowering girls to exit the gray zone
A Jerusalem-based NGO is proving the verbal, physical and emotional tools to stand up for themselves
View ArticleThe Hot Topic of Keeping Kids Safe
Summer training in martial arts and self-defense empowers children and keeps them giggling
View ArticleEmbodied Healing for Trauma Survivors
It has only been about 20 years since a consensus was made regarding the biological alterations stress and trauma induce on the body. For over a century before that, psychiatrists had been noting...
View ArticleWhen Self-Defense Fails
In January, Dafna Meir was murdered outside her home in Otniel, with three of her children inside. Her death was another painful stab to the hearts of many Israelis grappling with the mounting losses...
View Article“The Beauty Awakens” in Israel
In 1998, the book, Beauty Bites Beast, was published and added to the illustrious shelves of the “gender literary ghetto,” as the author Ellen Snortland phrases it, the genre of nonfiction literature...
View ArticleThe Melody of Memory
By invitation of my friend Christiane last spring, I had a rare opportunity to go to a musical production in Yiddish called “The Yiddische Mamme” in Netanya. It was only last night that I discovered...
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