The PTSD Nation

The following is an overview of the collective society.  Certainly not everyone is affected badly, but many are blind to their traumas.  It is deep and there has been no opportunity to mourn properly, nor to look deep into the emotional tear that has engulfed the country.   Israelis are an amazing people and we will get through this,  but even after over 2 years, we are still trying to find our feet.   In this blog, I am highlighting all that has been swept under the rug. My hope is that it will help to open people’s eyes to their and their family’s traumas to help them to begin to heal.  First we must recognize it, then we can begin to treat it.    

Once a beacon of innovation with all the start-ups, technology and new ideas generating from a pool of engineering minds, we have now crumbled into the depths of trauma resulting from back to back failed leadership and dangerous policies. We have gone from the Start-up Nation, to the PTSD Nation.   

We have gone from building to broken in just a few short years.  What was once complete faith in our government’s dedication to serving and protecting our Jewish nation, has fallen to corruption, distrust, ignorance and blatant turning a blind eye on the Jewish people.   

The aftermath of the plandemic, coupled with the war on all fronts, has left Israel’s Jews traumatized, ignored, and even blamed.  We have been forced to ‘forget and move on’, rather than acknowledge and heal the trauma with truth and empathy. 

We have been gaslighted to no end and left to fend for our sanity, which has waned. We don’t have the tools to know what to do with these kind of tragedies and we are treated by our own “leaders” and the collective world as if “It never happened.... Get on with it.... and It’s your own fault anyway” , while our politicians look forward to the next wargame. 

Meanwhile, the government has made a mockery of our tragic reality.  There is no leadership, no justice, no responsibility, no plan of action, no support, no acknowledgment, no closure, and no course of healing. They have brought us to our knees, and left us to find a way back up, or stay where we are. They don’t seem to care either way.  But the work never ends, taxes keep going up and no one is giving anyone a break.  We have been purposefully divided politically, socially and financially  to try to create a simmering pot within.   

The aftermath of the covid./Oct 7/war is so dysfunctional it has the feel of an abusive marriage, where one is the bully, feigning innocence , while the victim continues to be abused, gaslighted, mocked and blamed for their nativity and weakness. A recipe for disaster.    

Many people have become unable to deal with everyday challenges. To recognize their trauma, their inability to use common sense and judgement. Our brains are desensitized and our nerves are frayed .  People are having a hard time finishing sentences and starting new projects.  We are all experiencing a sense of loss, confusion and overwhelm.    

In addition, the world is in hyper intense mode.  With all that’s going on, good and bad, it seems that everything has been put on turbo.  And everyday it becomes more and more overwhelming.  Even the most mundane things can trigger feelings of anxiety.  Sometimes things seem to move at an astounding rate and other times everything seems completely stuck.  Either way can send people off with high emotions . Many feel we have been left on the edge of a cliff grappling with ghosts.  We have been numbed out and dumbed down by our unfeeling , unconnected “upper” echelon, media and the world at large.   

Mentally, our lives have been put on hold while we try to piece together the broken glass shelter we thought we had built up. While physically, we are being pushed to the limit of trying to hold it all together, while keeping a strained smile on our face.  Our children are left displaced with no foundation with which to build upon.   

Our professional jobs and lands are being given away by our government to Arabs , who’s only goal is to rid this country of it’s Jewish presence, one way or another.  Terrorism inside and out is an everyday reality, while our medical system has been replaced with Arabs to fulfill a DEI quota, while Jewish medical students have to leave the country to practice medicine.

Our soldiers are fighting and dying with no goal in sight and a growing loss of motivation.  We were presented a real opportunity to pull our country together and fight for Jewish sovereignty.  Instead, war and lives were wasted. Nothing has been gained, everything was lost.   

We raised a generation of warriors who have tirelessly given their lives to bring back normalcy, while they have been used and forgotten by those who were responsible for their well-being. Our good men and women who returned from war, are maimed for life, both mentally and physically.  The rest are buried and forgotten except by their families and loved ones. This trauma will become an intergenerational trauma similar to the Holocaust trauma. 

We are a strong people with strong ties to our land and to our God.  Our government has counted on this to be able to pull off their agenda, whatever that might be. However, our strength is wearing thin, our trust is shattered, our trauma is real, and our path to recovery is a twisting, winding road , filled with shadows and ghosts. 

Once again, God has shown us not to put faith in the “elite’ members of the knesset. It is only Hashem to whom we can look to and to who we can rely on for peace of mind and sanity.  

We are now a PTSD Nation,  however, we will not remain so.  Our identity is always morphing and changing with the times.  But this is one that will remain for a long time as our youth grow up and grapple with their new reality.  With God’s help, they will work their way and forge a new path fueled by their collective PTSD and deep connection to each other.