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My niece and I have co-authored three essays for the Times of Israel.
Jillian Selman is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Registered Art Therapist who lives in the Greater Boston area. She received her Bachelors from Boston University and her Masters from Lesley University. Our series was prompted by an anti-Israel post that appeared in November on Lesley University’s professional list-serve for over 700 alumni of its graduate school for therapists. Jillian asked me to suggest some ideas for a response and the effort evolved into our collaborative series of op-ed pieces.
“Are Palestinians Facing Genocide?”
On November 8 the following excerpted post was sent out…
As therapists, it is absolutely essential for us to be highly attuned, empathic people. And right now, this feels so so so hard as we bear witness to the unbearable atrocities unfolding as millions of our beloved kin in Palestine face crushing forces of genocide. I am reaching out to see if anyone has any resources, personal anecdotes or thoughts to share that they have found helpful to navigate this moment we are all living in especially as therapists. I am grateful to navigate this world and this work with a soft heart but sometimes it feels impossible. …
This is how we would reply:
We agree with you that therapists must be highly attuned, empathic, and humane. But therapists must also be well informed. …
Read more at https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/are-palestinians-facing-genocide/
“Why is Israel Attacking Innocent Palestinians?”
The question, itself, provides sorry commentary on those who raise it. The Jewish State has repeatedly demonstrated through word and deed that innocent Palestinians are not its target. Hamas – designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union – is. …
Read more at https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-is-israel-attacking-innocent-palestinians/
“On Gaza, Therapists Should Know Better”
When George Floyd died in police custody and Russia attacked Ukraine it didn’t take long for participants to weigh in on one side of the equation; and no one scolded them for having done so. In contrast, when thousands of Hamas rapists, sadists, kidnappers, and murderers raided unsuspecting Israeli farming communities and a music festival on October 7, no one on the list-serve uttered a word. That was, until over a month later. …
Read more at https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/on-gaza-therapists-should-know-better/
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Bruce Ginsburg is the Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Sons of Israel in Woodmere, NY. A product of Boston University, New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary, and Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, he holds a doctorate in Hebrew literature. Known for his decades-old activism on behalf of Israel, Soviet Jewry, and intra/interfaith cooperation, he has served both as president of the Long Island Board of Rabbis and as president of the Union for Traditional Judaism. His essays have appeared in Newsday, the Christian Science Monitor, the Jerusalem Report, and other publications. He and his wife, Rachel, moved to Israel in the summer of 2022.