Hope and healing after Manchester Synagogue Terror

I am Chair of  Jewish Action for Mental Health in Manchester, UK –  and we have been preparing for a Mass Trauma Event for two years.

When terror struck my community of Manchester on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, I, like many others was shocked – but not surprised. With the surge of  anti-Semitism in the UK, we knew it was only a matter of time until Jewish hate turned more sinister. In fact, my organisation, Jewish Action for Mental Health (JAMH) in Manchester, has been preparing for such an event for two years now – though we hoped we would never have to put our plans into action.

Trauma after October 7^th 2023

Two years ago, On October 7^th, my community, like many in the Diaspora, were shaken by the horrors inflicted by Hamas in Israel. It is fair to say that we were a community in a state of traumatic shock, as we struggled to understand the images and facts emerging from Israel. Most of us have close links to Israel with family members there,  and many were there on October 7^th for the festival of Succot, enduring red alerts and bomb shelters with the rest of the Israeli population.

It was clear that mental health support was needed in the aftermath of October 7^th in Manchester, and on a far greater scale than we could ever have anticipated.  What we were facing was  a mass trauma event, the likes of which we in the Jewish community, had never before encountered in the UK. JAMH was offered intensive training by international trauma experts that we put into good use then – and over the two years since, we have used our skills to develop a unique Mass Trauma Protocol that I believe is one of the few in the country.

Specially trained counsellors and therapists

Mass trauma events are not unprecedented in the UK and certainly not in Manchester. As a trauma specialist myself, I was involved in the mental health response following the Manchester Arena bomb in 2017 in which 22 were killed, and I was one of the team of psychologists working with the Grenfell community after a terrible fire killed 72 in the same year.

So, when the Yom Kippur attack happened in my own community (and my father’s synagogue), I and my team, were ready. Whilst everyone was still reeling from the shock, we were mobilising our forces. The Manual we had spent two years fine-tuning (I was due to meet with our Clinical Lead just a fortnight later to refresh the plans) and  hoped we would never need, was pulled out. Our 35 specially trained therapists and counsellors were put on standby. Our hard-working Trustees got to work.

Within three days (one of which was Shabbat), we had reached over 150 people from across the community. Our Mass Trauma Protocol is designed to offer a range of support from Day 1, to individuals across the various circles of impact – from those most effected (such as those bereaved or injured and their families) and those who were in the synagogue that day, right through to members of the Jewish community who were not directly involved but who felt their world shaken by what had happened.

Home visits for those who had been in the Synagogue

For the ‘inner circles’ we offered home visits (where we normalised emotions and reactions and offered grounding techniques), whilst the entire community was offered workshops and drop-ins. One workshop (on Zoom) taught calming skills, whilst another used a special group protocol based on the trauma therapy EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)  to build resources and feelings of safety. This proved so popular that we repeated it later in the week.

In addition, we focused support on parents. The attack happened just before the ten day Succot holidays and most schools were closed (some closed early because of the attack). This meant that children and young people lacked their normal routines and support systems which put a bigger demand on JAMH to fill the gaps. We are grateful to Sderot Resilience Hub (Gaza Envelope) for partnering with us to run a fantastic Zoom workshop for parents and we also created a guidance booklet for parents.

Input from Israeli Trauma experts

In fact, one thing we had not anticipated when we developed our Mass Trauma Protocol, was an attack happening at the start of such a long holiday period. Within the first ten days after the attack, when people are arguably, at their most shocked and distressed, we had six days of Shabbat or Yom Tov when not only were we very limited in what we could offer, but the few days we could work, became very stressful as we tried to cram in so much before the next Chag. We adapted to this as best we could, offering walk in drop-ins at local synagogues and walking home visits on Shabbat and Yom Tov days.

Consequently, the two weeks following the attack were frenetically busy for us at JAMH. We were inundated with both people wanting support and agencies offering help. Managing all of that, whilst trying to coordinate our response, create flyers and workshops and liaise with various agencies in the UK and Israel, was a huge challenge for a small charity such as JAMH.

We are especially grateful to those in Israel offering support such as the Sderot Resilience Hub and the Israel Resilience and Trauma Center, NATAL (who were brought over by our wonderful partners UJIA,  to offer more training and support to our team of therapists).  What our community needed and continues to need at a time like this, is culturally sensitive and religiously appropriate provision,  and our Israeli counterparts, who are sadly very experienced in dealing with trauma, have this in a way that local UK based provision outside our community, may not.

The healing of the Manchester Jewish community has been  helped too by vigils and rallies which really helped build cohesion and hope. Strong community leaders, including the courageous Rabbi of the synagogue that was attacked, led the way. There was a vigil outside the synagogue in the torrential rain the day after the attack, a rally for Israel in the town centre two days later, a memorial service one week on and a celebration of the hostage release just before Simchat Torah.   Singing Hatikvah and proudly waving Israeli flags, brought unity and comfort for a community scarred by tragedy.  Never has the slogan ‘Am Yisroel Chai’ felt so meaningful.

As time goes on, JAMH’s mental health response will move from ‘containment’, support and ‘stabilisation’ to the more traditional offers of trauma informed counselling and therapy for those who need it. Our specially trained counsellors and therapists are ready.

Thanks to the advanced preparations of JAMH and all our partners, as well as the strength of our community leaders and the incredible community itself, Manchester is healing. We have been badly hurt and lost two heroes,  with three more suffering serious injuries. But, we are not afraid and will continue to go to synagogue and wear our Stars of David with pride. We have hope for a better future.

In memory of Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby who were killed in the terror attack at Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur.