Suicidology

Suicide is about pain not death. This is what I learned at a screening in Jerusalem, organized by www.gilasway.com with an amazing panel teaching everyone how important it is to listen and connect, and how it could save a life. Gila’s Way is bridging the gap and educating about suicide by actually talking about it, and providing free consultations and services. There is a shortage of therapists, and the system and bureaucracy takes a long time to process requests. Many fall through the cracks as they wait for support to be approved. The soldiers in Israel are our holy warriors, and give us strength, peace and protection. My dream is to focus on mental health, specifically preventing suicide. It is so heartbreaking to hear about a soldier taking their own life, and it is not only soldiers, many families and individuals are struggling too. I was fascinated by Dr. Asher Siegelman, who is a clinical suicidologist. He uses an approach without medication and is releasing online trainings soon that will be easily accessible and affordable, www.practical-prevention.com/

We just passed 700 days of our hostages held captive in Gaza by Hamas. The state of Israel and Jews all over the world are hurting, and it is unbelievable how their fate is not the priority of the whole world. There are protests to bring them home happen every Saturday night, and sometimes more often. Last night was the biggest protests right underneath my balcony in Jerusalem. I am happy they are keeping the hostages in the news, but fighting amongst each other does not help anyone. Please God let Hamas be extinguished, the hostages brought home now, and everyone in the world will have the veil lifted from their eyes of how they believed the complete opposite. The truth will be clear, and we will live in peace and prosperity. A great example are the United Arab Emirates, who banned the Muslim Brotherhood and swiftly captured the terrorists that murdered Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan in Dubai.

Mental health has become a more open conversation after the whole world shut down for Corona/Covid. Thank God therapists and various modalities are easier to learn about and access. We can all do our part by being open with our families and friends, and taking care of ourselves. My message, motto and philosophy has always been care of self and love of self. If we do not put ourselves first, who else is going to do it for us? We have to recharge our own battery, so we can be there for everyone and everything in our lives. Social media and AI have their limitations. We must physically talk to each other, your voice is healing and of course spending quality time. One of the tools Dr. Siegelman talked about was to breathe through your nose because there is data that it calms us down, then close your mouth and keep it closed. Usually we are not listening, each person is thinking about how they will respond. So we literally need to shut ourselves up, be quiet, be 100% present and give our undivided attention. We are only experts on ourselves, and in order to understand somebody else, we have to actually listen and try our best to understand. No advice, no solution, just being there, holding space, could save a life.

AM YISROEL CHAI