We have all been stunned, in light of the recent tragic events in Israel, by the barbaric brutality and extreme lack of humanity displayed by the Hamas terrorists. As our minds grapple to try to make sense of actions that are beyond human comprehension, it seems as if we have no words.

Yet words are important to attempt to integrate what happened - and is still happening. Trauma is often a response to pushing away events as a protective mechanism, rather than integrating. We will address this in our discussion today. 

This podcast was quickly and spontaneously arranged as a way to begin to psychologically and spiritually anchor ourselves in this confusing and uncertain moment; to attempt to uncover our own resilience, even as we hurt deeply. And we thought the perfect person to have this dialogue with is Rabbi Yaakov Klein. Though young, he is wise beyond his years. 

Rabbi  Klein is an author, musician, and lecturer devoted to sharing the inner light of Torah and chassidic wisdom through his books, music and lectures. Along with his wife Shira and their two beautiful children, Yaakov moved to the UK to join Jewish Futures as the founding director of Eilecha, a new organisation focused on creating opportunities for spiritual growth and experiential education in the local community and beyond

Before we begin, I want to emphasise that in keeping with the theme of The Resilience Files podcast, the purpose of this conversation is to focus on investigating resilience in the face of extreme challenges. Therefore, we will not be commenting on the specific events that occurred and are still occurring. 

03:39 - Our feelings on hearing the news for the first time
13:26 - Limiting how much media we watch
21:02 - Embracing feeling lost and scared
25:42 - This is a moral conflict
36:36 - Conquering darkness with light and love
50:03 - Dealing with transient and confusing feelings