Sarina Roffé
Ronny Novick, named for his grandfather, Rabbi Ron Barry, is the second son of Ricky and Rachel Novick, to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. He has spoken of his experience at some community events. Inspired to serve by his brother and others in the community, he was almost finished with his training. It was Shabbat when he was told to look at his phone. There were many missed messages telling him to get to his base. He threw a few things into a bag, expecting to be gone just for a few days. He was gone more than three months. While Ricky and Rachel Novick were supportive, Ronny’s service in the IDF took a toll on them. There were weeks and months when they had no contact with him.
“At the base, I got my gear and we headed for Sderot to clear out some villages,” said Ronny. “I went on many short missions of about three weeks each to Gaza, some were longer. There were about 10 missions into Gaza and one into Lebanon. In Gaza it was like whack a mole, they didn’t have the best strategies and there was more fighting. They hid in the tunnels.
“In one house we took over a house with a tunnel and saw a go pro on the wall. It turned out there were some C4 bombs that killed two of our men and injured others. I had to help clear out the bodies and body parts. It was a close call and pretty traumatic.”
Traumatized by his experiences, Ronny met Ben Milman, who has a PhD in clinical psychology, through a connection between his father Ricky and David Dweck. Ben is the Israel Director of Rising Heroes.
“Ben made my service a hundred times easier,” said Ronny. “He understands our community. He knew how to speak to me and where I was coming from and what I was going through in the army and gave me clarification. He talked me through everything and he was the bridge. Every time I got out I called him and he was available to me. He has a wife family and kids and is in a crazy Israeli unit.
“When you speak to Ben, you know he cares. He is compassionate and understanding. He means what he says and makes jokes. It’s like talking to a friend.”
More than a year after the war in Israel began, the repercussions have had a domino effect. Soldiers were called up and served for months at a time. Many lost their jobs. This in turn effected the economy. Fewer workers meant that many companies could not produce. Everything in Israel was affected by the war. No one however was affected more than the soldiers themselves.
They saw death, experienced severe trauma, and had to hold themselves together in the face of extreme conditions. Teams would go into Gaza for weeks at a time, with no chance of something as civilized as a shower to keep clean. Each carried up to 50 pounds of gear on his back up and down stairs, and often in extreme heat. Those who went into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah faced a more organized enemy with more sophisticated equipment and high powered and long range weapons.
Rising Heroes helps soldiers deal with post-traumatic stress by organizing retreats for teams, that help the soldiers return to society able to function.
“Our goal is to build the mental resilience and provide practical tools for dealing with the combat soldiers,” said Ben Milman. “This includes taking breaks to recharge, strengthening their team framework as a source of resilience and meaning, and providing techniques for personal and team-level cognitive regulation and processing of the events.”
While Ronny never went on retreats, he said that the retreats are every Israeli soldiers dream to get out of Israeli for a few days with their team.
Rising Heroes Retreats are designed for elite combat soldiers to decompress and process the trauma they experienced. They share their experiences, recharge, and return to battle stronger, and with the ability to prevent PTSD. The weeklong experience is a healing process led by professional psychologists and educators. The soldiers are taught tools to keep their minds focused under extreme pressure. They participate in exercise classes to alleviate the physical stress their bodies have endured. The soldiers also participate in group and individual therapy to process their experiences.
To date, Rising Heroes has taken teams on several weeklong retreats to Panama, Georgia and Greece. Continued community support is critical in making these retreats possible. Ben has been involved in post Army programs before Oct 7, bringing groups of soldiers to Deal, New Jersey to integrate into our community and work at David Dweck’s camp–All Sport.
While the war with Hamas began with a sudden traumatic event and there were many losses and the future is uncertain. The soldiers have ongoing stress and are expected to function and give their optimal focus to their work as they protect the Jewish State. During the retreats, the soldiers learn about mental resilience and practical tools to regain control and prevent PTSD from developing. The trauma and grief need to be addressed so that when it is all over, the soldiers can return to society able to function in their jobs and with their families.
A genealogist and historian, Sarina Roffé is the author of Branching Out from Sepharad (Sephardic Heritage Project, 2017). She is researching a new book: Syria – Paths to Freedom. Sarina holds a BA in Journalism, and MA in Jewish Studies and an MBA.
