On a quiet stretch of land inside the Hadassah Neurim Youth Village, far from the blare of headlines and the immediacy of war, a tranquil transformation is underway.
It doesn’t look like a rehabilitation center, nor does it resemble a military base. There are no uniforms here, no ranks, and no drills. Yet what is taking shape inside this unassuming campus may prove to be one of the most important social responses to Israel’s post-Oct. 7 reality.
This is Beit Arazim, Warriors for Israeli Hope, a program born not out of crisis management but out of a deeper question: What does a country owe those who have already given it everything?
For Israel, the question is especially acute. Since the Hamas massacre of Oct. 7, thousands of soldiers have returned from combat bearing both visible and invisible wounds. The physical rehabilitation from such wounds is only part of the story. What follows is often far more complex: the challenge of returning to civilian life, of rediscovering purpose, and of finding a place in a society that has itself been transformed by trauma.
Beit Arazim does not see wounded veterans as a problem to be solved. It sees them as a resource Israel cannot afford to lose.
PARTICIPANTS LEARN the ins and outs of the Mahaneh Yehuda market, Jerusalem. (credit: Courtesy Beit Arazim)
A house built on responsibility
The idea behind Beit Arazim did not emerge overnight.
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