'We rescue each other': Traumatized Israelis receive healing at therapy farm for rescued animals

Na’aleh Therapy Farm rescues abused animals and invites Israelis struggling with trauma and mental health issues to come and care for them as a form of therapeutic healing.

“You save me and I save you, and together we heal the land here,” IDF reservist Aharon Chamdi-Levi told a rescue horse with a reassuring voice as he bound up its wounds. 

Located in the hills just south of Jerusalem, where King David would have tended his flocks, the farm serves soldiers, veterans, civilians, and families recovering from trauma through interaction with rescued animals and the land itself.

Director of the project, Ben Goldstein, describes the mental health crisis that Israel is facing as a “tsunami,” with huge numbers now with PTSD from the events of Oct. 7 and the war that followed. Many soldiers have come back from Gaza struggling to cope with normal life. 

“They may have left Gaza physically, but Gaza hasn't left them,” He told ALL ISRAEL NEWS correspondent, Oriel Moran. “When they come here, and they tell us that by taking the animals out to graze, by treating their wounds, by working the land around the farm with all the planting that's going on here, they feel that all the stress leaves their body.” 

“A lot of them cannot go to a therapist. A lot of them have not left their home in over a year. This is the place for them, for their children, for teens at risk, for teens who just want to have a path in life and do something good for their nation, for their people, for their brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael and Am Yisrael. This is their home,” he said.

“We have a waiting list of soldiers already waiting to come and get the help they need,” he told Moran.

The therapeutic benefits of interacting with animals have been well accepted by Israeli professionals. The use of animal therapy to relieve anxiety has been widely acclaimed for its remarkable effectiveness in helping individuals reduce their stress levels, improve their emotional well-being, and foster a deeper sense of connection and comfort.

Similarly, specially trained dogs are being taken into wards at Rabin Medical Center, producing results “better than a drug from a doctor or a nurse,” according to senior nurse Keren Matry.

Interaction with therapy animals has been found to increase oxytocin while decreasing levels of stress hormones, beneficial to patients with mental health disorders and post-traumatic stress, but are also used in intensive care, with geriatrics and in neurology departments, according to The Media Line.

“Animals can often accomplish what human beings cannot,” said Efraim Rozenfeld, one of 10 animal-assisted therapists at the Sderot Animal-Assisted Therapy and Resilience Center. He added, “Animals bring a lot of positive hormones that are calming and therapeutic. More than that, animal therapy has many layers of applications.”

Hagar Shnell, former director of the center in Sderot, agreed: “When they have something to look after, their symptoms are somehow reduced.” 

Moran found a wide variety of animals on the farm that needed care, including horses, dogs, sheep, and tortoises, many of which had been rescued. Each one has its own story, and by tending to the animals, Israelis struggling to cope with life are able to find connection, peace, and healing.

“We started with one donkey. Now we have 28 animals on the farm,” Goldstein explained. “Sheep and goats, horses, rescued dogs. Most of these animals were rescued from… very bad abuse.”

“The soldiers come and they take care of the animals: wound care, feeding them, taking them out to graze, cleaning their stables in the barn, and we see this joint relationship where they come and heal the animals and the animals are healing them. It's so beautiful and our goal is to keep growing and keeping more animals,” he added.

Although all the animals need care, not all of them have been abused. Some had also experienced trauma from the war, such as a six-year-old dog named Stitzel, who had been terrified by all the rockets and sirens and refused to leave the house. When his owners brought him to the therapy farm, it was not long before he was outside on the grass for the first time, playing with other dogs. 

One of the horses at the farm, named Effie, also has her own unique story, having belonged to a soldier who fell in Gaza. Effie was donated to the farm by her family to help other soldiers in memory of her owner, who fell. 

Goldstein explained that Israeli teens volunteer to work at the farm on Fridays, helping to create a healing environment to serve those who are suffering. “Instead of sitting in their house playing video games or instead of not finding a path in life, they're quite literally shoveling poop for Zion,” he said. 

The invitation to visit and help is also extended to others who want to lend a hand: “Whether helping care for rescued animals, planting trees, building new spaces for therapy, or simply spending time with the families who come to the farm seeking peace, every visitor becomes part of the mission,” he explained in a promotional video, saying that the farm was helping Israelis who need it most.