“We are bringing down the stigma of mental health by introducing cultural sensitivity,” said Chaim Fachler, director of international resource development at Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak.
Fachler participated in a panel discussion titled “Tikkun Olam [repairing the world] meets the Start-Up Nation” at the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York, moderated by Maayan Hoffman, head of conferences for The Jerusalem Post. Other participants included Shari Dollinger, co-executive director of Christians United for Israel, the largest pro-Israel Christian group in the United States; and philanthropist Craig Newmark, who heads Craig Newmark Philanthropies.
“The center is lowering the stigma of mental health by introducing cultural sensitivity,”
Chaim Fachler, Director of International Resource Development at Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak
Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center, explained Fachler, built a unique, seven-story mental health facility. It was the first such facility to be built in Israel in the past 50 years.
“The center is lowering the stigma of mental health by introducing cultural sensitivity,” said Fachler. “We think that with this holistic approach, more and more people will feel more normal to approach psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals.”
Fachler added that the Health Ministry has recommended the treatment model used at Mayanei Hayeshua for other facilities. He noted that the medical center is planning on opening a mental health facility in Jerusalem, and has created workshops and events for educators to identify the first signs of mental distress among teenagers.
The conference panelists are fighting ignorance
Shari Dollinger of Christians United for Israel explained that her organization is working to repair the world. CUFI represents more than 11 million Christians who love the Jewish people and are following the biblical obligation to bless and uphold the Jews.
She pointed to a recent mission led by her organization that brought millennials with a minimal awareness of the Holocaust to Auschwitz to teach them about the Holocaust. It also took them to visit Ukrainian Jews who were moving to Israel. The Christian millennials then accompanied the Ukrainians on their aliyah flight and learned how they planned to integrate into Israeli society.
Craig Newmark is repairing the world by fighting disinformation and antisemitism and promoting cybersecurity. Newmark told Hoffman that as a Hebrew school student 60 years ago, he had learned the ninth commandment, which prohibits bearing false witness. In his view, he said, fighting disinformation and falsehood is the best way to observe that commandment.
Fachler concluded by saying that all of the participants in the panel were fighting ignorance in the world, which can help repair the world.
“The more we do to raise awareness of mental health and cultural sensitivity, and the fact that there is someone to talk to, can go a huge way toward Tikkun Olam.”
“The more we do to raise awareness of mental health and cultural sensitivity and the fact that there is someone to talk to can go a huge way towards Tikkun Olam.”
Chaim Fachler