The return of the hostages marks a moment of national hope, but also the beginning of a new and difficult journey: one of healing, processing, and rebuilding. As the fighting subsides, for the survivors of the music festivals, the hardest stage begins now, the transition from survival to recovery, both personal and collective.
Over two years of working with survivors, one sentence has echoed constantly in therapy rooms and public discussions: “We cannot heal until the hostages return.” It expressed both deep sorrow for the hostages and the psychological need to restore justice and trust shattered on October 7.
The hostages’ return brings immense relief, yet it also sharpens the pain of loss for countless families. With the end of the war on the horizon, survivors are asking: can we truly begin to heal—or are we only beginning to confront the full emotional weight of what happened?
From Survival to Processing
Research worldwide shows that after wars and disasters, trauma, depression, and anxiety often rise—sometimes even more than during the conflict itself. When danger looms, the body and mind activate survival mechanisms, summoning strength and unity around a shared goal. But when the emergency fades, exhaustion and emptiness surface. The danger then shifts from physical threat to psychological collapse. Those who appeared strong during the crisis can be most at risk afterward.
This pattern is now visible among festival survivors, some of whom are struggling with worsening mental health and even suicide. Over the past two years, Israeli society has operated in survival mode, like a mourner who cannot yet process loss. Only when the immediate danger subsides can individuals and communities begin to comprehend the devastation and undertake the heavy work of rebuilding (emotionally, socially, and nationally).
Yet this stage can also spark new vitality. After wars, societies often experience “baby booms”, symbolic of the human life instinct (Eros) overcoming destruction (Thanatos). The urge to create and rebuild coexists with grief and trauma, showing how resilience is not the absence of pain but the decision to move forward despite it.
Building Resilience: Individual, Community, and Nation
Resilience is not static—it is a dynamic system of psychological, social, and institutional factors. On the individual level, emotional regulation, meaning-making, and hope protect against despair. Studies by George Bonanno and Stevan Hobfoll show that resilience comes from flexibility and reorganization, not denial of pain.
At the community level, cohesion is key. Trust, reciprocity, and mutual support reduce trauma symptoms and restore belonging. Expressing compassion and empathy—not pity—helps break the isolation that many survivors feel. During the war, many grassroots initiatives emerged to restore the social fabric. One example is Lev Batuach (SafeHeart), established on October 7 to provide psychological support to festival survivors. The organization offers individual and group therapy, open community spaces, retreats, nature journeys, and rehabilitation programs for families and employment.
This creative, collective effort reflects society’s deep resilience—its instinct to choose movement and life over paralysis. It must continue beyond the end of the war.
From an Open Wound to a Scar
The transition from raw trauma to processed trauma, the point at which people can live and grow alongside their pain, depends on three key conditions:
A strong public mental health system, accessible, government-funded, continuous psychological care is vital, especially now as emergency response shifts to long-term rehabilitation; Rapid economic recovery, employment, and stability are essential for mental wellbeing and a sense of control; and a unifying national narrative, societies that construct narratives of resilience and meaning, rather than victimhood, recover faster (Post-war Germany and Japan show how balanced collective storytelling supports emotional healing).
Without these, even victory or relief can mask deep psychological wounds. For the survivors, and for Israel as a whole, the hostages’ return is not the end of the story but the beginning of a new chapter, one that will test society’s ability not to fight, but to heal, hold, and rebuild trust.
The resilience of the Jewish people has been tested countless times. Time and again, the instinct for life has triumphed over the instinct for death. But resilience does not grow on its own—it demands investment, honest reflection, and the courage to face pain without turning away.
Only a society that acknowledges its vulnerability and still chooses life can transform the end of war from a moment of paralysis into a turning point, one that begins not with victory, but with compassion, rebuilding, and faith in human connection.
Marlene Maor is a senior clinical psychologist, supervisor, and lecturer on trauma therapy in Israel and abroad. She serves as a senior supervisor at SafeHeart, which has provided psychological treatment to survivors of the October 7 music festivals and their families—over 1,000 people and more than 50,000 hours of therapy to date.