Peace of Mind

Peace of Mind (POM) October 19-26, 2025

Temple Har Zion and Temple Emanu-El were deeply honoured to welcome a cohort of Israeli veterans to Toronto this October as part of the transformative Peace of Mind (POM) program.

The veterans arrived on Sunday night from Israel an attended daily therapy sessions at Temple Har Zion. They spent the week hosted by Temple members who had opportunity to speak with, feed and share meaningful conversations, hikes and excursions in and around Toronto together. 

The Peace of Mind program provides veterans with mental health Therapy which helps them to adjust to life during and after service in the IDF. This transformative nine-month therapeutic intervention offers a profound healing experience for IDF veterans. Led by specially trained therapists from Metiv, The Israel Psychotrauma Center, this program allows veterans to individually and collectively navigate and heal from their combat experiences. 

These brave young men have served Israel with courage and sacrifice—and now, they embark on a journey of healing, reflection, and connection with our diaspora community.  This powerful initiative offers continued therapeutic support to IDF veterans, while giving them the chance to explore our city and bond with host families from both congregations. 

Who Were Our Guests?

We hosted 16 veterans and 2 therapists ranging in age from 23-47.  This was a unique group in that some have known each other for 10 years or more and some for only 6 months. They have been fighting together in Gaza for over 600 days since October 7, 2023 and are a highly educated and talented group playing a critical role in assisting to recover our hostages and hopefully bringing peace to the land of Israel.

Some of the men are married with young families, others are engaged to be married and some are young people ready to explore new careers and travel the world.   They are smart, funny, and engaging. Some work in Artificial Intelligence (AI), many are software engineers working in high tech, in the defence sectors and one is a farmer from the Negev who grows mangoes and cucumbers when he is not driving a tank in the army.

The Week in Toronto

The veterans arrived and were greeted at the airport by Felicia Gopin, Executive Director of POM Canada, and a bright yellow school bus—something they’d only seen on American television! From there, they met their host families from both congregations.

At Temple Har Zion, 9 men were hosted by Gwen Y., Marie & Steve B., Marlene & Howard W., and Karin and James P.; the remainder were hosted by Temple Emanu-El families. In addition to feeding the men sumptuous breakfasts and shlepping them to Temple for daily therapy sessions, the hosts and others took the guys out bowling, shopping to Vaughan Mills, up north for a day in Gravenhurst, and the Phillipsons hosted a wonderful Wednesday night dinner for all.

One of the highlights of the week was the Friday Shabbat service at Temple Emanu-El which the Israelis attended and were no doubt in awe of seeing a reform congregation in operation complete with female clergy – Rabbi Landsberg and Cantor Littman – as well as musical accompaniment by flautist Robin Leszner, guitarist Cantor Jeffrey Weber, and pianist Eleanor Rice Ackerman. It was a beautiful combined service bringing the THZ and Temple Emanu-El communities together with our Israeli visitors.

The Friday night dinner that followed was a sell out and following a great meal meaningful words were spoken by Felicia Gopin who talked about the great benefits of the program, Steve B. represented the POM Committee at Temple Har Zion and Elad, the Israel team leader, talked about the dedication of his team and the wonderful and much appreciated experience of being in Toronto.

What This Week Meant to our Host Families

Here are a few comments about this wonderful experience from our hosts:

• Marlene told me that Ivegny and Michael (her POM guests) asked them whether they knew about Oct 7.  They knew that Jews in the US knew about it, but they know nothing about us or Canada.
• Gwen commented that this was It was the second time THZ sponsored Israeli veterans for POM therapy.  This time was different. This time the war was not over and many of these young men were scheduled to return to serve in Gaza again. Over breakfast each morning, the three men I was privileged to host would come into my kitchen with a smile and a hug. I shared Ontario maple syrup and berries. They shared experiences of losing friends, two years away from the women they love and worrying about whether they will be able to return to the jobs they left.  They came with lists for shopping because compared to Israel, prices here are low.  We walked, we talked, we laughed…and when they got on the bus that would take them to the airport I cried.  These brave young men will again be fighting for “Ha Bayita”, Israel their home and our Jewish homeland. 
• Steve commented that at this point my only thoughts are how grateful I am to have met these amazing boys/men.  They are all so accomplished. In the real world, they would be uber productive and accomplished and probably financially secure. Because of their skills, they would be sought after worldwide.  When they visited, we saw their civilian and personal/soft side. We saw the intense close personal connections among the unit.  We have not seen them in combat, and it would be hard to imagine it.  In addition to the obvious risks of combat, they have committed an important part of their lives to be our warriors – a time when they should be focused on their families and their personal achievements. They are making these sacrifices so that their children (and my grandchildren) will hopefully be spared the task.  I am so proud of them, and so worried for them.  I pray that they return successful and unharmed, and that their sacrifices will be appreciated and honoured by their families and their country.
• A final comment from Gwen: I said goodbye to the POM visitors who left yesterday.  It was like having 3 sons staying with me, but more polite and affectionate than my own kids were when they lived at home. And now 2 of the guys return to fighting.  Heart breaking.  That was not something I needed to worry about with my sons. And I hope I won’t need to worry about it with grandsons.  It’s strange how much I miss these temporary “sons”, perhaps because of the war and knowing what they’ve already been through. 

A Final Word of Thanks from the Peace of Mind Committee

Kol HaKavod to Steve B., whose vision and dedication brought Peace of Mind back to Temple Har Zion after several years. Thank you for allowing the Israel Action Task Force to take on this most meaningful program with you to deliver such spectacular results.

Our Spring Cantorial Concert was a huge success! Thanks to all who came out and supported our Cantors and Choirs with all money raised going to our POM program. Thank you to our many generous sponsors for the event as well!
You can watch the concert by emailing the office to request a link.

Thank you to to the POM Committee—Jodi, Eric, Shelly, Brena, Len, and Yael—for their outstanding work.

Our gratitude also goes to the clergy and staff of both congregations—Rabbis Debra Landsberg and Rabbi Cory Weiss, Cantors Rachael Littman and Judy Adelman, Music Director Eleanor Rice Ackerman, the combined choirs for their efforst at the fundraising concert held earlier this year. 

The office staff of Rachel, Alex, Sam and Stephanie at THZ who supported us in marketing, event planning and fundraising.
 
The wonderful people at Temple Emanu El who helped make this happen at services, the concert and the delicious Shabbat dinner - Rabbi Debra Landsberg, Cantor Judy Adelman, Lee W., Irena K., Carli P., & Debra G.

Finally a very special thank you to Felicia Gopin from Peace of Mind Canada who does G-ds work in bringing a measure of healing and pleasure to those wonderful soldiers and therapists who give everything they have for their families, for Israel and for Jews worldwide.

On behalf of the POM Committee, I would like to convey my deep gratitude and appreciation for allowing me to participate in the most meaningful events I have been involved with at THZ.

Thank you for all of those who contributed and participated in this wonderful journey.

Thanks to our community’s generosity, the Hope & Strength Cantorial Concert raised significant funds to cover this year’s program costs and to provide a strong start toward funding another POM program.

- Tony K.