r

The Chapel
that recognizes
each family's individual needs.

Winer, Amy Winer, Diana Steinberg,
Jonathan Steinberg, Danielle Steinberg,
Shoshana Slow, Naomi Silow.
Mr. Steinberg was the beloved hus-
band of the late Dorothy Steinberg.
Contributions may be made to a
charity of one's choice. Services at the
Davidson-Hermelin Chapel at Clover
Hill Park Cemetery in Birmingham;
interment at Clover Hill. Arrangements
by Hebrew Memorial Chapel.

DOROTHY ZACK, 87, of Tucson,
Ariz., died Aug. 19, 2008.
She was an elementary school
teacher in Hazel Park and a reading
specialist.

Mrs. Zack is survived by her daugh-
ter and son-in-law, Julie and Tom
Saavedra; son and daughter-in-law,
Ron and Erlinda Zack; grandchildren,
Emily, Bethany, Rachel, Lindsay and
Skyezoe Zack, Brent, Alyssa, Sheldyn
and Arnie Lefevre; three great-grand-
children.
She was the beloved wife of the late
Sam Zack; loving mother of the late
Dr. Sheldon Zack.
Interment at Adat Shalom Memorial
Park. Contributions may be made
to Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, 15751 W.
Lincoln Road, Southfield, MI 48076.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.

Battle Scars

Israel treats troops for trauma disorder.

By Dina Kraft

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Tel Aviv

T

he talk often turned to blood
at a group therapy session
for Israeli soldiers suffering
from post-traumatic stress disorder:
salty, sweet, warm, cold, covered in
your own or of the friend who did not
survive.
"The smell of blood, that's what stays
with you',' Tom Shechter, 22, says matter-
of-factly.
Shechter, a combat medic, was badly
injured during the 2006 Lebanon war.
He was setting up a field hospital in an
empty school building in a Lebanese
village when he was hit by a Hezbollah
missile.
Like Shechter, the other men in the
group were injured in combat during the
war with Hezbollah, which ended two
years ago.
This group and dozens of others like
it that treat reservists and active-duty
soldiers suffering from post-traumatic
stress disorder, or PTSD, are a reminder
of one of the least visible but most pain-
ful scars of the 2006 war.
They are also a sign of the progress
Israel has made in reducing the stigma
traditionally associated with PTSD in
Israeli society, where military service
is mandatory and everyone either has
fought in a war or knows someone
who did.
Even public service announcements
on the radio urge war veterans who
suffer from trauma symptoms — they

include difficulty sleeping or concentrat-
ing and problems interacting with fam-
ily and friends — to call a help hot-line.
"Today it is no longer treated as some-
thing to be ashamed of says Miri Shalit,
who supervises the Defense Ministry's
Tel Aviv rehabilitation department and
is a psychologist and social worker by
training. "You can see the difference, for
example, from the Yom Kippur War [in
1973] — it took people years to seek
help."
Shalit credits a new, more cognitive
therapeutic approach — patients are
encouraged to recount in detail the trau-
mas they endured so they can begin to
process the events and overcome them
— for better success rates in treating
PTSD.
The Israel Defense Forces now trains
combat officers to work with their sol-
diers in the aftermath of attacks or diffi-
cult incidents as part of an effort to pre-
vent cases from developing into PTSD.
The concept, based on years of
research conducted in Israel and abroad,
is to debrief as soon as possible after
the traumatic event in a safe place away
from the battlefield.
In providing a supportive framework
within the soldiers' units to discuss trau-
matic incidents soon after they happen,
the focus is on preventing PTSD, said a
senior army psychologist.
During the debriefing, the soldiers
can review the facts of the incident
together, and share their thoughts and
feelings. They can understand, too,
that it's normal to have intense reac-

Our heartfelt
condolences
to the families
we have served.

We serve the entire
Jewish community
by bringing together
our rich traditions
with customized,
sensitive services.

IDA BEYLINSON
Rabbi: Yosef Mishtdovin
of Bais Chabad of North Oak Park
Hebrew Memorial Park Cemetery

ROBERT BICHKOFT
Rabbi: Paul Yedwab
of Temple Israel
Machpelah Cemetery

Associated with all cemeteries.

ALLEN C. GROSS
Rabbi: Herbert Yoskowitz
of Mat Shalom Synagogue
Rabbi: Elimelech Silberberg
of Chabad — West Bloomfield

Please call us at:
(248) 543-1622

Outside Michigan at:
1-800-736-5033

REBECCA RUBIN-BORAK
Rabbi: Elliot Pachter
of Congregation B'nai Moshe
Cantor: Earl Berris
of Congregation B'nai Moshe
Beth Milo Emanuel Cemetery

26640 Greenfield Road
Oak Park, Michigan 48237

lainft

vir AIM

magi A y AIME=

Rabbi Boruch E. Levin

11.1111111

Robert H. Bodzin

Executive Director, H.B.S.

Elaine Klein

Funeral Coordinator

Scars on page B40

RGor KEMP[.ER
Rabbi: David Nelson
Hebrew Memorial Park Cemetery

Funeral Director

threw
emorial
Chapel

Mark E. Klinger

Funeral Director

From Generation to Generation

1 ,407220

August 28 • 2008

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