Wednesday, January 22^nd

12 o’clock noon, Eastern Time, 7 p.m. Jerusalem Time

Romi Gonen, age 23; Emily Damari age 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, age 31 have finally been liberated from the nightmarish hell of Hamas captivity and safely returned to Israel to be reunited with their families, after enduring 471 days of horrific torture and torment inside Gaza.

What sort of brutal sexual, physical, and emotional suffering have these three women had to endure? Where have the feminist groups been? How does one find the strength and resilience to recover after witnessing and experiencing such gruesome atrocities?

Here to discuss this is Meredith Jacobs, CEO of Jewish Women International an award-winning journalist. Since assuming the role of CEO in 2020, Jacobs has shepherded the development of numerous JWI initiatives, including the National Center on Domestic & Sexual Violence in the Jewish Community; the Women’s Financial Empowerment Institute; the Jewish Communal Women’s Leadership Project; Men As Allies: Leading Equitable Workplaces; and the international expansion of Young Women’s Leadership Network. She works closely with JWI’s philanthropic partners, Sigma Delta Tau national sorority and Zeta Beta Tau national fraternity, developing initiatives like Green Light, Go! that was awarded a Laurel Wreath for outstanding programming in the fraternal world.

A sought-after speaker, moderator, and writer, her opinion pieces appear frequently in outlets such as JTA, eJewishPhilanthropy, and the Forward. She was named one of the 50 Most Influential Jews of 2020 by The Jerusalem Post.

Jacobs earned an MSB from Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School and a BA from Haverford College. She is also the author of The Modern Jewish Mom’s Guide to Shabbat (HarperCollins) and co-author, with her daughter Sofie, of the bestselling series of interactive journals, Just Between Us (Chronicle Books). Prior to joining JWI, she founded ModernJewishMom.com, the first Jewish parenting website (now part of Kveller), and was the host of the WYPR radio show, Connecting Family and The Jewish Channel television holiday specials, Modern Jewish Mom.

Also present to discuss his book “Extreme Trauma: October 7 as an Outlier in the Range of Human Potential”, is Moshe Kaplan, MD. Dr. Moshe Kaplan has compiled  a team of experts to discuss the extreme trauma of October 7^th and the residual effects on the nation and people of Israel, but also the message of profound resilience and of hope.

Moshe Kaplan M.D. is a trained psychoimmunologist, using mind, body and soul integration for optimal health and healing and is a cofounder of Wellness Medical Clinics applying wellness concepts to practical reality. Following medical school with Naomi Remen, M.D. ofStanford Medical School, he, under a grant
from the National Institute of Mental Health, wrote a curriculum for medical schools to use as a model for an ideal medical system integrating professionals, paraprofessionals and lay people. He is the compiler of A Wholly Life (Targum Press). Currently, he is a medical director of Magen David Adom in Jerusalem where he resides with his family.