What Came After

On March 18th of this year, I'd been back in America for a few days after getting stuck in Israel during the war with Iran. I still felt scattered, jet-lagged and wrung out. So I decided to treat myself to the ultimate comfort food: an authentic bagel. 
I ran into a friend at (the kosher and delicious) Emma's Bagels in Skokie. She was sitting with a table of women I didn't know. After I explained why I looked so bedraggled, I learned they all worked for Sharsheret, an organization supporting Jewish women facing breast and ovarian cancer. One of them, Elana Silber, turned out to be the CEO — and that night, it happened, was Sharsheret's annual gala.
She invited me on the spot.
I decided to push past that not-quite-myself feeling and attend. I saw an art installation by a breast cancer survivor, heard several incredible speakers, and got a chance to hear about Sharsheret's work, which is now reaching Israel also. 
Elana and I decided to meet a few months later in New York for an interview. As you'll hear, she's learned a lot about building in the aftermath of a crisis. 
I hope you enjoy this episode. 
 
 
Credits:
Host and Creator: Manya Marcus
Editor and Producer: Ben Wallick
Associate Editor and Producer: Keren Glicksman
Content Editors: Keren Glicksman and Alexandra Yelderman
Logo Design: Samuel Vilemar
Outro Music: "נקייה" | Anat Malamud
Listen on Spotify  or Apple Music
 
 
WCA Media relies on your support to bring you episodes like this one. Click here to support the work that we do.

When I first met with our guest, Dekkel Bachar, at the end of 2025, we talked about Shesek, an initiative of the Israel ParaSport Center. Shesek was designed to help rebuild the lives of Israelis. Nearly three years later,  many in Israel are still grappling with its impact. Tens of thousands-- and likely many more--  are struggling with PTSD.
Since this recording, I've learned that the Israel ParaSport Center has been working even harder to provide essential support for those who are struggling with post-trauma.  The Center was recently selected as one of eight organizations to lead a national rehabilitation initiative, expanding its programming to target the invisible wounds of war.. 
Program details will be on their website soon, and you can support their work at IsraelParaSport.org.
 
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Credits:
Host and Creator: Manya Marcus
Editor and Producer: Ben Wallick
Associate Editor and Producer: Keren Glicksman
Content Editor: Keren Glicksman
Logo Design: Samuel Vilemar
Outro Music: "Homebound" | Elijah Aaron
Listen on ⁠Spotify⁠  or ⁠Apple Music⁠
 
 
WCA Media relies on your support to bring you episodes like this one. Click here to support the work that we do.
 

In March, I was in Israel when war broke out with the Iranian regime. Since I couldn't leave the country, I wanted to make the most of the time, A mutual friend suggested I meet with Orit Gidali between missile alarms. Orit is a renowned poet and children's author. She spent an afternoon with me, against the backdrop of an active war, talking about what it means to make art in the aftermath of trauma, both personal and collective. Orit's work is riveting. You can find it at ⁠oritgidali.com⁠.
 
 
Credits:
Host and Creator: Manya Marcus
Editor and Producer: Ben Wallick
Associate Editor and Producer: Keren Glicksman
Content Editor: Alexandra Yelderman
Logo Design: Samuel Vilemar
Outro Music: "סתיו" | Anat Malamud
Listen on ⁠Spotify⁠  or ⁠Apple Music⁠
 
 
WCA Media relies on your support to bring you episodes like this one. Click here to support the work that we do.
 

This is my first time back in Israel since the war with the Iranian regime. Things feel different now — and that old line about an hour being a long time in the Middle East has never felt truer. I wanted to release more of the recordings I made during the war, and being back here felt like the right moment. We’ve put them together into a series called Between Sirens. In this episode, you’ll hear from three employees of the Ink Hotel — where I was staying when the war started. If you're in Tel Aviv, consider staying with them. They were fantastic. 
 
 
Credits:
Host and Creator: Manya Marcus
Editor and Producer: Ben Wallick
Associate Editor and Producer: Keren Glicksman
Content Editor: Alexandra Yelderman
Logo Design: Samuel Vilemar
 
 
WCA Media relies on your support to bring you episodes like this one. Click here to support the work that we do.

Last November, I spent nearly ten hours at Einot Bar, otherwise known as Ripples of Healing, which many of you may have learned about through various interviews on this show. While I was there, I met a young woman named Ellah Gotman. She was spending her day leading thirty first responders from October 7th through sound healing rituals. She had a peaceful, grounding, almost ethereal quality that she weaves beautifully into her work with Israelis who are experiencing trauma. 
After our conversation, I walked the grounds of Einot Bar. I did my best with my audio equipment to bring you along. I think you'll agree: this is a very powerful place.
 
 
Credits:
Host and Creator: Manya Marcus
Editor and Producer: Ben Wallick
Associate Editor and Producer: Keren Glicksman
Content Editor: Alexandra Yelderman
Logo Design: Samuel Vilemar
Outro Music: "כלים" | Anat Malamud
Listen on Spotify  or Apple Music
 
 
WCA Media relies on your support to bring you episodes like this one. Click here to support the work that we do.
 

I sat down with Samantha Robinson in Jerusalem in February 2026 — weeks before any of us knew that a second war with the Iranian regime was on the horizon. Sam is the Director of Community Resilience and Development at the Jewish Agency, where she’s part of JReady⁠, the Agency's global initiative for emergency preparedness and community rehabilitation. It was a role she held before October 7th — and one that became even more critical afterward. We spoke about what that work looks like from the inside, about life as the wife of a reservist who has spent hundreds of days on the battlefield while she holds down her rigorous job and as well as the homefront, complete with her four children. Sam and I also talked about the neighborhood pub and concert venue she and her husband spearheaded during Covid — and why they continued to operate it in the aftermath of October 7th.
 
 
Credits:
Host and Creator: Manya Marcus
Editor and Producer: Ben Wallick
Associate Editor and Producer: Keren Glicksman
Content Editor: Alexandra Yelderman
Logo Design: Samuel Vilemar
Outro Music: "EVERGREEN" | Ziv Moran
Listen on ⁠Spotify⁠  or ⁠Apple Music⁠
 
 
WCA Media relies on your support to bring you episodes like this one. Click here to support the work that we do.

In November 2025, I sat down with Israeli military photographer Oren Cohen in Jerusalem. Oren's book, 06:29 — named for the moment the Hamas onslaught began — is the most powerful photojournalism collection I've seen on October 7th and its aftermath.
His images are unflinching: A computer screen glowing white with dental records, needed to identify remains. A funeral for a military dog killed in service. A mother picnicking at her late husband's grave, their newborn baby beside her. A morgue, overflowing. 
Hear why Oren believes it's so important to accurately capture the brutality of October 7th, and how his camera functions as both his sword and his shield. You can find a copy of 06:29 ⁠here⁠⁠.⁠
 
 
Credits:
Host and Creator: Manya Marcus
Editor and Producer: Ben Wallick
Associate Editor and Producer: Keren Glicksman
Content Editor: Alexandra Yelderman
Logo Design: Samuel Vilemar
Outro Music: "No Fear" | Aaron Holder
Listen on ⁠Spotify⁠  or ⁠Apple Music⁠
 
 
WCA Media relies on your support to bring you episodes like this one. Click here to support the work that we do.
 

I met Shelly (who asked that her last name not be shared) in a shelter in central Israel in March during Israel's war with the Iranian regime. Shelly was 21, confident, radiant  and articulate. I gravitated towards her immediately. When she mentioned she was an officer in the army training to be a combat physician, I knew she'd have important things to say. Once we were out of the shelter, we sat down and talked — and I learned more than I expected. I hope you enjoy this episode.
 
 
Credits:
Host and Creator: Manya Marcus
Editor and Producer: Ben Wallick
Associate Editor and Producer: Keren Glicksman
Editor: Alexandra Yelderman
Logo Design: Samuel Vilemar
Outro Music: "לפני השינה" | Anat Malamud
Listen on ⁠Spotify⁠  or ⁠Apple Music⁠
 
 
WCA Media relies on your support to bring you episodes like this one. Click here to support the work that we do.
 

This past November, I sat down with Amanda Borschel-Dan, Deputy Editor of The Times of Israel. Ever since the war began, it's been her voice on the Times of Israel Daily Briefing that has kept me — and so many of us in the English-speaking diaspora — feeling oriented and sane. She is one of my heroes of journalism: someone who has reported on October 7th and the subsequent wars with extraordinary rigor and clarity while being, as an Israeli, completely inside the story herself. In our conversation, Amanda spoke about what it means to do that work — how it can function as therapy, a kind of anchor in a crisis with no end.
 
 
Credits:
Host and Creator: Manya Marcus
Sound Editor and Producer: Ben Wallick
Associate Editor and Producer: Keren Glicksman
Editor: Alexandra Yelderman
Logo Design: Samuel Vilemar
Outro Music: "Yamim Shel Sheket" | Tandu
Listen on ⁠YouTube⁠
 
 
WCA Media relies on your support to bring you episodes like this one. Click here to support the work that we do.
 
 

I learned about Channi Rabinovitz through her husband, Itzhik. Itzhik appeared in an earlier episode — ⁠"A Tsunami of PTSD Is Coming" ⁠— where he spoke about the mental health journey of one of his sons, who found healing through a hydrotherapy-based trauma treatment clinic in Israel called Ripples of Healing, also known as Einot Bar. 
It was Itzhik who told me about Channi. Channi has worked as a midwife — before October 7, and after. She has shown up to work with mothers whose husbands have been killed, or who return home from war in body but not in spirit. Despite the heaviness, Channi goes to work with enthusiasm and joy.  To Channi, the labor and delivery room is "the holy of holies." 
When I finally met her late last year, I understood immediately that Itzhik was right. Channi is a force. She has boundless energy and unshakeable devotion — to life, to her people, to the work that she does, and to the land of Israel. Just before we began the interview, I learned that Channi donated a kidney to a stranger when she was already in her early sixties. That's who she is. 
My relationship with Channi became very significant this past March, when I found myself stranded in Israel during its most recent war with the Iranian regime. Channi and Itzhik took me in. They fed me home-cooked meals daily. They kept me laughing through middle-of-the-night runs to the bomb shelter. They hosted me for Purim and Shabbat, at a time when celebrating felt really hard. And they worked hard to help me secure an airline ticket (not a small feat!) so that I could make it home safely to my family.
I don't use the word formidable lightly. But there is no other word for Channi. 
I hope you enjoy this episode.
 
 
Credits:
Host and Creator: Manya Marcus
Editor and Producer: Ben Wallick
Associate Editor and Producer: Keren Glicksman
Logo Design: Samuel Vilemar
Outro Music: "Love Unfolding" | Elijah Aaron
Listen on ⁠Spotify⁠  or ⁠Apple Music
 
 
WCA Media relies on your support to bring you episodes like this one. Click here to support the work that we do.