Living under the threat of annihilation by the Iranian mullah regime amid efforts by the IDF to deny Tehran its most cherished ambition has inspired the creation of new games by Israel’s youngest citizens.
This Shabbat our family had a ringside seat as we watched this process in action.
My three-year-old grandson was the first to demonstrate a new coping mechanism for dealing with the unimaginable horror our children are living with daily.
Like other children in his age group, little Meir loves to build houses and tents out of dining room chairs, sheets and pillows.
This weekend, however, he built something new, which he proudly dragged me by the hand to come see.
“Look!” he gestured with a bright smile, dimples flashing. It’s a MAMAD!!!!”
I thought I heard him wrong, and asked him to say it again, just to make sure. Another smile: “It’s a MAMAD, Bubby!!!”
A mamad — also referred to sometimes as a “safe room” — is a bomb shelter built within an apartment or house. It usually doubles as a bedroom.
Since the launch of Operation Rising Lion – the war against the Iranian nuclear project designed to wipe Israel off the face of the earth – Israelis receive an alert from Home Front Command warning people to enter their “safe spaces” between five to ten minutes in advance of an incoming missile attack.
Since October 7, 2023 – the day Hamas-led terrorists funded by Iran invaded Israel, slaughtering 1,200 people and kidnapped 51 more as hostages — little Meir has heard the minutes-long, unbelievably loud wail of the Red Alert air raid siren multiple times. This experience has deeply affected him.
“It’s time to run, Ima!” he urges his mother whenever he hears a car horn, an ambulance siren or for that matter any other similar sound, be it on TV or outside the house. “We need to get into the mamad, NOW!!!” he shouts, and tries to drag his mother by the hand to safety.
His older sister Chen Sarah, age five, knows better; she does her best to calm him down. His baby brother usually just watches, eyes wide, silent.
But Chen Sarah and her cousins have come up with their own defense.
Home-Brewed Magic Potion
This past Shabbat they were busy in my backyard with empty cola bottles, creating a secret chemical weapon that also contains submunitions for good measure.
After hours of concentrated effort, the little band of cousins brought their creation into the living room to show off to the adults.
The bottles were filled with water and planting soil which they quietly nicked from my plants outside.
“This will protect us from the terrorists,” Chen Sarah explained, filled with confidence.
“See? The terrorists will think this potion (yes she used the word “potion”) is cola and they will drink it,” she said.
“But it’s really poison, and it will kill them. And while they’re dying, there are stones inside (also taken from the garden) which will break their teeth!!”
Kindergarten version of a chemical weapon with submunitions for good measure.
I didn’t ask how she would get the terrorists to drink her deadly brew. It was enough to know she feels safer having created it, while wondering how many other Israeli children do the same.
Israeli Children, Wartime and PTSD: The Research
Since October 7, roughly three million Israelis have suffered symptoms of anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Approximately 580,000 Israelis are suffering from at least one severe PTSD symptom directly linked to the events of October 7th and its aftermath.
Prior to October 7, 11.6 percent of the population was already living with PTSD or complex PTSD (CPTSD), according to a 2018 study led by Ariel University Professor Menachem Ben Ezra, published in the journal ‘Depression and Anxiety’.
Researchers who published findings in March 2024 in the Israel Journal of Health Policy Research say an additional 5.3 percent of the population in Israel – 520,000 Israelis — could develop PTSD as a result of living under constant threat of attack.
“The terrorist attack conducted by Hamas on October 7th, 2023, has resulted in nationwide mass trauma,” the researchers wrote. “This assault resulted in a mass tragedy … While most terrorist attacks involve a segment of the population, in the October 7th attack and the Israel-Hamas war the entire Israeli population was exposed to the atrocities.
Based on population size and estimated PTSD prevalence within each exposure category, the model predicts that approximately 5.3 percent (N=519,923) of the Israeli population may be develop PTSD as a result of the terrorist attack and the war,” the researchers wrote.
A July 2011 study led by Dr. Ruth Feldman and Adva Vengrober, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (Vol. 50, No. 7), noted that PTSD was diagnosed in 37.8 percent of war-exposed Israeli children living near the Gaza border.
The researchers focused their study on the development of PTSD in infants and young children 1.5 to 5 years of age exposed to war-related trauma over a lengthy period.
“Children with PTSD exhibited multiple posttraumatic symptoms and substantial developmental regression,” the researchers wrote.
“Symptoms observed in more than 60 percent of diagnosed children included nonverbal representation of trauma in play; frequent crying, night waking, and mood shifts; and social withdrawal and object focus.”
Of the 148 children in the 2011 study, 56 were diagnosed with PTSD, including 24 toddlers and 25 preschoolers.
According to a report released in February by Israel’s State Comptroller, roughly three million Israeli adults – in a total population of approximately 10 million — have experienced anxiety, depression or symptoms associated with PTSD.
Of the comptroller’s sample of 1,010 adults, one-third of the participants reported moderate or severe post-traumatic stress disorder or depression symptoms. About one-fifth reported symptoms of anxiety.
The report did not address the pediatric population.
