Published By: ICEJ Team
Learning To Heal Through Animal
“But now ask the animals and they will teach you; the birds of the air and they will tell you.” Job 12:7.
The events of October 7th have dramatically increased the need for trauma care. Many children are still on the waiting list for the different forms of therapy. To meet the demand, additional facilities and therapeutic resources must urgently be developed so services can be offered to double the number of children assisted.
Building upon the success of Kibbutz Urim’s existing therapeutic riding centre, to which ICEJ Australia has gifted a horse, an Animal Corner will offer a broader spectrum of animal-assisted therapy to meet the growing needs of the local community.
Kibbutz Urim is located in the northwestern Negev. The kibbutz once boasted a ‘Petting Zoo’ or Animal Corner – one that had been started in 1970 by Yoel Zeigler. It had to be closed due to expense to keep it going when Yoel’s health forced him to give up being responsibility for it.
Yoel made Aliyah with his family in 1933 at age 5. He is now 96. His father was a childhood friend of Hermann Goering, and he helped him leave in 1933 because he said that he wouldn’t be able to protect him. Yoel became a well-known and respected dairy farmer. He was one of the original founders of Kibbutz Urim.
The establishment of Kibbutz Urim was part of the 11 communities that were established in 1946 in the northern Negev immediately after Yom Kippur and overnight between the 5-6th of October at the initiative of the Jewish Agency. The goal of clandestinely establishing a bloc of communities was to ensure the general area of the Negev would be within the borders of the future State of Israel. As soon as the British gave up on their mandate and left the Land of Israel, the young pioneers quickly claimed the land by putting up an Israeli flag.
Yoel shared with the visiting Aid Team, as he showed them the now dilapidated area, how he eventually established the Animal Corner with the help of the children and donations. Eventually special animals that weren’t in Israel were donated, as well as beautiful flowers, and it became well known with people coming from all over Israel to enjoy it. Yoel concluded, “I love animals. I still get up every morning to come feed the few animals that are left. It gives me a reason to get up in the morning.”
ICEJ Australia is partnering with Kibbutz Urim to restore and expand this historic Animal Corner to serve children coping with trauma. Following the horrors of October 7th and ongoing war-related stress, many families require the kind of care that animal-assisted therapy can give. ICEJ plans to help transform a site of disrepair into a modern therapeutic centre with new enclosures and therapy spaces. It will be developed to include two clinics (with water and sewage infrastructure), dedicated spaces for therapy with dogs and small animals, as well as areas for individual and group therapy sessions. The animals’ living environment will be recreated, and additional animals will be purchased as part of the revitalization effort, ensuring the space is both functional and inviting for therapeutic purposes.
As the Aid team were leaving, a kibbutz member came with his son to the animal corner and greeted them. He told them, “I grew up in this Animal Corner with lots of animals. It was green and beautiful. We dreamed that we would be able to pass it on to our children. Now, my son wants to see the animals. I always wanted to help before and now again. We need to rehabilitate the place.”
Urim means ‘light’ and we hope we can bring light back into families’ lives through the proven healing that interacting with animals can bring.
So, please donate today. “Help us re-build & comfort God’s children”
