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Ben (pseudonym), a combat soldier who recently completed his military service, found himself reliving the battlefield every night. “I returned home, but I was not really back,” he says. “The same thoughts and scenes played in my head like a broken record. My family noticed I was not the same person. My girlfriend left. I was closed off, silent, and angry. This place saved me.”
The place Ben refers to is the Rom Therapeutic Farm near Kibbutz Moran in the Galilee. Every week, soldiers who served in combat units, especially in the Gaza Strip since October 7, come to the farm to participate in a program designed to help them decompress and process their experiences.
The farm, operated by Edan Levino and his team, in partnership with the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Division, offers activities such as manual labor, yoga, hikes, and group conversations. The purpose: to give fighters the tools to begin healing from the emotional toll of combat.
A unique journey
Edan Levino, a former IDF officer, founded the farm and shaped its method of working with trauma. “I saw how hard it was for friends of mine who returned from war,” he says. “I realized that something more holistic was needed – something with physical work, something in nature, something that gives space for real conversation without uniforms or titles.”
The farm welcomes 15–20 soldiers at a time. Each group undergoes a structured process. In the morning, they gather for yoga, followed by working the land, shared meals, and open discussions. “We do not ask anyone to speak,” says Edan. “It happens naturally.”
The program includes three sessions, each lasting a full day, and the cost of 4,000–7,500 shekels per soldier is covered by the Defense Ministry. The staff of therapists also has a background in combat. “We speak their language,” Edan emphasizes.
“This is the only place we feel understood”
Many of the participants emphasize the unique freedom the farm gives them. “This is the only place where I do not need to explain why I do not want to talk to anyone or why I get angry suddenly,” says Lior (pseudonym), a combat medic. “No one judges. Everyone here just gets it.”
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One of the participants, Itay, adds: “I did not expect this to work. I thought it would be just another workshop. But something about the honesty, the rawness here – it broke through my defenses.”
According to Edan, the farm avoids formal therapy models. “We are not doing therapy in the traditional sense,” he explains. “This is more like opening a window to a different way of being. We give people the space to reconnect with themselves, with others, and with life.”
More to come
The success of the program has drawn attention from military units and professionals in the mental health field. Edan says there are plans to expand the project to additional locations. “The goal is not to wait for people to break down but to offer them a space to breathe before that happens.”
“I do not know where I would be without this place. It allowed me to start coming back to life,” Ben says.