Access to therapy is a matter of life and death Since October 7, 2023, families across the Lachish region in Israel’s Negev have been living with trauma, grief, and upheaval. In B'nei Dekalim, nearly every household has felt the emotional toll of war. Elkana Wiesel, a reserve combat officer who fell in battle in January 2024, envisioned a center to restore the emotional and spiritual strength of his community. Today, his dream lives on through Beit Elkana Center for Holistic Therapy that will offer compassionate, accessible care to children, teens, parents, and adults in distress.
Of the more than 10,000 residents in the Lachish district, an estimated 30–50% are struggling with trauma-related conditions. Parents are overwhelmed, children show anxiety and behavioral challenges, and educators lack adequate support. Timely intervention can mean the difference between healing and prolonged suffering. Through evidence-based, holistic therapies that nurture mind, body, and soul, Beit Elkana will provide coordinated, flexible care, empowering each individual to find the path to recovery that resonates most deeply.
Irit, the wife of a beloved local bus driver, was heartbroken when her husband, the father of their eight children, brought his own life to an end weeks after he transported survivors of the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri to their temporary abodes in the Dead Sea region. Haim ben Aryeh, who lived in the Lahish region, was a caring and sensitive father who looked after the children on his bus routes as though they were his own. He was unable to come to terms with the suffering he witnessed.
How Your Gift Will Help Beit Elkana will be a contemporary healing space, blending wood, stone, natural light, and gardens to create an atmosphere of dignity, privacy, and calm. The three-level facility will include clinical therapy and treatment rooms, a therapeutic pool, multipurpose studio space, community cafe, and administrative and staff facilities. The center will provide integrated, individualized care for children with special needs, youth at risk, parents and couples, adults coping with trauma and loss, and educators and community professionals.