JEWISH WORLD

JEWISH WORLD • NOVEMBER 18-24, 2022 5 dents to identify when people are in distress, how to handle traumat- ic situations, and how to help oth- er people make their way through emotional crises. The course was written by the professionals from ERAN, with Cohen providing ad- vice on making it suitable for teens. About 3,000 people have already signed up for the pilot program, which entails videotaping partici- pants’ statements so they can watch them at their own convenience. It is scheduled to be part of the Israeli government’s free education portal, CampusIL, and is expected to draw manymore thousands of participants. The eldest among six children in a family from Beit Shemesh, Maayan says she is committed to “sleeping less and helping more people.” She explains that the idea for First Aid for the Soul came to her when she was taking a regular first aid course last year. “I was learning what to do if someone suffered necrosis in their foot,” Maayan said. “I sat there and thought, ‘How often will I ever en- counter someone who needs help like this?’ Then I realized that I had already encountered other teenag- ers who need emotional help.” She searched online for a course on how to help people in psycho- logical distress but the only one she By DIANA BLETTER F our years ago, when Israeli Maayan Cohen, now 17, was in eighth grade, she fell into a deep depression. She said she used to cry for hours and thought, “nobody can understand me.” She felt isolated and alone. Then, the sister of one of her friends commit- ted suicide and that sparked a wave of other suicides in her city of Beit Shemesh, both among teenagers and adults. Things only got worse during the pandemic. Data shows that since COVID-19 began, the use of antide- pressants and antipsychotics among Israeli teenage girls has skyrocketed and the number of diagnoses of clin- ical depression has doubled. All of this inspired Maayan — with the help of the Israeli youth leadership training program LEAD, which has generated app. 700 so- cial initiatives since its founding in 1999, and the mental-health pro- fessionals at the helpline network ERAN — to help develop a free online course for teenagers which she informally calls “First Aid for the Soul.” The 30-hour course trains stu- y E NIS PRAGER I f one were to draw up a list of human needs, food and shelter would be at the top. With great respect to Freudians, sex would not be No. 2. The need for meaning would be second only to the need for food. That meaning is more important to happiness than sex is easily shown. A great many people go long periods without sex, and while many of them miss it, if they have meaning in their lives, they can lead quite happy and fulfilling lives. On the other hand, few peo- pl who have regular sex but lack meaning are happy or fulfilled. Third on the list of human needs is the need to feel important. This need is much less often cited than the need for food, sex and meaning. But it is so important that a case could be made that it is tied for No. 2 with the ne d for meaning. T he infamous “mi life crisis” is a crisis of importance: “I thought I would be much more important at this stage in life than I am.” That mostly afflicts men — just as feeling less important after one’s children have left home afflicts mothers more than fathers. Among the many psycho-social crises afflicting Americans is a cri- sis of importance. Fewer Ameri- cans feel important than did Americans in the past. Why? What has happened? What has happened is a steep decline in the number of institutions that gave people a feel- ing of importance. Given that work is generally regarded as one of the most ubiqui- tous providers of purpose, and that, prior to the COVID-19 lockdo n, mor Americans were working than ever before, one would think that more Americans than ver before felt important. It has not turned out that way. For many, work has not provided the sense of importance people expected it to, let alone fulfilled the other great need: for meaning. This is especially true for women, but first, we will address men. Work used to provide many men with a sense of importance. It is si ly a fact that being the bre d- wi ner for a family me ns one is important. However, since the 1970s and the rise of feminism, women have not only become breadwinners, but they have increasingly become the pri ary breadwinner within a marriage and f r a family. That has helped couples finan- cially, but it h also deprived a great many men of their sense of importance. When regarded by a wife and children as important, husbands/fathers felt important. Progressive America mocks the 1950s TV series “Father Knows Best.” But when wives and children believed that, men felt important because they were. The price for this, according to feminism, was paid by wom n, who didn’t receiv the accolad s of br adwinning. And they set about changing it. However, contrary to the expec- tations of the well-educated, women becoming breadwinners has not provided most women with a sense of importance, and certain- ly not meaning in life. Contrary to what feminism, colleges, high schools, progressive parents and the mass media have claimed for decades, men and women do not have the same natures. Just as sex with many partners continued on page 20 Feeling Of Importance Government takes it away from you Just as most women are not as satisfied as men are with many sex partners, s it is ith work. President Joe Biden repeated this theme recently: “Put trust and faith in our government,” he pleaded with Americans. One could accurately say that we are replacing America’s motto, “In God We Trust,” with, “In Government We Trust.” PERSPECTIVE LIGHT FROM ISRAEL First Aid For The Soul An Israeli girl is inspired to h lp emotionall distraught teens found cost 1,000 shek ls. That was when she approached her program leaders at Israel Youth Leadership Developme t (LEAD), which she has been involved with for the past two years, about developing a free online cours to help teens dispe se “first aid for the so l.” An Israeli girl helps develop an online pro- gram to teach teens how to assist peers dealing with deep emotional distress. Many teens suffering from depression in Israel feel they have nowhere to turn, and have parents who don’t understand the danger their child is in. continued on page 20