Healing Childhood PTSD After Terrorist Strike: David Rubin and Israel’s Children’s Fund

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, has become all too familiar a topic today. Most of the time it’s in reference to veteran soldiers, coming back from the theater of war after experiencing its untold horrors. But what about the victims of conflict who are not trained soldiers? What about the children? David Rubin is the former Mayor of Shiloh, Israel. In 2001 he was driving home from Jerusalem with his 3-year-old son in his car seat, when a hail of terrorist’s bullets struck their car. His son was hit, the bullet missing his brain stem by one millimeter. Surgeries and physical therapy healed his body but couldn’t heal the emotional trauma. After realizing his son suffered from severe PTSD, Rubin realized children needed a different kind of therapy, and he founded the Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, recorded at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in May, Rubin talks about that harrowing day when he desperately tried to escape the barrage of bullets, and save his son. Then, the long road to creating the Children’s Fund, which gives young people with PTSD specialized therapy through education, recreational projects, music and more.