View the recording of Breaking Through Barriers:Jewish & Israeli OTs in Action

Israeli OTs and Jewish OTs around the world, including our presenters and many of us, continue to work through challenging circumstances in the shadow of October 7. For many, the professional landscape has changed dramatically. Increasingly hostile academic spaces, ideological creep in academic and professional millieus, and the threat of boycotts and harassment, are all part of a new reality for Israeli and Jewish health professionals. Now, more than ever, let's come together to support and amplify each other as presenters discuss their research, publications, and challenges they've faced.

We were very excited to have had OTs from Israel, Canada, Britain, and the US sharing experiences with us. Our program on March 15, 2026 included:

• Opening Remarks: Jeffrey Rothman, occupational therapist & founder of Martial Arts for the Soul, a non-profit teaching Jews self defense using martial arts techniques.

• Research Spotlight: Beyond Training: Work Skills Development and Quality of Life Outcomes in Autistic Young Adults Through Military Service Integration & Self-identity in times of collective trauma: a comparison between autistic and non-autistic college students: Asnat Bar Haim Erez & Efrat Selanikyo, University of Ono, Israel

  
  

• Publication Highlights: Authors of various recent and upcoming publications in OT Practice & CJOT including Lola Halperin, Lisa Gordon-Handler, Alison Herman, Rivka Molinsky, Wendy Stav, Maya Wolf & Pamela Wener, Barbara Mazer & Cynthia Perlman will discuss their experiences, publications, post publication responses, and future directions. Their deeply meaningful and important articles about how Judaism, Israel, October 7, and the surrounding responses affected practice, education, and the professional environment in CJOT and OT Practice include:

Doing, Being, Belonging, and Becoming: An Occupational Response to Trauma

Shattering Slience, Shattering Unity

Upholding Pluralism in Occupational Therapy: A Response to Recent Calls for Political Alignment

• Moderated Q&A

• Closing Remarks: Sam Cox occupational therapist & multi-term OT volunteer in Israel since 2023

View the recording