The Sensitive Warrior: The Evolution of Jewish-Israeli Masculinity
Sunday, March 23 – Catered Lunch: noon; Talk: 12:30
Smith Hall at Harvard Hillel or Zoom
In this talk, I’ll share insights from my work as an IDF Mental Health Officer, focusing on a fascinating transformation occurring among young Israeli soldiers. Today’s warriors are redefining masculinity by embracing both traditional strength and emotional vulnerability. Unlike previous generations who often suppressed trauma and emotions, these young men openly express fear, grief, and compassion while maintaining their combat effectiveness. This phenomenon represents a potential new model of masculinity that integrates the warrior archetype with emotional intelligence. I’ll discuss how these soldiers are bridging generations by helping their fathers process their own war experiences, and what lessons this evolution might offer for masculine identity in contemporary society.
Biography: Rabbi Benjamin Goldenhersh is a spiritual leader at Congregation Kehilat Bar-Lev in Mazkeret Batya, Israel, and is the current Silver Fellow at the Center of Jewish Studies at Harvard University. He is a doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Program of Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis at Tel Aviv University. His research examines psychoanalysis as praxis, comparing the phenomenology of psychoanalytic and religious confessions. Rabbi Goldenhersh works as a Clinical and Supervising Psychologist at Israel’s largest Mental Health Center in Be’er Ya’akov, specializing in the treatment of personality disorders, complex trauma, suicidal ideation, and other conditions using psychodynamic orientation. He serves as a mental health officer in the reserves of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Rabbi Goldenhersh is also a member of the Tzohar Rabbinical organization. He received his master’s degree and clinical training as a psychologist from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2010. He completed his rabbinic studies at Yeshivat Hesder Yeruham and Yeshivat Har Etzion and was ordained in 2011.