MAJDAL SHAMS, Israel โ Birthright Israel has launched a major community healing initiative in the Druze village of Majdal Shams, announcing the creation of eight therapeutic educational gardens exactly two years after a Hezbollah rocket attack killed 12 local children and profoundly impacted the northern Israeli community.
The project, funded through a donation from The David and Meredith Kaplan Foundation via the Birthright Israel Foundation, will establish therapeutic gardens at four educational institutions throughout the village. The initiative is intended to provide children, educators and families with spaces that promote healing, resilience and recovery through nature-based activities.
Birthright Israel said the work will be carried out through its Volunteer Program, a joint initiative with the Jewish Federations of North America, with approximately 1,000 volunteers expected to participate in the coming months.
The project commemorates one of the deadliest attacks on Israeli civilians during the current conflict. On July 27, 2024, a Hezbollah rocket struck a soccer field in Majdal Shams, killing 12 children and leaving many others wounded. The attack devastated the close-knit Druze community and continues to shape local recovery efforts.
According to Birthright Israel, community leaders and educators have increasingly incorporated gardening and nature-based programs into trauma recovery initiatives over the past two years.
Volunteers have already begun constructing the first therapeutic gardens.
Since early July, Birthright Israel participants have worked alongside local residents preparing educational and community spaces. On July 17, one volunteer delegation visited Elementary School B, where they were welcomed by Majdal Shams Mayor Dolan Abu Saleh.
During the visit, volunteers also heard from Principal Jihan Safdi, who lost six students in the 2024 rocket attack. Safdi described the role that therapeutic gardening has played in helping children, families and educators process trauma while rebuilding community life.
Following the presentations, Birthright Israel volunteers joined participants from the organization’s Excel leadership program to plant trees and vegetation, install paving stones, construct raised garden beds and landscape the community’s Resilience Center. The facility is located adjacent to the soccer field where the attack occurred.
The work continued despite the security realities facing northern Israel.
Birthright Israel said the sound of explosions across the nearby Syrian border could be heard while local leaders addressed volunteers, highlighting the ongoing regional tensions surrounding the village.
Speaking to participants, Abu Saleh reflected on what he described as a significant transformation within the Golan Druze community following the Hamas-led attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023.
“The turning point for the Golan Druze began on October 8, 2023,” Abu Saleh said. “On October 8, we accepted the Jews and Israelis as our home. Now, the Jews finally accepted us. We arrived first; you met us there.”
His remarks reflected what he described as changing attitudes toward Israel among many members of the community while emphasizing a rejection of Islamist extremism.
Birthright Israel officials said the Majdal Shams initiative demonstrates the organization’s expanding role beyond educational travel by supporting communities directly affected by war and terrorism.
Since launching its Volunteer Program in November 2023 following the October 7 attacks, Birthright Israel says approximately 30,000 young Jewish adults have traveled to Israel through the initiative.
According to the organization, participants have contributed more than 60,000 volunteer days supporting nearly 100 communities across Israel through agricultural work, food security projects, logistics, emergency assistance and community rehabilitation programs.
Birthright Israel Foundation President and CEO Elias Saratovsky said demand for volunteer opportunities continues to increase among young Jews living outside Israel.
“The demand from diaspora Jews to serve in Israel keeps growing,” Saratovsky said. “Every volunteer we send strengthens the bond between world Jewry and Israel. Majdal Shams shows what that looks like on the ground, and we are grateful to The David and Meredith Kaplan Foundation for making this project possible.”
“We want to bring tens of thousands more volunteers over the next few years,” he added. “We need partners who will help us get there. We need to expand the volunteer program so we can bring more diaspora Jews to Israel and strengthen the connection between world Jewry and Israel.”
The Druze community of the Golan Heights occupies a unique position within Israeli society. Approximately 25,000 Druze live in four villages: Majdal Shams, Buq’ata, Mas’ade and Ein Qiniyye. Their presence in the region predates both the modern State of Israel and modern Syria.
Following Israel’s capture of the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War in 1967 and the extension of Israeli law to the territory in 1981, many Golan Druze maintained strong family and cultural ties to Syria while declining Israeli citizenship.
Birthright Israel noted that the events of October 7, 2023, together with continuing regional instability, have influenced discussions within the community about security, identity and the future.
The organization said the therapeutic garden project is intended to provide a lasting symbol of hope while supporting the emotional recovery of children and families still living with the consequences of the 2024 Hezbollah attack.
