Help For Anxious Jews
GROUPS FOR ANXIOUS JEWS TO CONNECT WITH CALM
From OY
to JOY
There's a particular kind of anxiety that comes with being Jewish right now. You're not imagining it, and you don't have to carry it alone.
All anxious Jews are welcome.
-
The concern for humanity.
-
The worry for Jews.
-
The history that's been triggered.
-
The frustration that gentiles just don’t understand.
Since October 7th, Jewish anxiety has skyrocketed—insomnia, hypervigilance, isolation, fear of being visibly Jewish. This isn't just the news cycle. It's current events layered onto what our nervous systems already carry: personally, historically, and collectively.
You're not overreacting. The numbers are real.
1,832
Religion-based hate crimes targeted Jews in 2023 — over half of all reported (FBI)
1M+
American Jews reporting clinical anxiety symptoms
8,873
Antisemitic incidents recorded by the ADL in 2023 — the highest number ever
of American Jews have avoided disclosing their identity in new social interactions (AJC, 2024)
27%
Trauma is also passed down genetically.
From pogroms, the Holocaust, displacement — our nervous systems remember even when our minds don't.
Yet there are almost no spaces where Jews are explicitly invited to name this and heal it.
You Don't Feel Safe.
Even for those living in North America, life as a Jew is stressful right now.
You're nervous about rising antisemitism around the globe.
You are concerned about what is happening in the Middle East, too.
You feel betrayed, angry, and alone. You suddenly don't feel safe with your peers, whether on a college campus, among your usual exercise crew, the ladies who lunch, or even colleagues in the office next door.
How long after October 7th did you have the thought, “Who would hide me?”
You might have even had the chutzpah to ask a trusted friend, “Would you ever hide me?” as an attempt to be pragmatic based on historical realities yet secretly hoping this is just a stupid thought and moment of craziness.
Still, you wondered, "Who would stand up with me?"
You thought about learning self-defense, signing up for martial arts classes or getting a gun.
Overwhelmed with the News
You've been obsessively reading or watching the news, mind racing from the reports of protests and rising derogatory comments about your people.
You are horrified at what the American news hasn’t fully covered.
And then, even when you try to stop reading the news or pull away from social media, you feel nauseated by upsetting emails, posts or stories from institutions, colleagues, professionals, artists, and influencers you once respected.
Or worse: There has been complete silence.
"It feels like the world has gone insane"
You're not alone if you've wondered, "What is wrong with me?"
Here are more signs intergenerational trauma is impacting your life:
-
Unruly digestive issues
-
Feeling nervous around crowds
-
Needing to know where all of the exits are
-
Afraid of being separated from your child
If you're sick and tired of your anxiety, I can show you stress-relieving techniques and mindfulness practices proven to help your body release inherited stress responses.
It's time to heal from your
Bubbie's baggage.
Who is Hannah?
Hannah Kanter, LICSW
Trauma Therapist, Meditation Teacher, and
Reform Jew, living in Cambridge, MA
I'm a Jewish therapist who knows how to calm anxiety down.
I am a virtual psychotherapist (LICSW in Massachusetts, LMSW in Michigan, and a registered out-of-state telehealth provider in Florida), mindfulness teacher, yoga instructor, and experienced Reiki practitioner. I've also had training in psychological first aid. My clients learn the biology of intergenerational trauma and automatic survival defenses. They learn how to reground when big emotions take over. How to work with their physical bodies to calm down faster. Join the haven where you can reconnect with clarity and serenity.
My groups are for you if:
-
You can relate to any of the thoughts or feelings above.
-
You want a community that isn't limited to your biological family or synagogue, to safely converse with others who have been going through the same challenges and dealing with the same worries.
-
You are curious to discover how your Jewish genetics might be contributing to your reactions to present-day events.
-
You are ready for a sacred space to practice mindfulness and attend to big emotions in a compassionate way.
-
You are willing to be respectful of your fellow Jews, regardless of their level of religiosity or political views.
THE WORKSHOP
UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA FOR ANXIOUS JEWS
What you Get...
-
Connect with Community: Engage with other Jews who can relate and support you in a shared space.
-
Validation and Support: Name and acknowledge the trauma and repercussions of October 7th.
-
Safe Space: Openly discuss your pain and feel validated in a safe, non-judgmental environment.
-
Biological Insights: Gain a deeper understanding of the biology behind intergenerational trauma.
-
Behavioral Understanding: Learn how "weird" anxious or depressed behaviors can be primal defense mechanisms.
-
Guided Practices: Experience guided exercises to help you reground when overwhelmed by big emotions.
-
Calming Tools: Learn practical tools to work with your body to calm down more effectively.
What it is...
-
Identity and Trauma: A space to acknowledge and address the trauma related to your Jewish identity, including ancestral trauma and personal experiences of antisemitism.
-
Voluntary Sharing: While sharing is encouraged, there is no expectation or requirement to share personal details.
-
Respecting Privacy: If you choose to share, you will not be expected to share intimate details of your personal or family history.
What it's not...
-
No Kvetch-Fest: This is not a place for comparing war stories or one-upping experiences of antisemitism.
-
Not for Immediate Crisis: This workshop does not provide tools for those in acute crisis situations.
-
Not Therapy: This is an educational workshop, not a therapeutic session. It's open to anyone, anywhere who identifies as an anxious Jew or ally.
-
No Professional Training: This workshop is not professional training and does not offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs) at this time.
-
Embrace the opportunity to understand and address the unique aspects of trauma within the Jewish community.
-
Time commitment: Two hours
-
Cost: FREE
THE JEW CREW
CALM FOR ANXIOUS JEWS
What you Get...
-
A safe space to practice mindfulness and attend to big emotions compassionately.
-
Connect with more people who can both relate to and support you.
-
Discover a variety of body-based, breath-based, and silent meditation practices that help you feel more relaxed.
-
Learn Hebrew chants that uplift and energize.
-
Since this is a closed mindfulness group, you will get to see the same faces every week and build on the practices together.
What we cover
-
Week 1: From Kvetching (Complaining) to Kvelling (Bursting with Pride): Transitioning from Human Doing to Human Being
-
Week 2: Embracing the Meshugas (Craziness): Facing Discomfort with Grace
-
Week 3: L'Dor V'Dor (From Generation to Generation) Awareness: Cultivating Perception and Knowing Across Generations.
-
Week 4: Everyday Chutzpah (Boldness): Applying Mindfulness Practices to Daily Life
-
Time commitment: One hour, for four weeks
-
Cost: $597 for all four weeks
Reconnect to a Sense of Peace
Join a safe and supportive space where you can connect with other anxious Jews who want to learn how to gain skills to calm the nervous system in order to function more effectively at work, at home, and in personal relationships.
Sign up for a workshop and take the first step towards a calmer, more grounded you.
You deserve it. In my community, we embrace our shared experiences while celebrating our differences. Whether you're Orthodox, Reform, secular, or somewhere in between, you'll find support here. You don’t have to be isolated anymore, alone with your fears. I can help.
Note: These workshops are not psychotherapy and therefore open to all anxious Jews, regardless of location or background. Therapists, patients, colleagues, and friends are all welcome.
The Background
After October 7th, I watched something happen in real time that I couldn't unsee: Jews across the political and religious spectrum.
My clients, my colleagues, my community were struggling, and there was almost nowhere to bring it.
Not because the feelings weren't valid. But because every space that existed either couldn't hold the complexity of Jewish identity, or asked us to shrink our grief to make room for other conversations. People were cycling through shock, fear, rage, and grief, sometimes all before breakfast and then going to work, showing up for their families, and pretending they were fine.
I'm a trauma therapist. I know what it looks like when a community is carrying something too heavy to hold alone. I also know what happens when that weight goes unaddressed; it doesn't disappear. It shows up in the body, in relationships, in the quiet 3am spiral you can't explain to someone who doesn't get it
So in October 2023, I created Help for Anxious Jews. Not as a political statement, but as a clinical one. Jewish anxiety is real; it is layered, and it deserves to be treated with the same rigor and compassion as any other mental health concern.
This is my way of bringing tikkun olam (Hebrew for “repairing the world”) to my community that is hurting.