In Israel, Transforming My Grief into Social Innovation with JDC
Meet the woman helping bereaved Israeli families honor their loved ones.
By Rotem Shwartz Borovich - Partnerships Manager, JDC-Israel (Ashalim) | January 13, 2026
For the last ten years, Rotem Shwartz Borovich has helped empower the next generation of Israelis. Serving as partnerships manager at Ashalim — the JDC-Israel division focusing on children and youth at risk — she spearheads programs related to early childhood, municipal development, and Bedouin society in the Negev.
After the horrific Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, Shwartz Borovich felt inspired to develop a different kind of project, Shikma — an initiative that enables bereaved families like hers to turn their grief into a force for good. In this reflection, she tells the story of this groundbreaking program and how JDC helped make it possible.
“And know that time and enemies,
The wind and the water,
Will not erase you.
You will continue, made of letters.
That is not a little.
Something, after all, will remain
Of you.”
— Haim Gouri, Though I Wished For More of More
Out of Grief, A New Vision
October 7th found me in my home at Sde Yoav, a kibbutz near Ashkelon. I am a mother of four sons. On that day, two immediately deployed as reservists to the Gaza envelope, one was completing his combat training in the Nahal Brigade, and another was in his year of service (Shnat Sherut) in Israel’s North.
As we emerged from the bomb shelter and realized the magnitude of the disaster, I joined professional partners in the Bedouin community. Together with the Authority for the Development and Settlement of the Bedouin, the Bedouin Resilience Center, and the Ministries of Welfare and Education, we established an integrated emergency response for victims within Bedouin society — supporting the families of the abducted and the murdered.
Though I had served in the IDF, nothing in my time as part of the Golani Brigade could have prepared me for what came next — our own family’s loss and confrontation with bereavement.
In December 2023, two months into the war, amidst the intensity of my work at JDC and supporting my own community, tragedy struck in my own life. My son Tal, who was fighting in Gaza, was wounded, and ten days later, my nephewOmri Shwartz was killed in action in Gaza.
Our Omri served in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit and fell in battle while a cadet in Officer School (Bahad 1). Before his service, he spent a year of service at Be’eri, a kibbutz which was hit very hard on October 7; for him, this was the “Battle for Be’eri.” Since his youth, he was deeply connected to social action and a love for the land.
In honor of Omri’s memory, I conceived a program in early 2024 — a project that gives bereaved families the chance to launch initiatives that help them, and so many others, commemorate those they’ve lost. At the time, many therapeutic responses were available for those dealing with grief. However, my program wasn’t founded as a clinical intervention, but as a platform for families to act from within and alongside their pain — to honor their loved ones through creation and giving.
“Shikma” — Resilience in the Face of Loss
My journey began when I approached Hackaveret — the JDC and National Security Funds’ social entrepreneurship and innovation hub in Lod — with an initial concept for the program. Early on, we formed a strategic partnership connection with the UJA-Federation of New York as well.
Through a professional dialogue with the Hackaveret team, we identified the need to develop a unique model for bereaved families wishing to create high-impact social commemoration. This model is based on the hub’s existing “Accelerator Program,” which gives people the expertise and guidance to launch social initiatives and scale them up nationally.
Together with the team at Hackaveret, led by Aviya Asher and Avital Elfant Filler, and alongside Jaffa Ben-Walid, director of the Nursing Care Fund at the National Insurance Funds, we created the first stage of development. Under the umbrella of Hackaveret, in partnership with UJA-Federation of New York, the National Insurance Funds, and JDC-Israel, our program was launched.
We recruited a team of dedicated professionals who worked tirelessly under the shadow of war and reserve duty and named our program “Shikma,” Hebrew for “sycamore.” The sycamore tree, known for its resilience in harsh climates and poor soil, represents the fortitude required to cope with loss.
In the Bible, the prophet Amos refers to the sycamore fruit as something that must be “pierced” or “wounded” to ripen. We believe that through the pain created by the death of a loved one, the Shikma program allows us to “ripen” (heal) through meaningful social commemoration.
The Model: From Roots to Fruit — Creating Life After Life
Shikma provides professional guidance and emotional support to bereaved families, who see themselves as entrepreneurs and wish to establish a social enterprise in memory of their loved ones. Its goal is to shape a personal-social memory of those they’ve lost and even to create innovative solutions to social challenges in Israel.
The uniqueness of Shikma lies in the fact that all participants are bereaved family members dealing with fresh, traumatic loss. While it is not a therapy program, bereavement is a part of every meeting. By inviting would-be entrepreneurs to transform their loss into social change, the program embodies the understanding that life after loss simultaneously involves the past (memory) and the present/future (practice and growth).
Participants move between “life-oriented work”— advancing the initiative — and “grief-oriented work” — shaping the commemorative narrative.
The process develops like a tree itself:
- Roots (Connection & Impact): Clarifying the connection between personal meaning, social impact, and the memory of the loved one.
- Trunk (Infrastructure): Strengthening the initiative’s core values and building a social-business model.
- Branches (Implementation): Building work plans and identifying funding opportunities.
- Fruit (Presence): Finalizing the development and applying for implementation grants.
In Shikma meetings, a “Content Process” group is formed. It provides knowledge and skills while allowing for personal growth. It was incredible to see the connections formed between families. One family shared that this was the first event they’d left the house for since their loss. Another family wrote that the initiative they built is “the life that remains after life.”
My program was founded as a chance for families to honor their loved ones through creation and giving.
As for Omri’s parents, Tomer and Shirley, they applied and were accepted into Shikma with an initiative conceived in his memory — The Chavurah, Hebrew for “the group”. It is a place where the bereaved can find support and belonging, providing a space to process grief through two-day retreats and social action. The values of The Chavurah are based on my nephew Omri’s unique character: simplicity and seriousness, enjoyment and excellence, quiet leadership, and initiative.
Looking Toward the Future
The first cohort of Shikma participants has graduated, with 12 commemorative initiatives in various stages of development. As of January 2026, the second cohort will start their journey with us. Despite the pain of its ongoing necessity — families are still losing loved ones to war — we move forward to expand this vital work.
I wish to thank Osnat Yaron, Hackaveret’s director, for her willingness to develop Shikma, and Shlomi Cohen, CEO of Ashalim, and Roni Lior, deputy CEO, for supporting this professional vision. We are currently developing the next stage of the project with the help of the Department of Families, Commemoration, and Heritage at the Ministry of Defense.
The Shikma program is itself a commemoration of three beloved individuals we lost:Barak Ben-Walid z”l, son of Jaffa Ben-Walid, killed in Gaza on January 22, 2024; Ezra Asher z”l, brother of Aviya Asher, killed in South Lebanon on May 24, 1993; and Omri Shwartz z”l, my own nephew, killed in Gaza on December 20, 2023.
May their memory be a blessing — and may we continue this sacred work alongside JDC.
Rotem Shwartz Borovich serves as partnerships manager at Ashalim, the JDC-Israel division focusing on children and youth at risk. She lives in Sde Yoav, a kibbutz in southern Israel.
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