with Gila Rockman of the Ariel Center for Evacuated Children and Jerusalem Civil Command Center

Join Rabbi Londy and members of our Israel Solidarity trip in welcoming Gila Rockman, who will be sharing the story of Israeli citizens’ response to October 7th. 

Gila co founded the JCCC (Jerusalem Civil Command Center) after the Oct. 7 attack to provide logistical, fiscal, and physical support for affected families. She lead the fundraising team and managed to raise 15 million shekel to help soldiers and civilians with the immediate needs of the war.

Now, with allocated land from the Israeli Government, Gila is moving on to her next endeavor, The Ariel Center, a state-of-the-art healing center for children, teens, young adults and soldiers traumatized by the attack.

The day after is now. Gila's mission is healing our traumatized nation and empowering our soldiers and civilians, helping them strengthen their resilience and preventing PTSD. 

The Ariel Center will be built in memory of Gila's brother - Ariel Goldsmith, who died tragically in 2020.
Ariel lived with the belief that everyone has the ability to overcome their hardships with the skills they already have within them, and The Ariel Center will emulate these values Ariel lived by.

Lunch will be provided and sponsored by the Resnick Fund.

Gila Rockman is the director of the Department of Service and Citizenship at Shalem College. In this role, she has designed and led missions to California and Washington for the Koret Jewish Peoplehood Project for the last six years. At Shalem College, Gila develops and leads the mandatory freshman course “Challenges in Israeli Society,” an experiential introduction to hot-button issues in Israeli society. In addition, Gila facilitates the college’s communal learning programs, student activism, volunteer initiatives, and extracurricular activities. Alongside her work for Shalem, Gila is active in numerous Israeli organizations that support youth at risk and agunot. She is the co-founder of Run4Afikim – the world’s longest annual charity run from Jerusalem to Eilat. She also founded “Malachei Ariel,” The Ariel Center, an initiative to develop a leading healing and empowerment center for soldiers and civilians in memory of her brother Ariel, located in Kiryat Malachi. At the outbreak of the Iron Swords War, Gila and several partners launched the Jerusalem Civilian Command Center (JCCC), an emergency wartime coalition of seven NGOs that formed in order to meet Israel’s urgent civilian and military needs. In addition to being one of the leaders guiding JCCC’s strategic direction, Gila also oversees the group’s fundraising and allocations teams. Previously, Gila spent eight years as the Director of Educational Programs in Israel for Yeshiva University and holds a master’s in Jewish communal leadership.