#18 - Michael Dickson, Exec. Dir. of StandWithUs Israel & Naomi Baum, Ph.D., authors of ‘ISResilience – What Israelis Can Teach the World‪’‬ Jewanced

Are the news and the weight of the world getting you down? Got a case of the grumps? Join us this week on Jewanced as we sit down for a super optimistic conversation with Michael Dickson, Executive Director of StandWithUs Israel and Dr. Naomi Baum, a pioneering psychologist in the field of resilience research and treatment, together the authors of the new book, ‘ISResilience – What Israelis Can Teach the World.’
From well-known leaders making life-and-death decisions to ordinary people who have overcome incredible loss to do inspirational things, meet the Israelis who thrive against all odds and learn how you can too. 
ISResilience is a study of a nation that has had to collectively and individually hang tough like no other country on earth. Imbued in Israel’s DNA is the understanding that survival isn’t optional – it’s a necessity. Any Israeli could have given testimony for this book. Israelis routinely carry on with their day-to-day lives not just when things are calm and peaceful but when rockets are launched at them, during official conflicts and wars and unofficial waves of gruesome terrorism. And they don’t just survive – they thrive. 
Each chapter of this book profiles a diverse, compelling Israeli personality – some famous, some not, but all exceptional – and traces the characteristic that unites them all. The life lessons extrapolated from these interviewees can teach every one of us to be stronger people. Written by a communications expert and Israel analyst together with a pioneering psychologist in the field of resilience research and treatment, ISResilience brings today’s most in-demand skill to life and shows how we all can benefit from the trait embodied by the nation once admired by Princess Diana as “a plucky little country.”
Michael Dickson is Executive Director of StandWithUs in Israel, an international educational nonprofit dedicated to supporting Israel and fighting antisemitism around the world. Michael is a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Communication of Bar-Ilan University. In 2016, he was listed as the fourteenth most influential Jew on Twitter. He is the 2019 winner of the Bonei Zion Prize and in 2020, he was listed on the Global Jewish 100. He lives in Ra’anana, Israel with his wife and five children.
Naomi L. Baum, PhD, consults and facilitates workshops on resilience building in Israel and worldwide. She created the Building Resilience Intervention (BRI), an evidence-based resilience model that has been applied widely in Israel and abroad. She was Director of the Resilience Unit at Metiv – The Israel Psychotrauma Center and co-directed the International Course in Trauma and Resilience in cooperation with the Rothberg School of the Hebrew University. She is the author of several previous books. She lives in Efrat, Israel with her husband, and is mother of seven, and grandmother of twenty.
Links:
ISResilience.com
Buy your copy of ISResilience TODAY on Amazon
Read Michael Dickson’s personal blog – featuring articles and video appearances about Israel, Antisemitism, Jewish issues, and public diplomacy at michaeldickson.org
StandWithUs.com
DONATE to StandWithUs
Read Naomi L. Baum, PhD.’s personal blog, learn about her workshops and consultation services, and access...