Eli Butner talks about his brother's struggling mental illness Israel today

Tomorrow (Tuesday) the Israel Mental Resilience Conference will be held in Zappa Midtown Tel Aviv under the name "Mental Account".

From 9:00 to 16:00, there will be panels that will deal with the issue of growing burnout in the mental resilience of adolescents in dealing with distress, anxiety, social isolation and depression.

The conference will be addressed by Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, Minister of Culture and Sports Hili Trooper, Judoka Peter Plachik and more.

On the occasion of the conference, musician Eli Butner wrote an exciting column about his older, mentally handicapped brother who lives in a rehabilitation hostel:

"I was 16 when I left my kibbutz, Ein Carmel, to wait for a bus to take me to the hospital. 'Ofer is hospitalized in a serious condition,' my mother informed me. Ofer is my older and beloved brother, only six years older than me, but sometimes light years away.

"While I was waiting for the bus to come, so that I could finally get to my brother in the hospital, my heart once beat hard and painful and hard thoughts ran through my head. A guy who spoke English like in the movies. Such an Ofer. And if until that day I was so proud to be Ofer's brother, to stand a little in his shadow, now, with his hospitalization, his shadow became big and black and unfamiliar, and inside me the lines were born: "You are white, I am black .

I'm dark, you are in the light ... "(from the song" Equal ").

Ili Butner (on the right) and his brother Ofer as children, Photo: Matanach The family album

"Leap in time. Ofer returns home. Maybe just for a visit, maybe for a short time. I don't remember. Or maybe I pushed. In the evening in the kibbutz. And I wonder if one day he will return, that Ofer, if one day we will return and play together, if like any big brother he will be there when I need him, if we become equal. And another line is written: "And maybe one day we will become equal.

You will be my stream and I will give you days ... "

"And maybe. But the realization that 'maybe not' permeates and hurts me from within. And not just me. My younger brother Yotam, my mother, my friends. Because maybe not.

"Leaping in time. The years have passed, I am growing up. Leaving behind the kibbutz, but not my brother. Writing and composing songs and deciding to return to the same day with the same line at the same bus stop. And with the fluency I can not stop, I complete the lyrics of the song And in front of the black letters on the white page I'm freezing. Maybe it's too revealing? Maybe it's too hurt?

"Ofer, I wrote a song about you," I tell him, and in his eyes I see a spark that ignites. 'A song about you and me,' and he listens. Weak: 'Is it okay for people to hear this song?'

He smiles at me, his new-old Ofer smile, and says yes. That he will be happy. That he wants people to know. And behold, I am proud of my brother again.

"Every time a class sings 'Equal', when it's played on TV shows or year - end shows - I'm grateful. I'm thankful that the message keeps rolling, I'm thankful for the tolerance learned through the songs, and I'm thankful for my brother, Ofer.

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