There is a direct correlation between the ability to laugh and the degree of mental resilience. In the first few days after October 7, even the most cynical people I know couldn't laugh. About a week after the worst, the desire to laugh sprouted again and I began to feel that amusing posts were able to make things easier, if only for a few seconds.
I searched Facebook and WhatsApp for a group that concentrates content with the potential for laughter, and I admit that I was a little embarrassed to ask people if they had heard of such a group. I felt guilty for looking to laugh. Now, guilt is a very familiar feeling to me, or as the psychologist puts it: "You are almost born guilty."
Now I know that guilt doesn't help anyone. Not to me, not to the people I love, not to those whose wall-bashing I am responsible for, and certainly my guilt is not contributing to the war effort. When guilt shifts aside for a moment, the realization that seeking momentary relief through a smile and even laughter is not only human, but survivalist.
Humor is often known to be a coping mechanism during stress, and it also has positive side effects: it helps lift low morale and releases stress hormones like cortisol. Humor is also a critical psychological defense mechanism, since it generates a connection between those who share the same difficult experiences. The evidence of humor's use in historical conflicts highlights its enduring power as a tool for resilience and resistance in the face of adversity.
When I couldn't find a group that focused on satire and humor about the situation, I just opened one. I sent a message to friends near and far on WhatsApp: "To get some air, any group member is welcome to paste links or pictures of the funny things about the situation right now. Just just funny stuff! No digs and no discussions and opinions about the situation! Thank you!"
There was a moment when I was afraid they would write to me that I was rude and detached, but the truth is that it didn't happen. There were those who entered and left the group after a while. One of the first messages sent in the group was Yossi's: "Within one day, this group has become one of only three civilian groups I enter, and that's to catch up and laugh." Then Ilana added: "I read the posts from the group to my parents and they are all smiling for the first time in 12 days."
Right now the group is 200 people, and when I feel like my brain can no longer think or contain reality, I just scroll through the group instead of scrolling through networks or news sites. It gives some air to everyone, a support group not in the therapeutic sense of the word. Humor and laughter are part of coping and self-rehabilitation.
One of the reasons I wanted to write this column is to recommend that you start such a WhatsApp group with your contacts. It helps, it's not just me who thinks so. I shared with the group that I was writing a column about our group, called Comic Interlude, so that we could all feel that we were not alone.
In this column, the one you're reading right now, I've embedded some of the group's fellowships so that you can get a glimpse into the personal experiences of others in the complex situation we live in. Their stage.
A corner of liberation
Talia, a mother of two, wrote: "I usually look at the end of the day, I still don't have the patience for content that has nothing to do with the situation, so it serves just like the name of the group – a break and an attempt to put some other energy in before bed. I don't think most of them really make me laugh, but there are enough pearls worth scrolling for.
"There is value for me in what doesn't make me laugh, but allows me a glimpse into another layer of what people go through that is not accessible to me elsewhere. I don't feel guilty at all, because I understand the importance of humor and laughter in extreme situations and I'm really amazed by people's creativity. It amazes me to see that you invited me to the team just ten days ago, it feels like at least two months."
Dina, a mother of two who practices therapy, wrote: "Since October 7, I've been in a lot of groups, all of which have content related to the situation. Usually invitations to webinars and training in the field of trauma treatment. Of course, I am a therapist and this is my world. In this group only respite, tension release, approval and legitimacy to turn pain into humor. It helped me, because all my life humor has been an anchor for me. Even in the darkest moments. It helped me because I felt like I wasn't alone... It helped me because for moments I was able to replace painful, sad, angry thoughts with thoughts of the next joke. A kind of therapeutic method of directing attention to a more beneficial action."
Tina wrote: "My sister put me in a group, which also made sure very quickly to help me with the trauma we were experiencing. I am a midwife, delivery room supervisor, mother of three amazing boys, living in Ashkelon (and now a refugee in our country), and on the first day of the war a missile fell in my house. A significant part of my team lives near the Gaza Strip and we went through difficult days locating and reorganizing the team, exiting the primary market, and especially maintaining a routine when the traumas in both the hospital and the delivery room are routinely present and create an existential threat to us. All I had to do was function on an automaton in order to continue creating a routine.
"As a medical team, we have learned in recent years that cynicism and laughter are the most significant tools that enable us to cope with daily difficulties. The first few times I was able to really smile were from the tearful posts in the group. Of course, I pass them on to midwives, doctors, and just friends who are mentally broken, who are constantly experiencing a period of threat to their lives and homes. In the end, part of the routine, even if it is a difficult and tiring war routine and especially sad and threatening, is to use the tools of laughter and cynicism."
Maayan wrote: "From the moment I joined, the group became a little corner of liberation. I find it funny that the nonsense and humor about the failed leadership. The government in Israel has been a source of anger and pain since its inception, and now we have reached a new height. What is left to do? Laugh. It's emotionally liberating. Jokes about Hamas also lighten the harsh feelings. I'm less attached to humor about Gazans and harming Palestinian civilians."
Anat wrote: "Unlike all the groups where stories of horrors and difficult events are sent, now there is a group that makes me smile, laugh at the situation and feel better, even if it's for one small moment. One moment at a time, in the end it heals the heart. The comic interlude really does the trick. When I have a hole in my heart or I feel down, I open the group, go through all the messages sent there and it really helps to feel a little better."
Catch-22
Even in the most difficult historical events that humanity has experienced, the world of satire and humor was not absent - both to entertain and to convey political and social messages. Not everyone connects to black humor, there are those who think that there are things that should not be laughed at. On the other hand, black humor is also considered an effective way to deal even slightly with unbearable pain.
Among soldiers, for example, not only in Israel but in the armies of the entire world, black humor is used to deal with the horrors of war. Catch-22, for example, perhaps one of the most famous war books in history, is full of fine black humor. Comic elements that emphasize the irrationality or futility of life help many people to try to digest what is indigestible and also to touch what is usually considered taboo.
I think that right now, more than ever, the option to laugh at something, even once a day, should be a doctor's prescription for all citizens of Israel.
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