In May, we mark both Mental Health Awareness Month and Jewish American Heritage Month. Together, they ask not only who we are as a community, but how we care for one another, especially in moments that test us.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, Jewish mental health has moved to the forefront of communal conversation. Organizations, institutions and leaders have responded with urgency and care, expanding programming, creating spaces for connection and encouraging open dialogue around fear, grief and identity.

Adobe Stock

These efforts matter. They reflect a community that takes care seriously. For years, Jewish communal organizations have invested in mental health support, building programs, services and systems that have helped many access care.

But this moment also reveals something more complex: much of our existing infrastructure, while deeply valuable, was not built for the scale and specificity of need that has emerged post-Oct. 7.

The nature of what people are carrying has shifted. In a recent survey conducted by Gesher Community Care of 400 Jewish teens and college students, nearly 75% reported experiencing antisemitism since 10/7. For many, these are not isolated incidents but ongoing experiences that shape identity, safety and belonging and must be understood as part of the clinical picture when providing care.

Across the country, individuals are navigating not only anxiety or depression, but identity destabilization, chronic stress and trauma connected to antisemitism in ways that feel immediate and ongoing. What many are seeking is not just a place to talk, but sustained, individualized care with clinicians who understand these experiences.

And too often, that care is difficult to access.

Therapy remains financially out of reach for many. Finding a provider who is both clinically strong and culturally attuned to Jewish identity and antisemitism-related stress is inconsistent. In moments of urgency, people are left navigating a fragmented system, one that was not built to reliably connect them to the kind of care they now need.

This is not a failure of commitment. It is a mismatch between infrastructure and moment.

We have strong institutions, dedicated professionals and a growing willingness to engage with mental health openly. But awareness and programming, while essential, are not enough on their own. Without clear, supported pathways into therapy, many individuals are left without next steps once those initial points of contact end.

If we are serious about meeting this moment, the next phase of our response must focus on access.

That means building systems that connect people directly to licensed, culturally competent therapists, quickly, affordably and with intention. It means reducing financial barriers so that care is not limited to those who can navigate or afford it. And it means investing in clinicians themselves, ensuring they are trained to understand the evolving realities shaping Jewish mental health today.

This kind of infrastructure is already beginning to take shape.

At Gesher Community Care, we have focused on building direct pathways into care by connecting individuals to a national network of vetted, licensed therapists trained in culturally responsive and trauma-informed care, while subsidizing treatment to make it accessible. Our model was built in response to this moment, designed to meet the growing demand for care that is both clinically sound and culturally grounded.

What we are seeing is clear: when access is streamlined and affordability is addressed, individuals who might otherwise fall through the cracks are able to engage in meaningful, ongoing support.

Gesher is one model, but it reflects a broader shift that is needed across the field. From conversation to connection, from awareness to access, from response to infrastructure.

The Jewish community has shown that it can mobilize in moments of crisis. The opportunity now is to translate that urgency into systems that endure. Systems that ensure that when someone reaches out for help, there is a clear and supported path to receiving it.

Awareness opened the door. This moment calls on us to build what comes next.

Jessica Zmood is a New York state licensed clinical psychologist who has been in private practice since 2010. In the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks, Zmood and a colleague, Shelly Steinwurtzel, co-founded Gesher Community Care, a national referral network dedicated to ensuring that the Jewish community has access to safe, culturally responsive and subsidized mental health care.