Our Team
We, the team of the Breaking Waves association, have set ourselves the task of helping to relieve the distress of the tens of thousands of injured people among Israeli soldiers. This is in addition to the very large number of injured civilians, for whom every effort is being made, as we are doing today.
Our overarching goal is sustained rehabilitation, reducing the incidence of post-traumatic stress and significantly lowering the likelihood that it will surface in the future. As a state and as a society, we carry a moral obligation that goes beyond simply being there for these people. We are obliged to do everything possible to ease their engagement with the world outside, and to help each of them return to the fullest daily functioning that their individual circumstances allow.
At present, however, most of those affected are not receiving what the state owes them. Over half a year of intensive work since 7 October, we prepared 41 farms and resilience centres across the country, dedicated to processing trauma and rehabilitating people living with psychological injury; about ten of them are already operating. This was done in coordination with the Israeli Disabled Veterans Organization and with initial support from the Ministry of Defence. In the course of that work we learned that Ministry policy had reverted to its earlier form: because of budget constraints, some 80 percent of those discharged on psychological grounds do not receive meaningful treatment.
This is where we, and you, come in.
Our maritime work closely resembles, both in character and in the reasoning behind it, an established practice among large companies worldwide.
Those companies understand that long-term success depends not only on business strategy but also on shaping and training the next generation of leaders and managers. They take their management teams out on a large yacht in order to train and consolidate them, to develop leadership, to raise motivation, to improve teamwork and to practise problem-solving in an unusual and demanding environment.
Working aboard a therapeutic boat is an exceptional way to give a group the chance to go through experiences that lead to personal and professional growth, and to make the group more effective and more united. From there, with the help and accompaniment of mentors and therapists, each person can carry what they learned from meeting the challenges of a voyage back into their own life.
The Skipper-Mentor Team
The activity is accompanied by teams of skippers who serve as mentors in the participants’ lives. They train the members of the group and pass on sailing and seamanship skills, while providing moral support and strengthening the group as a whole. All of the activity takes place under the ongoing supervision of professional clinical staff, with research and real-time monitoring. The purpose is to identify the treatment approach best suited to preventing the development of post-traumatic stress among those affected, and to improve our own working process where needed.
Gilad Feldman
Captain, Breaking Waves
Chief skipper and the person responsible for the therapists’ boat. He trains and accompanies the volunteer skippers in its use, and is also responsible for its technical side. He serves as director of the Sdot Yam Sailing Club and of the Rachaf association, and independently runs a partnership importing and distributing marine infrastructure.
Uri Zinger
Aged 52, lives in Kfar Yona. A project manager in the digital sector. He grew up in the Sea Scouts in Haifa, the Israeli youth movement that trains young people in seamanship, and has held a skipper’s licence since the age of 18. He has captained a yacht for Yamtov, an association working with people living with post-traumatic stress, and sails for his own pleasure in Israel and abroad. He is a former fighter pilot.
Udi Lerer
Owner of a company specialising in electrical engineering. He was discharged from the Israeli Navy with the rank of major. In his youth he instructed and coordinated activity at the Tel Aviv Sea Scouts. He holds commercial, international and tugboat licences.
Guy Rubinstein
59, married with three children. Works in renewable energy. Holds a Class 30 skipper’s licence, valid up to 30 nautical miles from shore, and an international licence.
Uri Nadler
Holds a Class 60 international skipper’s licence, valid up to 60 nautical miles from shore. He grew up in the Herzliya Sea Scouts and is also a windsurfer. A businessman and serial entrepreneur, he founded Walla Shops and today serves as chief executive of the research company iPanel, which works in partnership with an American real estate fund. He is a former fighter pilot.
Eran (Rani) Lev
Specialises in private investment and in international mergers and acquisitions. He is co-founder, general counsel and founding legal authority of UBQ Materials. He is also a Boeing 787 captain with El Al. A member of the association and its representative on the board of directors.
Andy Kay
President of OurCrowd. He formerly served as a lead officer in Shayetet 13, the Israeli Navy’s special forces unit, and completed a distinguished combat career. A senior banker who worked for many years in the United States, China, England and Israel. A member of the association.
Colonel (res.) Moshe Zinger
Currently chairman of the national organisation of the Israeli Sea Scouts and a pilot in the Israeli Air Force. Moshe has many years of maritime experience and an intimate familiarity with the sea. A member of the association and the members’ representative on its audit committee.
Yair Osman
Married to Tal and father to Roi, 27, Noga, 22, and Gali, 19, all of them lovers of the sea and of sailing. He heads the construction organisation at Intel Israel and holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in business administration. He gained his maritime experience in the Sea Scouts, where he was a member from the age of 14 to 19, accumulating many hours at sea on a wide range of boats. He holds a Class 60 skipper’s licence.
Oded Ayalon
Married to Tami and father to Gal, Roni and Yuval. A graduate of the Israeli Navy’s officers’ course, he served as an officer in the missile boat flotilla. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s in business administration, and manages a development group at HP Indigo. He holds Class 30, Class 60 and commercial skipper’s licences.
Yarden Ackerman
Aged 29, deputy manager of Herzliya Marina and an instructor in sailing, surfing and diving. He holds a bachelor’s degree in behavioural sciences.
Eyal Amit
Eyal’s love of sailing began in his teens, as a member of the Jaffa Sea Scouts. Over the years he moved into senior positions in the technology industry, but he never set aside his attachment to the sea. Today he holds a Class 60 skipper’s licence, belongs to the Derech HaYam sailing club, and charters a yacht abroad at least twice a year to sail with his family. He is still planning his first ocean crossing.
Moshe Isserles
Married with six children, lives in Nehusha in the Ela Valley, and works as a psychiatrist. He has been connected to the sea from an early age and served in the Israeli Navy, as have three of his daughters, who overtook him along the way. He has held a Class 30 skipper’s licence since 2023.Married with six children, lives in Nehusha in the Ela Valley, and works as a psychiatrist. He has been connected to the sea from an early age and served in the Israeli Navy, as have three of his daughters, who overtook him along the way. He has held a Class 30 skipper’s licence since 2023.
Dorit Solsi Applebaum
She began her life at sea at the age of five, sailing dinghies. She has held a skipper’s licence since 2003 and a commercial licence since 2015, with extensive experience in Israel and abroad both as crew and as lead skipper.
A former competitive swimmer, she is today an open-water swimmer, a surfer, a mountain biker and a triathlete of 22 years’ standing, including Israeli championship titles. She has coached swimming and triathlon for many years, and for the past two years has worked with people living with mental health conditions and with PTSD.
Lior Toubol
Aged 54, married with four children. A graduate of the Mevo’ot Yam maritime school and a highly experienced international skipper. He manages the Nitzanim and Zikim beaches and is a partner in the Surf Shack surf club. He instructs surfing and stand-up paddling and is a three-star divemaster.
Once a tank crewman, always a tank crewman.
Mali Raveh
Born in 1974 and raised in the Sea Scouts. During her military service she served as a tugboat sailor and as an instructor in the Navy’s officers’ course. She has run a clinic in homeopathy and Focusing for the past 25 years.
Over the last two years she has volunteered with Etgarim, an association that runs outdoor and sporting activity for people with disabilities, working with groups of people living with mental health conditions. The sea is a significant part of her life. She holds a Class 40 skipper’s licence.
Yael Eisman
An occupational therapist and hydrotherapist by profession. For the past five years she has worked as a skipper and as a facilitator of process-oriented groups through dinghy sailing, with the Etgarim association.
Her maritime life began in childhood in the Sea Scouts and continued into adulthood, sailing in Israel and around the world. She has since managed to bring her two loves together, therapy and the sea, in the belief that there is no better remedy than the sea and that the connection between the two is natural and exact.
Tamir Tal
Married to Karin and father to Yuval and Ido.
He was already breaking waves as a chief officer in the Israeli Navy and aboard the research vessel Mediterranean Explorer. Since then he has initiated and led voyages of private yachts and flotillas across the Mediterranean, and he teaches those who dream of doing it themselves how to do so with full confidence.
Uri Argaman
Married with three children, holds a Class 60 skipper’s licence. A retired assistant commissioner from the forensic science division of the Israel Police, he combines wide command experience with a love of the sea and of sport; he played water polo for the Israeli national team and remains active in the game today. He works with participants to rebuild a sense of control, capability and trust through the challenges of sailing and of leadership on the open sea.
Israel Afflalo
My life at sea began in the Haifa Sea Scouts. After two decades away I came back to the open blue through kayaking, until I met the world of sail. Today I instruct at Derech HaYam Herzliya, lead flotillas around the world and volunteer with the maritime police and with sailing initiatives, sailing wherever the wind leads.
Alexander Argov
A serial entrepreneur and an instructor of skippers, with seven years of teaching experience and fifty years of life at sea. He develops solutions that combine artificial intelligence with maritime instruction, from smart applications to advanced training and safety systems.
צוות המטפלים
בסירה אחת
דניאל תמיר
“אני דניאל תמיר, עובד סוציאלי (M.S.W.) ומטפל באמצעות שייט, מפליג בים מזה כ-30 שנה.
כנער, גדלתי והתחנכתי בתנועת צופי ים כחניך, מדריך ורכז. בהמשך, התגייסתי לקורס חובלים ושירתי כמפקד ספינה בחיל הים ומפקד שלב בקורס חובלים. לאחר השחרור אימנתי ילדים בתחום השייט, וריכזתי תוכניות מניעה לנוער בסיכון באמצעות הים. כמילואימניק של חיל הים, בניתי תוכניות חוסן לקורס חובלים, וכיום פסיכולוג בגיבושים.”
ניסיון מקצועי: “הקמתי את מרכז הטיפול – ‘בסירה אחת’ – טיפול בילדים, מתבגרים ומבוגרים דרך הים, מתוך הבנה שהים עם עוצמותיו, קסמו וכוחותיו המיוחדים מאפשר לנו לגדול בתוכו, לפגוש את עצמנו וללמוד על החיים, ונותן לנו להיות מי שאנחנו, ממש כמו בבית”.
במסגרת עמותת “שוברים גלים” מטפל ומרכז את הטיפול בשיקום ומניעת נפגעי טראומה ו-PTSD.”
"הים בשבילי הוא בית, מקום אליו אתה שייך ולוקח איתך לכל מקום."
אביגיל שמול
“אני אביגיל שמול, עובדת סוציאלית ומטפלת באמצעות שייט (B.S.W.) וסקיפרית.”
ניסיון מקצועי: “מנחת קבוצות בעמותת ‘אתגרים’ למתמודדי נפש והוריהם, מנחת קבוצות לנערים בסיכון ונערים על הרצף ומדריכת הורים ומטפלת קבוצתית.”
בצבא שירתי כחיילת וקצינה במודיעין. חברת הצוות הטיפולי ‘בסירה אחת’ – עמותת “שוברים גלים”. מפליגה במפרשיות וסירות מנוע, חותרת בסאפ ובקייקים.”
"הים מהווה, עבורי, מרחב לנשימה, זרימה והתרחבות, הוא משתנה כל הזמן, וגם אני."
מאיה כהנא סנדר
“אני מאיה כהנא סנדר, מנחת קבוצות ימית (M.A) ובוגרת תואר ראשון במדעי הים (B.A).”
ניסיון מקצועי: הנחיית קבוצות משנת 2017, דרך ליווי חניכים בשנת שירות, קבוצות ספורט לנערות, וכן מדריכה ימית סביבתית בעמותת Eco-Ocean.
מרכזת את תחום הקבוצות במרכז הטיפול ‘בסירה אחת’ – עמותת “שוברים גלים”, מנחה ראשית של סדנאות חוסן למשטרת ישראל, קבוצות לעיבוד חוויות לחימה למילואימניקים, קבוצות למתמודדים עם אבל ושכול, סקיפרית ביאכטות ברחבי העולם, צוללנית – Dive master – גולשת גלים וסאפ וכדורגלנית עבר, חובשת ימית בקורס חובלים וחיה את הים מגיל ינקות.”
"הים בשבילי הוא חיבור לילדה שבתוכי, מלאה בסקרנות, חופש, אושר ובתנועה מתמדת."
אלעד שאמי
“אני אלעד שאמי, עובד סוציאלי משנת 2009. בעל תואר ראשון (B.S.W.) ממכללת תל חי ותואר שני (M.S.W.) מאוניברסיטת חיפה, בהתמחות קלינית בקרב ילדים ונוערים.
אני בעל ניסיון בעבודה עם חיילי סדיר ומילואים במשל שנים רבות במסגרת עבודתי הקודמת בתור קצין בריאות נפש בצה”ל, שבה גם טיפלתי בטראומה ופוסט־טראומה. בשנים האחרונות אני משלב בין העבודה הטיפולית לחיבור לים, ומגלה את הפוטנציאל השיקומי העצום הטמון בכך.
במסגרת העבודה כמטפל ב’סירה אחת’, אני פוגש ילדים, נוער ומבוגרים צעירים במרחב הימי, הכולל: שייט, גלישה צלילה, ועוד.
אני מאמין בקשר אישי, אנושי ואכפתי ובחיבור לאדם לטבע ולים.”
"הים הוא מרחב להעז בו, לפגוש את עצמך ובו יש פוטנציאל עצום לריפוי וצמיחה"
דניאל ספנסר
“אני דניאל ספנסר, עובד סוציאלי (M.S.W.) ומטפל באמצעות הים.
גדלתי בים של חוף הכרמל ומגיל צעיר נחשפתי לכוחותיו המופלאים.
שירתי בתור לוחם בשייטת 13, וגיליתי את המרחב התת־מימי לרוחבו ולעומקו. כיום, בעל ניסיון רב בגלישת גלים, גלישת רוח, מפרשיות, קייט, סאפ, צלילה חופשית וצלילת מכשירים.
אחד ממקימי פרויקט ׳לב-ים׳, המשלב ומנגיש ספורט ימי לילדים עם צרכים מיוחדים ומשפחותיהם.
בעבר שימשתי מדריך מוביל בעמותת ׳הגל שלי׳, גלישת גלים ככלי להעצמה אישית.
כיום, מטפל בפרטני ובקבוצות בילדים, נוער, הורים ומבוגרים, במסגרת ‘בסירה אחת’, וכן מנחה סדנאות חוסן לכוחות הביטחון.”
"הים הוא מראה לעצמי, מקור להשראה ונחמה כאחד, מרחב גדילה אין־סופי"