The Right for Self-Healing: Personal and National

“In these challenging times, the pursuit of healing—both personal and collective—is not just a privilege, but a birthright.” 

So tells me my good friend and healer, Tamar.

I know Tamar for about 20 years now. We’re both Israelis living in the Netherlands. Tamar Starobinetz, known as Robin Star (52), came here to work as a security agent for ELAL. She stayed, and studied art at the Rietveld Academy. She fell in love with a Dutchman, yet some years ago, they separated amicably, and they raise together their two children.

This is but the tip of the iceberg of Tamar.

During her army service in Israel, she was an officer lieutenant, commanding a troop of male soldiers.

When I met her in the Netherlands, she was focusing on her new career as a stand-up comedian. She said that finding the humor in her past and present life was the best medicine for her emotional struggles. Back in 2011, she was one of the first women to venture on stage as a stand-up comedian, and since then, she’s helping and advising other women-artists on this route, while giving team-building lectures for various corparations that are going trough rough times.

While performing successfully on a number of stages in Europe, Tamar developed her unique way of helping people to overcome traumas and became a certified Trauma Therapist and Life Coach. (I know from my own experience how good she is in that!) 

Two weeks before October 7, she gave her last show in Rotterdam. Since then, Tamar volunteered to give lectures to communities in Israel and the Netherlands, sharing urgent knowledge about Trauma Therapy, using humor to foster understanding and unity.

Even before October 7th, Tamar would travel to Israel regularly, volunteering to help post-traumatic soldiers. Sadly, her help is needed now even more over there, and she gives it, wholeheartedly, constantly, in live and on-line sessions. 

We are lucky that there is a collaboration between Tamar and Het Seminarium in Amsterdam. In November there will be four weekly sessions titled “The Right for Self-Healing: Personal and National,” in which Tamar invites participants to explore the deep connections between trauma, humor, and resilience. She will talk about her healing technics, which incorporate the wisdom of Maimonides, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, and others. During those four sessions, she will also give demonstrations and workshops, delving into practical methods for healing, both as individuals and as a nation.

More on the course of Tamar at Het Seminarium 

cover: Tamar Robin Star as stand-up comedian