A Sanctuary for Healing
📍Located in Northern Israel
What was once a scrapyard is now sacred ground for healing.
Matanya Farm is a powerful symbol of transformation—from rubble to renewal, from pain to purpose. Nestled in the hills of northern Israel, this land has been passed down through generations of family. While others saw wreckage, founder Sendi Ben-Zaken saw the opportunity to create something life-changing.
With the help of youth groups, volunteers, and individuals with special needs, the land was cleared piece by piece, heart by heart. Israel Friends was the first to believe in the vision, helping bring to life one of Israel’s most unique nature-based trauma recovery centers.
"It’s more than a farm — it’s a lifeline."
Today, Matanya Farm is a living, breathing ecosystem of hope.
Veterans, reservists, soldier families, and trauma survivors come here to reconnect with the land, and with themselves.
Agricultural therapy
Participants engage in hands-on farming to reconnect with the land, reduce stress, and restore a sense of purpose through nature.
Community building
Through shared work and group activities, individuals form strong bonds and a supportive network for healing and growth.
Animal Therapy
Caring for animals builds connection, responsibility, and emotional healing. Through daily routines and gentle interaction, participants regain trust and a sense of stability.
Food cultivation and donation
Farm-grown produce is harvested and donated to families in need, turning healing into impact and purpose.
The farm’s harvest is given to local families in need, turning healing into action and pain into purpose. Every crop grown, every animal cared for, and every meal donated creates a ripple effect of restoration.
Meet the Visionary
Sendi Ben-Zaken
Sendi is the visionary behind Matanya Farm, a social activist, father, and former Golani Brigade combat soldier who has dedicated his life to helping others heal.
He currently works with Special Services, supporting individuals with special needs through therapeutic rehabilitation programs.
In the aftermath of Operation Defensive Shield, Sendi witnessed close friends suffer in silence from post-traumatic stress. One of them, Matanya Robinson z”l, a fellow soldier and dear friend, was killed in combat. This farm carries Matanya’s name and honors his legacy of courage, empathy, and quiet strength.
Sendi spent over a decade volunteering, helping feed hundreds of families each week. Through that experience and his deep connection to the land, he came to believe in the power of nature-based therapy for emotional and spiritual healing.
Matanya Farm is the result of that vision. It is a place where soldiers, reservists, and vulnerable individuals can reconnect with the land, with community, and with themselves.
“Healing starts when people feel seen — and when they’re reminded they still have something to give.”
Sendi Ben-Zaken
Established in Honor of Matanya Robinson z”l
A life of courage, compassion, and quiet leadership
This farm carries the name and the spirit of St. Sgt. Matanya Robinson, a young man whose life embodied service, strength and a deep love for the people of Israel.
Matanya was born and raised in Kibbutz Tirat Zvi and studied media at the Shaked School in neighboring Kibbutz Sdeh Eliahu. He had a creative soul, developing a passion for photography during his high school years while also working the fishponds on his kibbutz.
Even as a teen, Matanya was drawn to service, leading community programs in underserved areas of Jerusalem’s Gilo neighborhood long before putting on a uniform. That same selflessness carried him into the Golani Brigade, where he served with honor alongside his friend and fellow soldier, Sendi Ben Zaken, founder of this farm.
On April 8, 2002 during Operation Defensive Shield, Matanya was killed by Palestinian gunfire in the Jenin refugee camp. He was just 21 years old.
Matanya’s memory lives on here in name and in purpose. This farm is a place of healing, resilience and giving, just as he lived.
May his legacy continue to inspire courage, compassion and community for generations to come.
