Rick Bloom is a passionate guy.
He’s passionate about dogs, he’s passionate about Israel, and he’s passionate about helping others, especially Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and veterans. You only have to speak to him for a few minutes to learn that those three loves are woven into everything he does.
That’s why, when Rick — who lives in Michigan and works as an attorney, CPA, and financial advisor — heard that he could combine all of those passions to help others, he didn’t hesitate. He learned that through Friends of IDF (FIDF), a nonprofit organization that supports Israeli soldiers and veterans, that he could pay to fund therapy dogs that would help IDF veterans deal with the problems they faced after serving their country — like posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — and immediately paid for two beautiful golden retrievers to go through the training: Jadah and Alfie.
He named Alfie after his beloved childhood pet — the poodle who was at his side during his formative years, from his Bar Mitzvah to law school — and Jadah is also the name of his current pup, pictured below. When I interviewed Rick last week, there was no doubt that Jadah is the center of his universe; not only did he have a picture of her as his Zoom background, but she also made a few vocal appearances while we chatted.
Israeli soldiers have faced an unprecedented psychological battle in recent years, especially those who have served since Hamas’ gruesome Oct. 7, 2023, attack. The country’s Defense Ministry claims that 18,500 soldiers have been treated by the rehabilitation unit since that awful day, and 3,769 currently suffer from PTSD as of July 2025. By 2028, the Defense Ministry predicts that over 100,000 IDF veterans will be wounded or disabled, and over half of them will suffer from mental health problems.
PTSD is one of the most common mental health issues that veterans from all countries face. It causes them to replay stressful situations in their minds, and it can lead to numerous symptoms, like increased anger, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, nightmares, difficulty maintaining relationships, emotional numbness, drug and alcohol abuse, and reckless or self-destructive behavior. It can also alienate people from their friends and family members.
That was exactly the situation for one IDF veteran, Eyal. Rick told me that this guy, a bomb disposal expert, couldn’t leave his house. It was impacting his relationships with his children and other family members and basically preventing him from living his life. Enter Jadah (pictured below). Eyal received the dog about six months ago, and he’s already living a more normal life and is able to play with his kids again.
Rick, who goes to Israel about once a year, had the opportunity to meet Eyal and Jadah in May and witness this for himself. “I can’t tell you how my heart explodes when I think about it,” he told me, and I truly believe that. Rick just lit up when talking about it. He also told me that Alfie is still in training, but he hopes to meet the veteran he ends up with next year.
“Dogs have that special thing that relates to us,” Rick said. “You know, you see it with kids sometimes. Kids are having trouble in their life, and all of a sudden, a dog comes, and the kids are able to get through it.”
According to the American Psychiatric Association, dogs help people with PTSD in numerous ways. Service dogs like Jadah and Alfie might receive training that allows them to sense anxiety and disrupt those types of thoughts by nudging their human or placing their heads on his lap. They may even lie on top of or up against the person to calm them, and in some cases, can wake them up from nightmares. They can even keep watch, alerting someone if another person is approaching and whether it’s someone they recognize or not.
Even without that type of training, PTSD service dogs offer veterans a “generally calming physical presence, bringing non-judgmental companionship and joy into the person’s life, bringing routine and responsibility, and helping the veteran connect with family and with others in social situations.”
A study on the topic found that, on average, veterans with service dogs spend 80% of their days with their furry companions.
There’s a quote that has circulated online for years that I love. It’s a riff on Paul Harvey’s famous “So God Made a Farmer” speech from 1978. It goes something like this:
God said, ‘I need someone strong enough to pull sleds and detect bombs, yet gentle enough to love babies and guide the blind. Someone who will spend all day on a couch with a resting head and offer supportive eyes to lift the spirits of a broken heart.’
So God made a dog.
Indeed, He did.
He also made people like Rick, who truly care about the welfare and happiness of others. In addition to supporting veterans through FIDF’s therapy dog program, Rick has been involved with other aspects of the organization for years. For example, in the past, he’s paid for the college tuition for IDF veterans who may have come from disadvantaged economic backgrounds. The program, IMPACT!, matches veterans with donors who provide them with four-year scholarships and cover their living expenses, enabling them to further their education. In return, the veterans do volunteer work, like mentoring troubled youths or helping Holocaust survivors.
If any of you would like to get involved with either of these programs or many of the others FIDF offers, you can visit the organization’s website at Blessisraelssoldiers.org. Rick said that even if you can’t afford to fund a therapy dog on your own, he’s known groups and families that have gotten together and raised the funds to do so. Whatever it takes, he says, it’s worth it.
“I’m much more of a beneficiary than the soldiers,” he told me. “Because the feeling I get in my heart, I can’t describe it. It just feels great that I was able to do this. I just feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity.”
Our world could definitely benefit from having more people like Rick Bloom in it.
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