Sally Reidman came to Israel with a massage table - and built a healthcare empire

Sally Reidman, founder of Reidman College of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, shares her journey from Pennsylvania to Israel, where she built a healthcare empire starting with a massage table. The college now enrolls over 4,000 students across four campuses, offering programs in natural medicine and holistic therapies.

Sally Reidman, founder and president of Reidman College of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, received the Sylvan Adams Nefesh B'Nefesh Bonei Zion Prize in 2023. Born in Pennsylvania in 1949 to Holocaust survivors, she studied psychology at California State University. She made aliyah in 1983 with only a massage table and no money. Starting in an absorption center in Ashdod, she built a practice and eventually founded Reidman College in 1987. Today, the college is Israel's largest institute of its kind, with over 4,000 students enrolled in five vocational schools: Traditional Chinese Medicine, Natural Medicine, Somatic Therapies, Holistic Psychotherapy, and Holistic Coaching. The college has four campuses: main campus in Tel Aviv and branches in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Beersheba. Reidman advises new olim to work hard, love what they do, and be passionate. She emphasizes the integration of natural and conventional medicine. The college is launching an English-language massage therapy program. Reidman notes that since Oct. 7, the need for therapists has become desperate, contributing to the college's growth.