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Rockets raining down on communities across the south of Israel spurred OTS students and alumni into action, initiating solidarity and fundraising events, hosting Israelis from cities under fire in their campus dormitories, running activities round the clock, visiting wounded soldiers, entertaining kids in bomb shelters and distributing packages of necessities, toys and treats.

Showing support for the troops and civilians on the front lines.  (l to r) Jacob Sapirstein High School students Ziv Rappaport, Ariel Netanya and Aryeh Malek

Every day, we heard sirens wailing and bombs exploding near our homes,” describes 14-year-old Ido Kanir of Ashdod. “Our parents didn’t let us leave the house and everyone sat around worrying and watching the news all day long.”

Ido was one of 85 children who were invited to a special camp, designed and run by students in the OTS Hadas Women’s Hesder Program to offer them a brief respite from the hostilities. “When the war first broke out, the Israeli Defense Ministry turned to us to get involved,” explains Rabbi Ohad Tehar Lev, director of the Hadas Program. “Our students’ reputation precedes them; it was clear to the officials involved that they could count on Hadas women to step up to the challenge in the same way they carry out their army tasks and their learning: with a combination of energy, efficiency and compassion.” Indeed, the Hadas students scrambled to assemble the program under immense time constraints, arranging accommodation at OTS’s Neveh Channah Girls’ High School and preparing activities for their young guests, under the auspices and direction of the Susan Resnick School of Social Work.

Neveh Channah students Fraida Luriah (l) and Adiah Haiman, providing children from the south with some welcome relief form the strain of the war

“These kids have experienced fear, pain and anger,” relates adas student Sylvie Grossbard. “Some of them are scarred from years of missile attacks. Our priority was to take their minds off the war and give them a chance to experience activities outside the four walls of their reinforced rooms.” The Hadas students organized sports days and cooking classes, trips to the Western Wall and the Science Museum. “We did everything we could to bring smiles to their faces and help them forget their worries, even for just a few days,” Sylvie recalls. According to Rabbi Eli Marciano, a teacher at the Neveh Herzog Yeshiva High School in Ashdod, their efforts were successful. “The children and their families have drawn immense amounts of emotional and spiritual strength from the kindness, care and support they have been shown,” he says.

CLEAR SKIES

"We did everything we could to bring smiles to their faces."

Once the Neveh Channah students met the campers who were housed in their dorms, they too resolved to get involved and promptly invited a different group of 100 children from the south to join them for a day of fun at the school. The girls immediately set to work, decorating classrooms and preparing dozens of activities for their visitors. “We wanted the kids to feel really cared for, and to make something that they could take home with them, so that they could remember the experience,” describes Neveh Channah’s program director, Sarit Shosheim. “From the moment the children got off the buses, they were immersed in activities ranging from cake-decorating to horseback riding. Our girls hosted them for a sumptuous lunch, and every child made a kite, symbolizing our hope and faith that these kids will soon enjoy clear skies overhead.

“Since they left, the phones have not stopped ringing,” continues Shosheim. “Parents are calling to thank us for the welcome relief we brought to their kids as they struggled to cope with the strain of war.”

A MATTER OF PRIORITIES

“It’s impossible to bring all the residents of the war zone to Gush Etzion,” says Racheli Silberg, an eleventh-grader at the Shavei Rachel High School, under the auspices of OTS’s Ann Belsky Moranis School of Art. “So we decided to make the trip down south to lend a hand. Obviously, our school couldn’t officially take us to places which were being bombarded by missiles. But when we told our teachers that we had organized a mission, they were very supportive, even while they were concerned for our safety and ensured that we had parental permission.”

When the girls arrived in Ashkelon and Kiriyat Malachi, they were shocked to find that with schools closed, discipline was breaking down and there was a lot of violent behavior amongst children of all ages. The team from Shavei Rachel gathered the youth together and ran activities for them ranging from crafts to studying the weekly portion. When the time came for the girls to leave, the children made them promise to come back the next week. “We weren’t sure how successful our return would be, since on the day we came back, a number of television stars were also there entertaining the kids,” relates Racheli. “But amazingly, instead of being with the celebrities, the kids preferred to play and learn with us!”

“We have serious studies and important matriculation exams coming up,” points out Noa Yaron, “but we also have priorities. We knew that at this time of war, it was more important to help our brothers and sisters in need.”

NOT JUST A SLOGAN

Twelfth-grader Nissan Feigin speaking at the Solidarity Rally in Sacher Park

Meanwhile, a different group of Shavei Rachel girls decided to screen a movie for the youth of Gush Etzion; proceeds from admission fees and popcorn sales were used to buy toys and treats for children cooped up in the shelters. Students at the Jennie Sapirstein High School for Girls in Ramot hosted a group of their peers from the south, put together packages for residents under fire and visited children in the bomb shelters. A group of girls at Neveh Channah went to Seroka hospital in Beersheva to visit the wounded soldiers and distribute packages of candy, while students at the Neveh Shmuel Yeshiva High School for boys arranged a market day in their school with stalls from dozens of shops in the south, enabling the economically-strapped merchants to sell their wares to pupils, parents and local residents.

“There is no end to the creative ways that our students have found to support both the residents of the South and the soldiers at the front,” says Ohr Torah Stone Chancellor Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. “We have imbued in them the message that ‘kol yisrael areivim ze l’zeh,’ the responsibility we have toward one another, is truly a way of life and not just an empty slogan,” he says.

PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL AND EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

Pro-Israel rally in Australia: OTS alumni mobilized support all over the world

While most of the help delivered was concrete, the spiritual aspect was not overlooked; special prayer meetings and the recitation of tehillim became an important part of the school day.

Likewise, the importance of emotional support was clear to OTS students. Yachad Program participants serving as Jewish Cultural Facilitators in community centers across Israel ran special events designed to show solidarity with the bombarded citizens of the country’s south and backing for the IDF soldiers.

“Five times a year, at the completion of the reading of each of the books of the Torah, synagogue congregants rise and call out ‘Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek’, which means ‘Be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened,’” explains Yigal Yannai, the Yachad facilitator in Arad. “During Operation Cast Lead, the entire country was being called upon to be strong and to strengthen one another, so it was particularly fitting to hold an ‘Evening of Unity’ on the very night that we completed reading the first book of the Torah, Bereishit,” he says. “To have a group of people from all backgrounds and religious affiliations chanting the verse together as one was an extremely powerful and uplifting experience for us all.”

Students from OTS’s Jacob Sapirstein High School for Boys in Ramot also focused on boosting the morale of the country’s citizens and soldiers. “We simply couldn’t sit back as if nothing was happening while our brothers were being bombarded by Hamas missiles and our soldiers were risking their lives in our defense,” says 17-year-old Uri Zilber, one of the organizers of a mass solidarity event at Sacher Park in Jerusalem.

Zilber and his classmates quickly realized that although they have friends from a wide range of religious and ethnic backgrounds, all were united in their support of Operation Cast Lead. They decided to stage a happening which would enable the young people of Jerusalem to express their support for the troops and civilians on the front line.

Dividing up the tasks amongst themselves, the students worked quickly; they approached businesses for sponsorship, persuaded printers to donate thousands of flyers and attained the permits necessary to hold their event in a national park. “We were determined that the event be free from politics,” says co-organizer Motti Gubbay. “We simply wanted to express the great love and appreciation that our generation has for our soldiers and fellow Israelis who are under fire.”

Hundreds of people attended the evening, which included the emotional words of a young man from the city of Kifrah, near Ofakim, in which he described how much it meant to him and his friends that young people in Jerusalem were behind them, saying, “your support really gives us the strength to confront the dangers that lie ahead.” The crowd enjoyed a performance by Eyal Eshkol, a musician who was wounded in the Second Lebanon War, and several other young performers joined in a spontaneous jam session. “We invested a huge amount of work,” says Motti, “but the feeling of solidarity achieved was an incredible reward. When a soldier fighting at the front sent us a message, ’It really warms our hearts to know that you are supporting us,’ well, that made it all worthwhile.”

SUPPORTING THE SOLDIERS AT THE FRONT

Midreshet Lindenbaum students packaged meals for IDF soldiers

Showing support for the soldiers risking their lives defending the country was also the idea behind a food-packing campaign at the Midreshet Lindenbaum women’s college. At the start of the military operation, the school was asked by the army to send volunteers to help prepare packages for soldiers, a request which they were only too happy to oblige. “A few hours later, the scale of the war became apparent and the army was back on the phone asking for as many people as we could send to come for a full day,” recalls Cheryl Frankel, social director of the Maria and Joel Finkle Overseas Program. “Our students understood the gravity of the situation and were proud to play their part,” she says.

Finkle Program students worked side-by-side with participants in OTS’s Darkaynu Program for young women with special needs; the group was joined by 20 alumnae of Midreshet Lindenbaum, who were delighted that their alma mater was offering them a framework to support the troops. Together, they boarded buses for the Tzrifin army base, where they helped prepare and package over 30,000 snacks and meals for soldiers serving in the war zone.

Surrounded by a mound of chocolates, nuts and cardboard boxes, Finkle student Emily Fessel of Manhattan said, “It’s a small contribution, but every bit counts. It is really gratifying to be part of it.” Darkaynu student Rochel Leah Fogel concurred, speaking of the real sense of purpose she and her friends experienced by being an important part of the war effort.

INSPIRATIONAL AND ENCOURAGING

“Its harder to show support for Israel from far away, but not impossible,” says Rabbi Eliahu Birnbaum, director of OTS’s Beren-Amiel and Straus-Amiel programs which, under the auspices of the Ethel and Adolph Beren Educators Institute and the Joseph and Gwendolyn Straus Rabbinical Seminary, respectively, train and place educators and rabbis in Jewish communities across the globe.

Beren teachers and Straus spiritual leaders in Australia and New Zealand, Europe, England and North America rallied colleagues and communities in support of Israel, organizing informational evenings in the face of anti-Israel propaganda, demonstrations, virtual rallies and prayer sessions attracting thousands of people. “Our graduates are working all around the world, and many are living in locations which are off the beaten track,” explains Rabbi Birnbaum. “They played an essential role in combating anti-Zionist sentiment and presenting Israel’s right to defend herself, while instilling a sense of pride and belonging, especially amongst those who might not otherwise have a strong connection to Israel,” he says.

“Two of the main ideals driving OTS programs are the promotion of Jewish unity and the philosophy of doing everything within one’s power to meet contemporary challenges,” summarizes Rabbi Riskin. “The immediate, wholehearted and creative manner in which the extended OTS family responded to this national crisis was inspirational and tremendously encouraging for the Jewish future.”

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