(IsraelNN.com) High school and yeshiva students from all around the country are invited to take part in a special “Bolster Upper Nazereth” Sabbath this week.

The upbeat program is being organized by Yeshivat Torat Avraham in the beleaguered city – a yeshiva named for the late Chief Rabbi and Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav dean, Rabbi Avraham Shapira.

One of Only Two Cities
Upper Nazareth (Nazareth Illit) faces a host of problems, including a decreasing Jewish population, an increasing Arab population, missionaries, and more. The city's overall population dropped last year from 43,100 to 42,800 – one of only two cities in Israel to lose population in 2008.

“We must remember,” said Chaim Ben-Sheetrit, of the city’s Young Leadership group, “that this city was founded in order to help Judaize the Galilee.” Upper Nazareth was built in 1956, next to the Arab city of Nazareth, by order of then-Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion for the purpose of increasing the Jewish population in the Galilee. The Arab city of Nazareth has a population 66,300, up 1.2% in 2008. It is estimated that 15-20% of the Jewish city of Upper Nazareth is Arab.  

“Unfortunately, however, of late, our cousin Arabs are simply taking over the city,” Chaim continued, speaking with INN-TV’s Hillel Maeir. (Click here for Hebrew video.) “The young are leaving, the seniors are staying, and the ones buying apartments are Arabs.”

Three Initiatives
At least three major initiatives are underway to help build and strengthen Nazareth Illit, both spiritually and otherwise: A Chabad-Lubavitch yeshiva, the Torat Avraham yeshiva and Torah Center, and a settlement core group (gar'in Torani). 

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Nachshon, son of Upper Nazareth's long-time Chabad emissary, returned from India five years ago to build a post high-school yeshiva in his hometown. It now has 60 students and 20 young couples. In addition, 18 freshman students are already signed up for the new high-school age yeshiva set to open this coming school year, and another two couples will move into the city in their wake.

Rabbi Eliezer Stern of Yeshivat Torat Avraham says that the Torah Center he co-started three years ago is thriving as well: “We found an old decrepit building here and worked hard to refurbish it, and it's now a place where people come to hear classes and lectures from leading rabbis from all over the country. Jews are coming and studying and advancing in their Judaism and observance, and with G-d’s help, we will continue to grow and thrive.”

“New families have arrived and are arriving,” Stern said, “from different places in Israel to try and build up Nazareth Illit. The city was in a status of met mitzvah, a corpse with no one to bury it, and thank G-d, we are able to strengthen the city Jewishly and encourage more families to come.”

Special Sabbath Planned
“This very Sabbath, Parashat Balak, we’re planning a special Sabbath for 11th and 12th graders and young students from yeshivot all around the country,” Stern said. “We will pray in the various synagogues in the city, raise the morale, teach some Torah, and we hope that it will really raise up the city of Nazareth Illit.”

Still another of the many challenges facing the new pioneers is Christian missionaries.  “They are very active here,” Rabbi Eliyahu Maman, founder and dean of Torat Avraham told INN-TV. “We sometimes have to stop them from giving out literature, and explain to those who don’t know about genuine Judaism.”

Other initiatives in Nazareth Illit are the local Bnei Akiva youth movement chapter and the Gar’in Torani (Torah core group), headed by Rabbi Ofir Krispil.  Brit Cohen, a counselor in Bnei Akiva, says, “We have weekly activities, and every Sabbath we go to an old age home and dance and run a Kabalat Shabbat service. We had the flag-dance on Independence Day, and in general, we really try to be strong and bring happiness to ourselves and others.”