On October 7th, students of Yeshivat Hesder Sderot did not run from the rocket fire that had showered their city for 25 years. They ran toward the gunfire while missiles fell, standing guard in white shirts and knitted kippahs while residents watched from behind locked doors.
>> Help rebuild the yeshiva that guarded Sderot, give now
The Max and Ruth Schwartz Hesder Yeshiva Sderot is now in its 30th year, and it is the largest Hesder yeshiva in Israel. Over 1,000 alumni and students have served, and are still serving, in this war. Six of them did not come home.
For a quarter century, while Sderot absorbed rocket fire, the yeshiva stayed. Its students learned Torah, danced through the streets on Simchat Torah, showed up at the doors of frightened families, and staffed the city's civil defense and first aid teams.
Rabbi David Fendel, Rosh Yeshiva, said, "We're turning Sderot, the only city in the Gaza envelope, into a capital of Torah and Zionism. They tried to destroy us. They can't keep up with the pace of all the incredible building that's taking place here".
>> Join the donors who've already merited rebuilding Sderot
The Max and Ruth Schwartz Hesder Institutions' growth hasn't stopped for the war. Midreshet Ma'ayan for girls is in its 10th year, and the new Yeshiva high school, Da'at Meir built in memory of Rabbi Meir Fendel z"l, will begin its 2nd year with 55 students in 9th and 10th grades.
This Elul, the "Join the Dance" campaign is funding a new, portable Torah scroll along with expanding the study hall, building a dining hall, and dormitories for the hundreds still arriving to learn. Donations will also fund building a campus for Midreshet Ma'ayan. All donations over $100 entitle entry in the raffle with a chance to win one of ten raffle prizes, including round-trip tickets to Israel and a Hanukkah menorah handcrafted from an actual Qassam rocket casing. (You never know...)
>> Give before Simchat Torah, secure your gift now
The same students who stood guard on October 7th in tzitzit and combat boots are the ones building Sderot's future today. Writing this Sefer Torah and dancing with it through the streets on Simchat Torah is their response (and ours!) to what happened three years ago.
Donations are tax-deductible in the US through American Friends of Sderot, EIN 01-0553431, and through equivalent registered charities in Israel, the UK, and Canada.
