Operation "Cast Lead" has had a direct impact on Yeshivot Bnei Akiva, forcing many of our schools and students to adapt to strenuous circumstances. This special issue of our E-newsletter will give you an idea of how the war against the Hamas in the Gaza Strip has disrupted YBA's day-to-day operations. Please feel free to forward this message to others who share your love of Israel and concern for Yeshivot Bnei Akiva.

Oz Ben-Shmuel
Director of Public Relations
oz@yba.org.il

CONTENTS

1. YBA at a Glance
2. Southern Region Schools Under Fire
3. Yeshivat Hesder Or Etzion on Wartime Footing
4. YBA Hosts Negev Schools Closed by Missile Threat
5. National Religious Soldiers Bear the Brunt
6. AFYBA Launches "Cast Lead" Relief Fund

YBA AT A GLANCE

Virtually all YBA high school graduates go on to proudly serve the State of Israel in the IDF and in the National Service – the kipa sruga [knitted skullcap] worn by YBA graduates has come to symbolize the best-motivated and most patriotic soldier – with a high proportion of YBA alumni volunteering for elite units and officer training in the IDF.

The Merkaz YBA educational network includes eight Yeshivot Hesder that combine advanced Judaic studies with five years of army service, two women's colleges that grant BA and MA degrees, and one year-long Mechina army preparatory program, all of which are at the forefront of innovative post-high school programs in Israel.

YESHIVOT BNEI AKIVA – FAITHFULLY SERVING THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THE STATE OF ISRAEL

Click here of read more about Who We Are.

SOUTHERN REGION SCHOOLS UNDER FIRE

Yeshivat Hesder Neve Dekalim, exposed to missiles in Ashdod

Sixteen out of twenty Yeshivot Bnei Akiva (YBA) high schools in the southern region in Israel remained closed following the Chanukah holiday vacation, due to the continuing threat of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Since the start of the IDF action targeting the Hamas military infrastructure in Gaza, hundreds of Iran-supplied missiles and mortars have fallen in Israeli towns and settlements within a 40 kilometer (16-mile) radius of the Gaza Strip. Four Israeli citizens have been killed so far by Iran-supplied Katyusha and Grad rockets hitting the towns of Netivot, Ofakim, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Beer Sheva, Kfar Maimon, Kiryat Malachi, and Kiryat Gat – all of which have YBA schools.

In Ashdod, ninety students at YBA Yeshivat Hesder Neve Dekalim were forced to relocate from their temporary campus, which is comprised entirely of trailer-based structures, to the basement of a nearby synagogue, where they continue to study Torah by day and sleep on the floor at night. The neighborhood community center allows the students to shower there once a day. Fifteen other students from the yeshiva are presently on active duty in the IDF, serving with units in action in the Gaza Strip. Yeshivat Neve Dekalim relocated to Ashdod in 2007, two years after being removed from the Gush Katif region in the Gaza Strip.

YESHIVAT HESDER OR ETZION ON WARTIME FOOTING

At Yeshivat Or Etzion, in the pastoral village of Merkaz Shapira near Ashkelon, 340 high school students have not returned to their studies following the Chanukah vacation break. 75 of the yeshiva’s 150 Hesder student/soldiers have been called up to active duty, joining 40 of their comrades in Israel Defense Forces (IDF) armored and infantry units already engaged in ground combat in the Gaza Strip. The remaining students have relocated to the basement bomb shelter, where they continue their regular study schedule.

Rabbi Drukman with Yeshivat Hesder Or Etzion soldiers preparing for battle with Hamas in the Gaza Strip

The yeshiva’s philosophy teaches students to consider their army service in the IDF as a religious obligation and their continuing Judaic education as a civic obligation. Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Drukman (75) regularly visits his Or Etzion Hesder soldiers on the front lines to study Torah with them and strengthen their resolve in the face of impending danger.

Meanwhile, the students in the yeshiva’s post-high school “Mechina” program are actively volunteering with the IDF Home Front Command, entertaining children confined in bomb shelters and distributing flack jackets and other assistance to elderly residents who cannot ambulate quickly enough to make it into designated “protected areas” within the 45-seconds of advanced warning the sirens provide.

For more information visit www.afyba.org.

YBA HOSTS NEGEV SCHOOLS CLOSED BY MISSILE THREAT

Merkaz Yeshivot Bnei Akiva in Israel has been busy in the past week matching schools in the south of Israel, which remain closed due to constant Hamas missile attacks from Gaza, with YBA schools in the central and northern regions where studies go on as normal.

Ulpanat Baharan students from Gadera hosted at YBA Ulpanat Tzfira

Yeshivat Ohel Shlomo in Beer Sheva has relocated to Yeshivat Kfar Haroeh near Hadera. Ulpanat Ofakim continues its studies at Ulpanat Tzfira, near Ben Gurion Airport. Similarly, yeshivot and ulpanot in Netivot, Ashdod, and Kiryat Gat are being hosted by their counterparts in Meron, Sussya, and Petach Tikvah.

Moshe Bar-Haim, Director of the YBA Southern District, said that the host schools are taking care of all logistical arrangements while the guest schools send their students, teachers and counseling staff as needed. "For grades 7 through 10, we are concentrating on our students' spiritual and informal education activities, but for the 11th and 12th graders we are providing teachers in all subjects to help the students prepare for their upcoming Bagrut [matriculation] exams."

Bar-Haim added that the two Yeshivot Hesder within missile range, Neve Dekalim in Ashdod and Or Etzion near Ashkelon, have relocated from their study halls to nearby bomb shelters, but continue their regular study sessions, minus the numerous student/soldiers called up to active duty with their IDF units now serving in the Gaza Strip.

NATIONAL RELIGIOUS SOLDIERS BEAR THE BRUNT

Funeral of Staff Sgt. Dvir Emanueloff, Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery, Jerusalem

After 12 days of fighting in Operation Cast Lead, the casualty list shows that four out of the six IDF casualties thus far were from the national religious camp. The casualties are:

1. Staff Sergeant Dvir Emanueloff, 22, from Givat Zev.
2. Staff Sergeant Alexander Mashevitsky, 21, from Beer Sheva
3. Corporal Yousef Moadi, 19, from Haifa
4. Major (Dr.) Dagan Wartman, 32, from Ma'ale Michmash
5. Staff Sergeant Nitai Stern, 21, from Jerusalem
6. Captain Yehonatan Netanel, from Kedumim

For more information on the IDF casualties click here.

In a related story, Major Rafael (Rafi) Cohen, 28, a graduate of YBA Yeshivat Neve Herzog near Ashdod, was seriously injured in combat this week after returning to his unit from leave over the weekend. Rafi was granted leave to take care his wife and three children after their apartment in Ashdod was damaged by a Grad Missile fired from the Gaza Strip last week. Miraculously, none of his three children were injured in the missile strike. Rafi is recovering from his wounds in hospital.

AFYBA extends our condolences to the bereaved families of our fallen soldiers, and wishes all the injured soldiers and victims of missile strikes a speedy recovery.

AFYBA LAUNCHES "CAST LEAD" RELIEF FUND

In response to the unforeseen needs arising as a consequence of Operation Cast Lead, the board of the American Friends of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva has launched an emergency campaign to help the YBA schools in the southern region to cope with unexpected expenditures. AFYBA seeks sponsors for the following critical needs:

Bus rental - Sixteen yeshivot and ulpanot in missile range from Gaza are being hosted by YBA schools in the center and north of Israel. The bus rental to and from the host school is an unbudgeted expense that will necessitate cutbacks in other programs if alternative funding is not found. A contribution of $500 will help defray the expense of bus rental for one school per week.

Food and Board - The students in non-dormitory schools in the south are being hosted by schools in the center and north that have empty dormitory beds to offer. However, neither school has budget for the cost of three additional meals per day, or the electricity, water and other overhead expenses involved in opening addition dormitory rooms for emergency housing. A contribution of $75 will cover the cost of room and board for one student per day.

Food baskets - In Ofakim YBA Yeshivat Afikei Aretz and YBA Ulpanat Ayelet Hashachar are providing basic nutrition food baskets for 15 needy families with no means of support due to the closure of the factories where the parents work. A donation of $150 will provide food for a week for one of these families.

Contributions of any amount are welcome via the AFYBA web site. Click here to donate online. Indicate "Cast Lead Relief Fund" to earmark your donation

Toll Free: 866.873.0811  |  afyba@verizon.net  |  www.afyba.org