CONTENTS

1. Save the Date: AFYBA 31st Annual Tribute Event
2. AFYBA Board Members Salute Outgoing President Alan Wildes
3. YBA Alum Victim of Terror Attack
4. New Torah Scroll to Accompany YBA Students to Poland
5. Yagdil Torah Study Day at YBA Or Etzion
6. Annual Dror Marathon at YBA Sussya
7. Ulpanit Tel Aviv Hosts Chanukah Happening

AFYBA BOARD MEMBERS SALUTE OUTGOING PRESIDENT ALAN WILDES

          "I have known Alan and his family for a number of years, but I never appreciated Alan's boundless zeal until he persisted in finally getting me to accept a dinner honor and award and join the AFYBA Board. Nobody did it better. I am sorry that Alan has left the bridge, but his proficiency in getting things done is also manifested in his choosing two very capable successors. They both will have to work very hard to fill his shoes.  Chazak v'ematz."
– Arthur Alexander

          "The one word I would use to describe Alan's serving as President of AFYBA for eleven years is perseverance. To serve as President for such a long spell, one has to be either extremely dedicated or a little crazy. I am willing to give Alan the benefit of the doubt. I note that to replace him requires a presidium of two. Alan deserves our thanks for his commitment to the cause."
– Donald Press

          "It will be impossible to fill Alan's shoes, indeed, even just one of them.  Alan spent over a decade singularly transitioning the ideology and responsibilities of YBA to a younger generation.  During this period of time, there has been greater competition for religious Zionist causes but Alan has been the central figure in ensuring that the oldest and most extensive network of religious Zionist schools remains at the forefront.  We are indebted to Alan for all he has done to grow and strengthen YBA and we are confident that he will remain pivotal to the organization for many years to come."
– Daniel Edelman

          "We are all so grateful to Alan for his superb leadership over these past twelve years. His total dedication to the cause of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva has been an inspiration for all of us and an example to others of a role model who often puts the needs of the Clal ahead of his own. I know he will continue to be involved in this most worthy of causes and I look forward to working with him as the new presidium takes charge of raising funds for YBA's sixty Yeshivot and Ulpanot, which embody the philosophy of Am Yisrael,  B’Eretz Yisrael al pi Torat Yisrael."
– Fred Ehrman

          "I have been involved with AFYBA since day one and we have been fortunate to have many capable, dedicated persons who took on the responsibility of leadership.  But in the case of Alan Wildes, we have been fortunate to have a man with incredible energy, dedication and commitment to the ideals of Am Yisrael,  B’Eretz Yisrael al pi Torat Yisrael. In addition to his gracious hospitality for most of our Board meetings, Alan's powerful personality has energized our organization and his wise business and strategic sense has brought a new professionalism to AFYBA. The challenges are even greater now with today's economic realities but Alan's eleven years of leadership will surely have a positive influence on the dedicated incoming presidium. I wish Alan great success and happiness in his future endeavors.
– Alan Zwiebel

          "Alan succeeded in raising the American Friends organization several levels higher during his tenure, primarily due to his dedication and concern for the advancement of education of our children in Israel. In his frequent visits to Israel Alan always demonstrated his interest and involvement. He managed to create bonds with the students as well as the staff members of the schools he visited. We especially remember his daughter's bat mitzvah at Ulpanat Yeshurun in Petach Tikva as an example of how Alan involved his entire family in his solidarity with the goals of YBA."
– Elchanan Glatt, Director General, Merkaz YBA in Israel

YBA ALUMNUS VICTIM OF TERROR ATTACK

           YBA extends its condolences to the family of Rabbi Meir Avshalom Hai hy"d, a graduate of Yeshivat Hesder Or Etzion and resident of Shavei Shomron. Rabbi Hai was mortally wounded from gunshot wounds sustained in a terror attack on December 24, as he drove to a neighboring settlement. Islamic Jihad and Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the murder of the 45-year-old Torah scholar and father of seven. The attack occurred in an area where IDF roadblocks had been recently lifted as an Israeli gesture of goodwill to Palestinians.

           The following night IDF soldiers entered Shechem in an attempt to arrest the terrorists suspected of murdering Rabbi Hai. The three terrorists resisted arrest and were killed in the ensuing gun battles. The IDF spokesman later reported that a ballistics test on a weapon found in the home of one of the terrorists matched the bullet that killed Rabbi Hai.

           YBA Chairman Rabbi Haim Drukman, in eulogizing his former student said, "You remained the same since I knew you at the yeshiva and throughout the years – completely perfect in your faith, your fear of God, your good character and your dedication as a teacher of Torah. We lost an entire world. This is not only terrible personal loss for the family, but a public and national loss as well. Your murderers did not target you because they had a score to settle with you. The bullet that hit you was directed at all of us."

           One of Rabbi Hai's sons is a student at YBA Beit Avraham near Ashdod.
          Click here to read the Ynet coverage of Rabbi Hai's funeral.

NEW TORAH SCROLL TO ACCOMPANY YBA STUDENTS TO POLAND

           YBA students will participate in the writing of a new Torah scroll marking the 70th anniversary year of Yeshivot Bnei Akiva in Israel. The scroll will be dedicated to Rabbi Avraham Zuckerman, Rosh Yeshivot Bnei Akiva, and Rabbi Haim Drukman, Chairman of YBA in Israel.

           "Rambam teaches us in his Mishna Torah that it is a positive commandment for every Jew to write a Sefer Torah in his lifetime. We decided to engage our students in this important mitzvah as part of our 70th anniversary year activities," said Elchanan Glatt, Director General of YBA in Israel. "This Torah scroll will serve a very special purpose: it will accompany every school's 'March of the Living' student mission to Poland. Our students will carry this Sefer Torah with them from Birkenau to Auschwitz as a symbol of our faith in Hashem, just as the Bnei Yisrael carried the Aron Kodesh though the desert, led by a pillar of fire."

            The writing of the scroll will be paid for by YBA's 20,000 students themselves, who over the next few months will collect sponsorships of each letter, at 18 shekels per letter.

            Click here to make a contribution to the YBA 70th Anniversary Torah Scroll Fund.

YAGDIL TORAH STUDY DAY AT YBA OR ETZION

           Over 400 students from 15 YBA yeshivot gathered for a special study day about the history of Gush Etzion, the Etzion Block of settlements that fell to the Jordanian Legion on the same day that the State of Israel was established in 1948. The event was part of their participation in the Yagdil Torah V'Yadir Program. The event was held at Yeshivat Or Etzion, the yeshiva founded by Rabbi Haim Drukman in 1960 and named after Gush Etzion.

            Rabbi Drukman began the program with his lecture on the meaning of the passage "Talmud Torah k'neged kulam" [Torah study outweighs all other mitzvot]. Mr. Ben Lande, the program's sponsor, gave his blessing to the boys, who undertook to master at least 50 pages of Talmud over-and-above their regular school curriculum.

            Afterwards, former MK Hanan Porath, who was born at Kibbutz Kfar Etzion and evacuated as a child before its fall, lectured on the history of the Etzion Block. He described how, after the Six Day War, he and other children of the kibbutz decided to return and re-establish the kibbutz their fathers died defending.

            Finally, Mr. Yitzchak Ricklin, a veteran member of Kibbutz Ein Tzurim, told the boys his personal story of how he and 200 other survivors of the battles for Gush Etzion were taken prisoner by the Jordanian Legion an hour before Shabbat on June 5, 1948, just as David Ben-Gurion was proclaiming the establishment of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv, and how they survived in the Jordanian prison camp until their release 2 years later.

         Click here to read more about the history of Gush Etzion.
         Click here to watch a video covering the history of Gush Etzion (5 minutes)

ANNUAL DROR MARATHON AT YBA SUSSYA

           On the 23rd of Kislev, two days before Chanukah, Yeshivat Sussya sponsored its fourth annual 10-km marathon race in memory of Colonel Dror Weinberg hy"d, who was killed in a terrorist ambush in Hebron seven years ago to the day. YBA Sussya chose to honor the memory of Col. Weinberg in this way because he personified the values and character traits that the yeshiva educates its students to strive for: a learned and committed Ben Torah on one hand, and a valiant soldier and leader on the other.

            The entire day was dedicated to Dror's legacy. The morning study sessions featured guest lecturers dealing with the subject of passive civil disobedience versus violent revolution. At 2:00 p.m. hundreds of runners started from the neighboring settlement of Carmel on the difficult 10-kilometer hilly race route, ending in Sussya. The runners included Dror's children and father, former soldiers who served under Dror's command, current soldiers from Dror's IDF unit, Sussya students and former students now serving in elite IDF combat units, and residents from the settlements in Har Hebron region.

            Yeshivat Sussya features a unique curriculum combining environmental studies and Land of Israel studies. Students develop a close bond with the land through the many hikes they take, and are encouraged to research ecological and environmental issues in Israel and throughout the world. The school is presently building Israel's first "green" campus using both traditional passive solar energy and state-of-the-art recycling and alternative energy technologies.

            Click here to visit YBA Sussya's English language website.
            Click here to view YBA Sussya's English language promo video (10 minutes)

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

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