Rabbi Avihua Fishfeder, head of the Hesder Yeshiva in Ashkelon, describes in a new Channel 7 podcast how the school became a civilian, spiritual and logistical hub after the Simchat Torah, 5784, attacks and the start of the war. He says the yeshiva’s guiding principle has always been mutual responsibility, and that it serves the city, not just its students.
Fishfeder recalls waking to sirens in Ashkelon on the holiday and initially assuming it was another round of rocket fire. After seeing damage near his home and hearing reports of mass killings and hostages in the south, he understood the scale of the attack and went to the police station, then to Barzilai Medical Center with his daughter, who studies nursing. There they helped injured people and frightened families, while he also visited police officers and was asked to encourage them.
As the city shut down in fear, the yeshiva turned into a command center. Volunteers collected leftover holiday food, opened the yeshiva to residents who needed medicine, supplies or help shopping, and sent hundreds of meals each day to soldiers, including stews and cholent. Fishfeder says the work was not only about food, but about entering homes, listening, and telling people, “We are strong, we are together, and God is with us.” He also describes hosting evacuated families, reservists who came to shower, wash clothes and rest, and a family from Zikim who arrived bloodied and stayed until the end of the holiday.
He ties this response to the yeshiva’s founding 18 years ago and to the teachings of Rabbi Moshe Zvi Neriah and Rabbi Chaim Druckman. He recalls studying closely with Neriah at Kfar Haro’eh and being moved by his humility, and remembers Druckman visiting his parents’ home after an operation, even though Fishfeder was only one of hundreds of students. Fishfeder says the yeshiva now plans to expand, add students, and open a family center for therapy, guidance and strengthening marriages and community life.
