A busy week of public appearances brought rabbis, politicians, educators and community leaders to events across Israel and the West Bank. In the Channel 7 podcast studio, journalist Dvir Amar hosted Rabbi Eran Tamir of Orot Ashkelon, Rabbi Avihua Fishfeder of the Ashkelon hesder yeshiva, Rabbi Gilad Halla of the Rosh HaAyin hesder yeshiva, and Uri Finski, head of the Hesder Yeshivot Association staff. Separately, transportation minister Nir Barkat was filmed dancing at a family wedding in Gush Etzion.
The youth movement Ariel inaugurated its first branch in Yavne in a ceremony attended by Mayor Roy Gabay, city CEO Levi Itach, youth department head Hila Levy, movement secretary general Elchanan Wolf and parent representative Vard Ben Harush. At the same time, soldiers from the Air Force came for a day of preparation and encouragement at Netivot Israel yeshiva, led by Rabbi David Hai HaKohen. In Beit El, students whose fathers served in reserve duty during the war were honored with certificates and gifts after year-long support from the school.
At the annual conference of the judges of the Eretz Hemda-Gazit network, Rabbi Yaakov Ariel called for greater public awareness of the work of monetary courts. In Jerusalem, more than 700 people attended the annual event of the Shek Tzachikh association, held with the city and Mayor Moshe Lion. Hosted by actor Tal Mosseri and featuring singer Nathan Goshen, the evening focused on preventing suicide among teenagers and adults. The group was founded by Maor Wolf, who established it at age 14 after losing his sister Ronit, and now, at 18, leads efforts to raise awareness and help finance mental health treatment.
Several other visits highlighted settlement and education issues. MK Limor Son Har-Melech met in the Knesset with students from Heftz Haim Ulpana and four teachers expelled from Gush Katif, against the backdrop of a bill to cancel the Disengagement Law. Education Minister Yoav Kish toured the renewed community of Homesh, visited its newly opened kindergarten and received a gift from children, in a visit initiated by Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan. In the same period, Minister Orit Struk appointed Adi Wols, 42, a mother of seven and current senior welfare director at the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, as director-general of the National Civilian Service. Kadumim’s education system also named Shira Reuven, a Rabava resident with 16 years of experience, as principal of the state-religious girls’ school Nakhshon Bnot, the first school founded in Samaria. At Or Yehuda Religious Technological High School in Afula, students ended the year with a public Talmud review contest, while dozens of young hilltop activists traveled to Uman to help prepare Rabbi Nachman of Breslov’s gravesite for the masses expected on Rosh Hashanah. KKL-JNF chairman Eyal Ostroinsky also visited the Igud Shomer Yisrael organization to discuss ultra-Orthodox integration into the IDF and plans for new pre-army academies and a “Haredi soldiers’ house,” and President Isaac Herzog toured Gush Etzion, visiting Kfar Etzion and the Gush Etzion heritage center, where he met Uri Altman, a fourth-generation descendant of the founders.
