Transcript [00:04] Yeshivat Hesder Sderot is one of the [00:06] largest religious [music] Zionist [00:07] Yeshivas in Israel. On October 7th, as [00:10] Hamas terrorists attacked the city of [00:11] Sderot, the Yeshiva's rabbis and [00:13] students stood alongside the city's [00:15] residents during some [music] of its [00:17] darkest hours. [00:18] >> On October 7th, we were here. [00:21] The Yeshiva and the students stood with [00:23] the city and we still [00:24] >> [music] [00:25] >> stand with the city strong [00:27] in the Gaza envelope uh [00:30] to be a front of Torah and Tzionut to [00:33] the nation, to the people of Israel, to [00:36] the Jewish people all over the world. [00:38] >> At the beginning of the war, the Yeshiva [00:39] was evacuated from [music] Sderot, but [00:41] when it returned, its students and [00:43] rabbis came back with a renewed sense of [00:45] purpose, determined to help restore both [00:48] everyday life and Torah learning to the [00:50] southern city. [00:51] >> Everybody came back here [00:53] with great with with great power, [00:57] ready to continue our our [01:00] Torah learning. And even everything [01:02] we've been through, [01:04] the the citizens of Sderot look up to [01:06] us. They see this this place of Torah [01:09] that is continuing to work Howard. [01:24] >> October 7th and the war brought a time [01:26] of emergency, but the connection between [01:28] the Yeshiva and Sderot goes far beyond [01:30] moments of crisis. [music] The Yeshiva [01:32] has long been and continues to be an [01:34] integral part of the city. [01:35] >> In addition to the learning, [01:37] there is the connections to the citizens [01:39] here. [music] [01:40] There are children that come here and [01:42] study with the boys. There are [01:45] old people that come here and study with [01:47] the boys. We are very connected to the [01:49] city. We work with them [01:51] uh [01:51] every holiday they come here and we're [01:54] having the best time of our life [01:55] together. It's amazing to see. It's not [01:57] only about learning in Sderot, it's [01:59] about being with Sderot. The Yeshiva [02:02] that the students here are very [02:03] connected to the city. A variety of [02:05] activities, whether it's [02:07] lighting candles in Hanukkah, [music] [02:09] whether it is in Simchat Torah, [02:12] spreading out throughout the city and [02:14] dancing with everybody in in every [02:16] synagogue. And overall, the Yeshiva, the [02:19] vibe, [music] it's connected to the to [02:21] the to the root of Sderot. [02:22] >> Even after the war, people will be [02:25] thinking like, "No, we don't [music] [02:26] want to come to Sderot. It's too [02:28] dangerous for us. We don't want to be [02:30] here." And it's And the Yeshiva is just [02:32] [music] growing and and and growing. And [02:34] thanks to every everyone around that is [02:36] donating to us and helping us out to [02:39] continue [music] [02:39] growing, making this place the biggest [02:42] Yeshiva in Israel. [02:43] >> The students of Yeshivat Hesder Sderot [02:44] combine their Torah studies with service [02:47] in the Israeli army, [music] [02:48] maintaining a strong connection to the [02:50] Yeshiva even during their periods of [02:52] military service. [02:54] >> I drafted to [music] Golani about 3 [02:57] years ago. [02:58] Uh me and the boys from here we drafted [03:00] together. And [03:02] every time I got a single chance to [03:04] [music] come here, I took it. What gave [03:06] me the power in the army is coming here, [03:08] [music] [03:09] speaking to the rabbis, sitting with Rav [03:11] Fendel, telling him everything I'm going [03:13] through. [03:14] And [music] it it it gave me power to [03:16] continue everything I'm doing. [03:17] >> The students tell us about the [03:18] uniqueness of the Yeshiva. [03:20] >> People here are very warm, very nice [03:22] people. It's And the quantity, a lot of [03:25] people. It's like a like a crowd of of [03:28] Dayashem. [03:29] Everyone here is so uh [03:31] so excited to do everything the way it [03:33] needs to be done. [03:51] >> One of the special [music] things about [03:52] the Yeshiva is it being one of the [03:55] biggest Yeshivas in in Israel. [03:58] Uh a lot of different kinds of people. [04:00] You can see it the the moment you go [04:03] into Yeshiva. [04:05] And the learning and the studying it [04:06] just it's something else. What's also [04:08] special about this place? It's the [04:09] variety. [04:11] The people here come from so many [04:13] different backgrounds and so many [04:14] different places. [04:15] >> [music] [04:15] >> And they come together, they they get [04:17] together to learn Torah to uh [04:19] to advance our nation in the uh in the [04:22] vision to connect between the Torah and [04:24] state. [music] And I have to tell you on [04:25] a more personal note, [04:27] uh the connection with the guys with the [04:28] Rabanim, it's it's awesome. Uh everybody [04:31] everybody here is so nice. It's a warm [04:33] people. There's uh friendships on all [04:36] all ages, all levels. It's [music] like [04:37] a big family, like a big home that [04:39] contains everybody from all backgrounds. [04:41] >> The Yeshiva also places an emphasis on [04:43] creating a learning environment that can [04:45] meet the needs of different students, [04:47] offering [music] a variety of programs, [04:48] approaches, and styles of study. [04:51] >> Anyone who comes here can find how they [04:52] want to connect to the learning, whether [04:54] it's Iyun, whether it's Kiyut, whether [04:55] it's Halacha, uh Mikrah, everything [04:58] there is here uh to the highest level. [05:01] Everyone can find their place and their [05:03] spot in the Torah. It's an awesome Bet [05:05] Midrash. It contains everything. [05:07] >> We have two different programs of [05:09] learning here. One one we call Aliyahu [05:12] Ben Ilkata, meaning [music] that we [05:13] start from the Gemara and eventually we [05:16] go straight to Halacha. It's It's a [05:17] connection between [music] our learning [05:19] and how we practically work with it. Our [05:22] second program [music] is something [05:23] really special. We take [05:27] even like uh a single line [05:30] from uh [music] what we study in in [05:31] Gemara, we can take one topic, even a [05:33] few words, and we just delve into it, we [05:36] [music] investigate on our own. [05:44] >> [music] [05:49] >> Yeshivat Hesder is still looking ahead, [05:51] continuing to grow, expand, and develop [05:53] with the support of partners and [05:55] communities from around the world.
