The tiny development town in the Negev didn’t know what was about to happen in 1996. Two people from Long Island decided to change its citizens’ horizons and prestige, forever.
Rabbi David and Mechi Fendel came to build Israel’s largest post-high school institution in Jewish education. Not only did they succeed in building Israel’s largest Hesder Yeshiva with over 800 students in three branches and thousands of dedicated IDF combat soldiers, they directly and indirectly created a large local community of financially sound working families.
Dodging Kassam rockets wasn’t the norm until 2003. Instead of letting the city on Israel’s western border crumble from the onslaught of thousands of Kassam rockets and fear from infiltration tunnels, they built the institutions in Sderot, which continue to give citizens the optimism needed to believe things will get better until they actually do. Following every attack, the Yeshiva’s students sing and dance in the streets, celebrating Sderot’s stamina with the local populace and boosting morale. Not only does the Yeshiva run the city’s First Response Team during emergencies, the Yeshiva’s post-IDF students also fill in to protect local kindergartens and call the elderly to make sure they’re all right.
By initiating two Yeshiva-affiliated programs to professionally train graduates as teachers and engineers, they encourage them to consider building their families in Sderot, pumping new life and opportunity into the hard-hit town where 25 percent of its residents had previously considered leaving. As the community has grown, real estate in Sderot has risen over 300 percent over the last five years—despite the security threats.
Their intellectual children change the face of volunteerism in the city because the Yeshiva’s students routinely volunteer a portion of their time in volunteer initiatives, particularly the Yeshiva’s Big-Brother and senior citizens’ programs.
Together with many wonderful partners, the Fendels have indeed brought a bright future to Sderot and the Negev.
Now, 20 years after its founding, they invite you to celebrate their outstanding achievements and together propel the city and its Yeshiva forward.
The 20th Annual Dinner will be held on Wednesday, April 13, 2016/5 Nissan 5776, at Terrace on the Park, Flushing, NY, together with friends, dignitaries and public figures.
The theme of the evening is in the face of terror tunnels and darkness, responding with the light of Torah and the Spirit of Religious Zionism. The Guests of Honor are Rabbanit Mechi (Friederwitzer) Fendel; her parents, Rabbi Moishe and Feige Friederwitzer and Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Izso. The Israel Activist Award will be presented to Mrs. Susan Brent Millner of Chicago. Generosity in Perpetuity acknowledgement will be given to the Shlomo and Cindy Silvian Foundation. There will also be a special Dedication of a Safe Room on the Yeshiva’s Campus by the Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR), which will be represented by Mr. and Mrs. Jason Bokor. Friends of Sderot Awardees are Chaim and Suri Boiangiou of Brooklyn, NY; Beryl and Doreen Eckstein of West Hempstead, NY and Henry Levy of Englewood, NJ.
Come witness the miracle of Sderot’s perseverance and be a partner in Sderot’s success! Contact Judah Rhine at [email protected], or go to the website www.sderot.org to place an ad and reserve your seat now.
