The Kahal Tzedaka Drive, Yeshivat Frisch’s annual student-run Chanukah fundraiser, collected over $23,000 this year to support lone soldiers in Israel. The freshman class had the distinction of collecting the most tzedaka of any grade.

The senior class found this year’s cause especially meaningful, as many students either have siblings and other relatives serving in the IDF, or are planning to become lone soldiers themselves. “Two of my cousins are lone soldiers, and my father was a lone soldier,” said senior Eitan Benhamu, who also intends to serve in Tzahal.

“It inspired us to remember not to take things for granted that we might ordinarily,” said senior Yisrael Richter, “because not everyone has parents to live with.”