Herzog to visit bereaved families in Efrat

There are few places in Israel unscathed by the October 7 massacre by Hamas or the subsequent Israel-Hamas War. Some places seem to have been hit more heavily than others. For instance, the Himmelfarb High School in Jerusalem, where Hersh Goldberg-Polin was a student, mourns seven of its former students, and there are unfortunately Jerusalemites who graduated from other schools, whose names are listed among the victims and the fallen.

Ohr Torah Stone’s Neveh Shmuel High School has lost eight of its alumni as well as the fathers of two of its current students. Some of the alumni were students in the same class, though they fell in battle in different places on different dates.

On Tuesday, September 17, Herzog, who has already met with numerous families who have lost loved ones on and after October 7, will visit Neveh Shmuel to address the students and faculty and offer words of comfort and encouragement. He will also meet privately with the families of the fallen soldiers.

Herzog will be greeted by Rabbi Dr. Kenneth Brander, President and Rosh Yeshiva of the Ohr Torah Stone network.

Neveh Shmuel

Neveh Shmuel, founded in 1983, was the first in the Ohr Torah Stone network of 32 religious educational institutions. The school’s curriculum includes high-standard secular and religious education; students are imbued with tolerance and respect for others, and are also given preparatory courses for their service in the army. Extracurricular activities include volunteer community service for the elderly, the disadvantaged, and people with disabilities.

Ohr Torah Stone, a modern Orthodox movement, was founded by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, the founding rabbi of Efrat; almost immediately following his aliyah from New York in 1983, Rabbi Riskin opened the city’s first school when Efrat, as it is today, was only a pipe dream.