With a heart full of urgency and concern for the safety and wellbeing of the young women studying at Midreshet B’erot Bat Ayin. 

The region faces ongoing security challenges, and we must ensure a secure environment for our students to continue their education without fear.  

On a Friday a few hours before a Shabbat this Spring, the siren went off, and it wasn’t a drill.  A missile fell in Bat Ayin!

On Simchat Torah the sirens sounded again and again in Bat Ayin, making us run to the nearest bomb shelter numerous times. Due to our lack of a bomb shelter, our students are spread out in different places, some staying with families in Bat Ayin and some in other communities. Many are very frightened, even panicking. It is urgent that we purchase a proper bomb shelter now.

A security room is a great expense, but we believe that Hashem will help us provide physical and mental safety for our students. We are proud of our commitment to empowering young Jewish women with strong Torah values, textual skills, practical skills, holistic spirituality, and inspiration to work on their character traits and grow in Torah. Many of our students go on to build strong Torah homes and become future role models for their communities. We believe that no student should have to choose between following her dreams and her safety.

Thank G-d and thanks to the kindness of many friends and supporters, we were able to raise the money for the small inexpensive bomb shelter about $25,000 (NIS 100,000).

The week following Simchat Torah we worked constantly for 48 hours on purchasing a bomb shelter, repeatedly redialing just to get someone on the phone as the lines were constantly busy. Whenever we got through, we got the same answer, “Sorry we are out of bomb shelters, if you order now, we can provide one in 2-3 months!”

Finally, after another full day of working on this project, we found one last available bomb shelter. But it is much more expensive, including preparing the grounds and delivery, it costs $66,000 (NIS 260,000), in addition to the price of hooking it up with water, electricity, and sewage, estimated $10,000 cost (NIS 40,000). Yes, it seems steep, but isn’t our students’ lives worth so much more? It is quite large, 25m2 (More than double as big as the standard bomb shelter), and it includes a bathroom and shower. It can also serve as a perfect living space for the married student who is with us now. My husband is meanwhile laying out $25,000 (NIS 100,000) from our personal savings to cover the down payment so none of the many others who are interested in this last available mobile bomb shelter will snatch it away from us.