The massacres in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, were overwhelmingly an attack on kibbutzim, particularly secular ones. But the burden of the war that resulted from those attacks has disproportionately been shouldered by Israel’s “national religious” community, in terms of both the number of casualties and the amount of reserve service that its members have performed over the past 18 months.

To better understand the effects of the past 18 months of war on Israel’s national religious community, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross spoke with Rabbi Kenneth Brander, the president and rosh yeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone, a moderate religious Zionist network of schools and religious institutions.

Judah Ari Gross: How has the last 18 months of war been affecting Ohr Torah Stone and the wider religious Zionist community? 

Rabbi Kenneth Brander: I mean, Ohr Torah Stone lost 20 students, plus another 38 first-degree family members of [students and faculty]. And that’s not dealing with the injuries… And while it is true that Ohr Torah Stone has unfortunately taken heavy losses, I try not to look at it as an Ohr Torah Stone issue because I think every loss is a world unto itself. And I don’t like counting the losses, saying, you know, ‘We have more than you’ — everyone loss is an entire world, that’s the way we should be looking at it. I also try not to look at this as a religious Zionist challenge. I try to look at this as a people of Israel and State of Israel challenge.

JAG: There is a certain tension there though because you may not want to count how many fallen or injured soldiers are from the religious Zionist community, but the fact that so many have come from that background gives the community a standing to speak on certain issues, particularly related to military enlistment for Haredim.

RKB: I think the religious Zionist community would be doing itself a disservice if we reminded everybody how many fell from our community. I think that people are smart, and I think people recognize it by themselves, and those who do not yet recognize it will recognize it… 

Regarding the Haredi community, it’s a personal struggle of mine… I’m upset about it. I think they violate halacha. I think they’ve made the beit midrash into a ‘city of refuge,’ and I think their Torah is not complete. But I cannot allow myself to make that my cause because I’m not going to accomplish anything. I need to make sure that I inspire our students to be the future leaders of the Jewish people, both in the religious sector and in the public sector, and work on giving them the tools so they are the next leaders in the Knesset, in the courts and in the business world.

Read the full interview here.

Even as Israel gathers to mourn and remember its fallen, it can’t forget the threats still facing the State of Israel, chief among them the Iranian regime, Yossi Cohen, the president of the Friends of the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization and former head of the Mossad, told some 400 members of Israel’s English-speaking community on Tuesday night at his group’s Yom HaZikaron ceremony in Jerusalem. “The Iranian threat is not just a strategic challenge — it is a moral one. It is a test of our unity, our resilience, and our unwavering determination to defend our people and homeland,” Cohen said, speaking at the capital’s Museum of Tolerance, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judith Sudilovsky from the event. 

‘The entire world is different’: The evening highlighted the personal stories of bereaved family members. Seated on a sofa at the center of the stage, holding hands for support, Sigal Manzuri and Dafna Russo shared their personal stories as they struggle to adjust to a painful new reality. Manzuri lost her two daughters, Roya and Norelle, in the Nova festival massacre, where Norelle’s partner, Amit Cohen, was also killed. The pair were meant to get married this summer. Russo’s husband, Uri, was killed defending Kibbutz Kfar Aza as part of its security team on Oct. 7, the same day her nephew, Netta Epstein, was also murdered there. “I feel like I have been thrown into an unseen journey. It’s like you wake up in the morning and the entire world is different. It’s like you fall into a very deep black hole and there’s no way out, and you keep trying to find a way out,” Manzuri said, speaking to eJP before the ceremony. “I don’t want anybody, any other mother in the whole world, to feel what I feel. So first of all, we need to stop the war and we need to bring all the hostages back home.”

Read the full report here.

Israelis start Yom HaZikaron, their day to honor those killed in wars or in terror attacks, by standing silently as a siren blares throughout the country. But what do Israelis do after the evening siren? For many, the answer is easy: They sing. This year, Galgalatz and Army Radio, a news and talk station run by the IDF, worked on a joint project of reported audio features and songs relating to fallen soldiers and victims of terror. Army Radio shared details of the project with Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov before its release to the public planned for this afternoon. 

Living lyrics: One new song, “You’re Out There Traveling,” is based on a poem written by Aharon Danino, brother of Ori Danino, who was kidnapped at the Nova festival on Oct. 7 and murdered soon after. Danino, 25, escaped the music festival in a car, but went back to help save the lives of Maya and Itay Regev and Omer Shemtov, who were taken hostage and later released. The song is performed by “M Hamistaarev,” an IDF reservist who goes undercover as a Palestinian and therefore performs with a mask covering his face. Tiktok videos of M singing in Gaza went viral soon after the war began in 2023, and he has since released original music. M went to the shiva for Ori Danino and became friendly with the family, and Danino’s brother brought him the poem, which they worked together to set to music.

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“In the wake of Oct. 7 and the ongoing war, Israel is facing a mental health crisis of historic proportions. The ripple effects of trauma are everywhere, from the frontline to the home front and across all sectors of society. The need for effective trauma care is urgent, but meeting today’s needs is not enough — we must also build the mental health systems of tomorrow. This is where philanthropy has a unique and powerful role to play,” write Gila Tolub and Daniel Goldman in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. 

Push the edge of what’s possible: “In times of crisis, many philanthropists understandably prioritize scaling what works — evidence-based treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy or group counseling provided by experienced clinicians. These interventions are essential and should be funded widely, particularly when speed and reach are critical. But if philanthropy limits itself to the ‘tried and true’ alone, we risk freezing progress. Innovation often begins at the margins, with new technologies, untested methods or unfamiliar partnerships that fall outside the scope of government funding or commercial investment. This is where philanthropic capital is most valuable: as flexible, risk-tolerant funding that can nurture early-stage ideas and carry them through to scalable, system-changing solutions.”

Read the full piece here.

“As humanitarians, we adapt to impossible circumstances. It’s the heart of what we do. Despite mounting odds against us — dwindling funds and fickle media attention amid accelerating climate catastrophes, global conflict and migration — our job is to continue supporting the most vulnerable,” writes Tamar Kosky Lazarus, head of communications and development at IsraAid, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

An ecosystem-wide reorg: “The human cost of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) closure is staggering. Abruptly ending thousands of life-saving aid programs with no warning and no alternative in place has been harmful to communities around the globe and left the humanitarian world reeling. The wake of the Myanmar earthquake last month is just one example of the crippling effect we are seeing on the international humanitarian aid system. At the same time, the USAID closure may force a desperately needed reset of the humanitarian funding ecosystem… While the enormous grants can fund a full budget, they keep organizations from diversifying and stifle creativity with onerous compliance requirements that favor quantity over sustainability. With the bars blown open, we must not be afraid to step out and use this opportunity to create a more equitable, effective and resilient system.”

Read the full piece here.