With ongoing acts of terror rocking Jerusalem, Boys Town Jerusalem has taken strict measures to protect the physical safety of its students, and to fortify their spiritual and emotional wellbeing. According to Dean, Rabbi Moshe Linchner, “We have tightened our internal security to keep students safe while in the confines of the school, and we are doing our best to meet the ever-increasing security demands. Last week’s attacks on city buses created a wave of fear among many students (and their parents) who travel by public transportation. We quickly arranged private buses to deliver the children home safely. Considering the precarious situations that many of our students face in their home life, the current pervading atmosphere of uncertainty and violence can be debilitating,” Rabbi Linchner noted.

Taking immediate steps:

1. To empower the students, Boys Town has now opened extracurricular classes in self-defense.
2. To safeguard students’ emotional health, the school’s social service team is working together with BTJ teachers and rabbis to provide counseling to boys suffering from panic and fear in wake of the terror attacks.

Nevertheless, Boys Town is not properly prepared for ever-increasing waves of terrorism, according to the rabbi. “We are in desperate need of surveillance cameras to be installed in the public areas, a campus-wide paging system to alert students and teachers of possible infiltrations, and a 350-yard fence to secure the western perimeter of Boys Town Jerusalem’s 18-acre campus. We are launching an emergency drive immediately and are calling upon our world of dedicated supporters to help us today!”

To deal with the country’s worsening security situation, our boys called upon the most powerful weapon at their disposal. An emotional and riveting prayer rally was hastily convened in the Harry H. Beren Synagogue on campus and was attended by the entire student body and faculty.

At the conclusion of their fervent prayers for safety and peace, the hundreds of worshippers lifted their voices in unison to sing Oseh shalom bimromav, Hu ya’aseh shalom aleinu, “May He who causes peace to reign on high let peace descend upon us and all Israel!”