Family members of 16 soldiers from Gush Etzion and Efrat who fell defending the State of Israel since Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre gathered on Monday at a military base in the Gush’s western foothills to dedicate the base’s newly expanded synagogue in memory of their loved ones. 

The synagogue was also dedicated in memory of Ari Fuld, a well-known Israel activist, educator and Israel Defense Forces reservist who was murdered by an Arab terrorist just before Yom Kippur 2018.

The synagogue expansion was funded by the “Ari Fuld Project,” an organization formed in Fuld’s memory, whose main focus is to lend support to IDF soldiers, along with the Gush Etzion Foundation, which supports projects in many areas of life throughout Gush Etzion and beyond. 

Since the start of the war, both entities have been extremely active in providing soldiers on the front lines with essential equipment.

During the event at the Lamed-Hey base, which included the affixing of a new mezuzah to the synagogue’s main door, along with afternoon and evening prayer services, soldiers from the base offered support to the families, while the families themselves were getting to know each other, exchanging phone numbers. 

Alon Shvut residents Dov and Ayelet Silberg, who attended the ceremony, lost their son Netanel, a team commander in the elite combat engineering corps’ Yahalom unit, during a battle with terrorists in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shujaiya on Dec. 18. The Silbergs donated new prayer books to the synagogue. 

Image - Josh Hasten