Rarely is a partnership so unlikely. Sapir Academic College and the Ghetto Fighter’s (Lohamei HaGeta’ot) Kibbutz have joined forces with inmates from the Ayalon Prison to honor the lives of Righteous Gentiles who saved Jews during the Holocaust.

It’s a project of Radio Focus, a groundbreaking, inmate rehabilitation initiative of the Israel Prison Service in cooperation with Sapir’s Communications Department. At Radio Focus, inmates serve as writers, editors, radio hosts and announcers. Now they’ve produced an outstanding series of podcasts on the lives of courageous Gentiles who risked their own safety to protect Jews from the Nazi murder machine.  Among others, episodes profile heroes like Chiune Sugihara, the Japanese diplomat who helped thousands of Jews flee Europe; Muhammad Helmi, the Egyptian born doctor who hid Jews in Berlin during the war; and Anton Schmidt, a Sergeant in the Wermacht who helped 250 Jews escape the Bialystok ghetto, ultimately paying with his life for this act of bravery.  It takes courage to save a life.  It also takes courage to change one’s life.  Sapir is helping people overcome their past by sharing tales of moral valor that can inspire us all.

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Tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers have seen combat in the Gaza Strip since last October, but not all of them leave the war behind when they come back home. Many suffer combat and operational stress, reactions that could lead to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and even suicide. Now, cutting edge research by Dr. Leah Shelef, Dean of the School of Social Work at Sapir College, is seeking the most effective way to treat – and prevent – these dangerous outcomes.
While Israel considers how to revitalize the devastated communities of Hevel Tkuma / Gaza Envelope, Sapir Academic College has just taken the first step. Sapir, the academic nerve center of the entire Western Negev, will devote most of its NIS 200 million in government rehabilitation funding to scholarships, enabling more students from diverse backgrounds to study in the region. Its flagship initiative will be free tuition for all first-year students.