Embrace 2.0 - Rising Lion Resilience Fund

In the aftermath of the October 7th massacre, the Center for Jewish Impact launched the Embrace Campaign to support families and frontline communities shattered by disaster. What began as an emergency response to the horrors in southern Israel grew into a global expression of solidarity – one that delivered critical aid to survivors, restored educational frameworks, and rebuilt broken communities for 634 days and counting. On June 13, 2025, in an attempt to halt Iran's nuclear program, Israel launched the Rising Lion operation, a precise preemptive strike on key Iranian military and nuclear facilities. Iran retaliated with a barrage of ballistic missiles, drones, and cruise missiles aimed at Israeli civilian centers. While Israel’s defense systems performed remarkably, several civilian sites were struck, leaving behind devastation and emotional scars. As the dust settles, the Center for Jewish Impact is expanding the Embrace Campaign to support the communities most affected. The road to healing is long, but we do not walk it alone. Just as we stood together after October 7th, so too must we stand together now. The Embrace Campaign 2.0 invites our global network of partners and supporters to show up once again – with compassion, with commitment, and with the resolve to help Israel’s most vulnerable communities recover and rebuild. We created the Embrace 2.0 Resilience Fund to support several causes that require immediate attention following the 12-day Rising Lion operation, with the goal of securing USD 595,000. 1. Restore Bat Yam’s Kindergartens In Bat Yam, a city located in the geographic and socio-economic heart of Israel, one of the most heavily damaged areas was Shikun Amidar – a community already struggling with systemic poverty. Classified in the lower range of Israel’s SES (socio-economic status) scale, Amidar is home to Holocaust survivors, immigrants, and working-class families. Buildings were damaged, homes left exposed, and families displaced. The resilience of this community is remarkable, but without swift assistance, recovery will be slow and painful. Among the most heartbreaking outcomes of the attack was the significant physical damage to three kindergartens in Amidar. These were safe, nurturing spaces for dozens of children – many from low-income and immigrant families – offering stability, education, and emotional support. The destruction has left young children without a school, parents without options, and a community grieving the loss of its most foundational services. Rebuilding these kindergartens is not just about infrastructure, it’s about restoring hope and normalcy to the next generation. Fundraising Goal: USD 200,000 2. Rehabilitate the Educational Spaces at Soroka Medical Center Soroka Medical Center – one of Israel’s largest and most vital hospitals, located in Be’er Sheva and serving over one million residents of the Negev, Jews and Muslim alike – suffered a direct missile strike and sustained significant damage. Critical infrastructure was impacted, including emergency rooms, pediatric units, diagnostic equipment, and educational spaces. As the only Level I trauma center in the south, its impairment jeopardizes care for the most vulnerable – including children, seniors, and soldiers. Among the affected areas are the hospital’s educational spaces, which are vital for providing hospitalized children with a sense of continuity, normalcy, and emotional support. Classrooms, digital learning equipment, educational materials, therapeutic games, and furniture were all damaged or rendered unusable. Fundraising Goal: USD 120,000 3. Scholarships for Displaced Students In addition to the physical destruction, the attack disrupted the academic paths of many young Israelis. Numerous students lost their homes, personal belongings, and means of support overnight. Embrace will provide urgent scholarships for 20 displaced students, including those enrolled at Ben-Gurion University in Be’er Sheva and Ono Academic College in Kiryat Ono. These students – some of whom have lost everything – face deep uncertainty about their futures. The scholarships will help them afford basic necessities, secure housing, and continue their studies with dignity, preventing a generation of talent and promise from falling behind. Fundraising Goal: USD 150,000 4. A Balcony of Hope – Abarbanel Hospital “A Balcony of Hope” is a therapeutic-educational initiative for adolescents hospitalized in the psychiatric wards of Abarbanel Hospital. These teens, coping with severe emotional and mental health challenges, experienced significant distress following the Israel-Iran war. The day hospitalization program was shut down, leaving youth without structure in unstable home environments, while those in full inpatient care remained in Bat Yam under ongoing rocket attacks. The combination of psychiatric vulnerability and external trauma led to emotional regression, heightened anxiety, and a breakdown in therapeutic continuity. To address this, we propose establishing a permanent therapeutic balcony within the hospital’s school – an outdoor, covered, and secure space serving all adolescent wards. The balcony will include an open-air classroom, an art space, and a therapeutic garden based on principles of horticultural therapy. This calming, creative environment will offer hospitalized teens a safe space for emotional regulation, self-expression, and gradual reconnection to the outside world, restoring a sense of control, resilience, and hope during an especially fragile time. Fundraising Goal: USD 55,000 5. Coffee for the Soul “Coffee for the Soul” is an innovative therapeutic project for adolescents in the day hospitalization program at the Ness Ziona Mental Health Center, operated through the Dekalim School – a therapeutic educational framework located on hospital grounds. These teens face complex emotional challenges including trauma, depression, social anxiety, and adjustment disorders. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Iran war, with constant sirens and security threats, their emotional stability has been severely impacted. The temporary closure of the program, disconnection from the therapeutic routine, and return to stressful, unstable home environments led to significant regression, increased anxiety, and a deepening sense of helplessness and isolation. In response, we propose establishing a permanent therapeutic coffee truck – an accessible, semi-open, and structured space offering youth the chance to build practical life skills within a guided emotional framework. Participants will learn to prepare coffee and hot drinks, bake, manage inventory and finances, provide customer service, and handle real-time challenges – all under therapeutic supervision. This experience fosters confidence, social engagement, emotional regulation, and prepares them for reintegration into the community after discharge, supporting long-term recovery and independence. The coffee truck will also serve adult inpatients at the hospital, offering a quiet and calming space for human connection and emotional relief during an ongoing crisis. It will become a multi-layered therapeutic environment – bridging departments, generations, and emotional needs – creating moments of dignity, connection, and healing, one cup of coffee at a time. Fundraising Goal: USD 70,000