By Heidi Gantwerk
SAN DIEGO — More than two years after the horrific attacks of October 7, Israel is beginning a new chapter. With the remaining living hostages finally home, a sense of relief and renewal is taking hold. Yet there are still hostages to be returned to their families for a proper burial, and the ceasefire is fragile at best. The emotional, social, and economic scars run deep, and the work of healing has only just begun.
Thanks to contributions to our Israel Emergency Fund, hope and resilience continue to take root in Sha’ar HaNegev and across Israel. I want to share how your generosity has been put to work as Israel rebuilds, recovers, and looks toward a stronger future.
Beit Melachah: Healing Through Art
Your gifts helped seed the revamping of Beit Melachah, a center for arts and therapy founded by Livnat Kutz z”l, who was murdered on October 7 along with her family. With $750,000 from our Israel Emergency Campaign and additional support from donors across San Diego, we met our campaign goal of $1.7 million in June.
The revitalized Beit Melachah will house creative learning spaces, carpentry and ceramics workshops, a therapeutic kitchen, a science and innovation center, and secure safe rooms. It will serve as a sanctuary for children and adults alike – transforming grief into healing through creativity and community.
While various Beit Melachah programs and initiatives have already launched across the kibbutzim, construction on the main building is officially underway and is expected to be complete by the summer.
Investing in Children and Youth
We know children in Sha’ar HaNegev deserve the chance to simply be kids again. With your support, new informal education programs are up and running across the kibbutzim, giving young people safe spaces to learn, play, and grow outside of traditional school hours.
During my most recent visit to Israel – alongside many of San Diego’s Jewish agency leaders as part of Federation’s Gesher program – we met Lital, a community educator who has been training youth guides to be “significant adults” for the traumatized youth of the region. These youth guides work throughout the day and into the evenings and weekends individually and in groups with children from throughout the municipality. We participated in a photo workshop with the middle school students from Kibbutz Givim, and it was one of the most creative and joyful hours of our trip. Those moments of normalcy are deeply healing after so much loss.
Grassroots Community Projects
Together with our partners at Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and Impact Cubed, we’ve funded more than 30 grassroots community building initiatives for the individual communities in Sha’ar HaNegev designed and led by residents themselves. These range from pubs, playgrounds, art exhibits, and food trucks to community dinners, music rooms, study groups, and even ping pong clubs.
Each project is volunteer-driven and strengthens trust, connection, and resilience. They represent a new chapter in the relationship between San Diego and Sha’ar HaNegev – every kibbutz and moshav now knows us and feels our partnership in a way never before experienced.
We also got to see many of these projects on our Gesher trip and witness our collective impact in action. The emotional impact of seeing vibrant communal life return cannot be overstated. Here are just a few examples:
3D Printing & Makers Workshop
In Dorot, residents are building skills and resilience through a new makerspace focused on 3D printing and creative design. This workshop gives teens and adults hands-on experience with cutting-edge technology while fostering collaboration across generations. From designing prototypes to printing functional tools, participants are not only learning valuable skills but also rebuilding confidence and community connection in the wake of trauma.
“Youth Cooking for a Future” Food Truck
Teens in Mefalsim are now running their own food truck. Beyond providing delicious meals, this initiative gives 14–18-year-olds hands-on experience in business management, culinary arts, and community service. Their involvement – from sourcing the truck to planning menus – offers purpose, skills, and a path forward in the face of trauma.
Community Music Room
In Nir Am, a once-empty space is being transformed into a vibrant music room where youth and adults alike can gather, rehearse, and perform. Renovation work is nearly complete, with new equipment and furnishings turning it into a hub for creativity and connection. The space now hosts community bands, an orchestra, music lessons, and concerts—restoring the rhythm of daily life and filling the kibbutz once again with sound, energy, and hope.
BarKatze Pub
Designed and built by young adults, this vibrant pub in Yahini has quickly become an anchor for the region’s next generation. Each week, young people from across Sha’ar HaNegev gather here for music, conversation, and connection – a vital space for joy, friendship, and belonging. Investing in young adults is essential to ensuring the long-term vitality of Israel’s southern communities, and BarKatze Pub stands as a shining example of what that investment makes possible.
There are dozens of other projects, large and small, that your generosity has made possible. And now, the next phase begins. Far from being over, experts anticipate a new wave of demand for mental health and trauma support as Israelis navigate the long road to recovery.
If October 7 taught us anything, it’s that we need each other more than ever. The people of Sha’ar HaNegev – our partners, our extended family – continue to carry both the pain and the promise of rebuilding. Together, we’ve seen how connection can heal, how partnership can restore hope, and how community can rebuild what was once unthinkably lost.
By supporting Federation, you strengthen Jewish life here in San Diego, in Israel and Sha’ar HaNegev, and around the world. Your continued generosity fuels everything we do to help communities thrive for generations to come. Every gift, no matter the size, sustains this vital work and ensures that, wherever Jews are in need, we show up for one another.
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Heidi Gantwerk is President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Diego.