Moshe Ya’alon, Vice Prime Minister of Israel, spoke to students of Shalhevet and YULA at B’nai David-Judea Dec. 8 about the concept of heroism and the political situation in the Holy Land.

The synagogue’s large sanctuary was filled with excitement as students reunited with friends from elementary school whom they don’t get to see on a regular basis. The seating was unexpectedly mixed between the YULA and Shalhevet students, although with a separation between the girls and the boys of either school.

Part of Bnei Akiva Los Angeles’s annual “Heroism Week,”  the assembly opened with a video about Israeli pride and how teens should be as involved as possible with events in Israel. Apart from the vice prime minister, numerous speakers spoke at the assembly, some about the Dec. 2 fires in Haifa.

“We all need to be involved in Israel,” said a speaker on the video.

Throughout the event, poor acoustics in the large and high-ceilinged sanctuary made it difficult to hear. The Vice Prime Minister spoke about heroism and Chanukah, but most found it hard or impossible to understand him and many students were unsure as to what the main goal of the assembly was.

Still, Judaic Studies Principal Rabbi Leubitz thought the gathering had been worthwhile.

“It was a wonderful community event and I hope we will have future events where highschoolers from different Orthodox schools can learn and daven together,” Rabbi Leubitz said.

There was also a question-and-answer session with Mr. Ya’alon. Rabbis, along with a few students, asked about different topics such as how the Prime Minister’s military experience influences his political decisions. It was hard to hear what the questions and answers were due to the size of the room and the lack of a microphone.