Chanuka is the chag of Torah preserved against the odds. For 73 years, Chinuch Atzmai has done one thing: kept the Torah alive in the homes of children whose families could no longer pass it forward themselves. This Chanuka, that work continues — one child, one classroom, one bus, one home at a time.
The Chanuka of 5786 falls in the part of the year when most American Jewish charitable giving happens — the calendar year is closing, end-of-year tax planning is in motion, and many families gather around the menorah and ask each other where the year's tzedakah should go.
If your family is asking that question this Chanuka, here is the answer Chinuch Atzmai offers: $30 a month sponsors a child's place at a Torah school in Eretz Yisrael for a year — including transportation, lunch, mentor support, and the structure that holds the chain of mesorah unbroken in a country where, without it, the chain would not always hold.
1. Begin a recurring sponsorship. The most enduring Chanuka gift is the one that keeps lighting next year too. Start a monthly sponsorship at $30, $60, or $180 in the first night of Chanuka and the chinuch you sustain will continue past Tu B'Shevat, Pesach, the bein hazmanim, the new school year — every month, with no further effort.
2. Make a one-time Chanuka gift. Chai-multiples ($18, $36, $180, $360) are the traditional structure, and we welcome them. A one-time gift before December 31 is also a 2025 tax deduction in the U.S. — see our year-end giving guide for the deadline mechanics.
3. Give in a tribute. Many families designate Chanuka tzedakah l'iluy nishmas a parent or grandparent. We will record the dedication permanently and renew it each year on the same Hebrew date. Add a tribute →
The Chashmonaim won the war but the Chanuka miracle is the oil — a small thing the world insisted couldn't last, that lasted anyway because it was preserved with care. The Hebrew root chinuch shares its meaning: to dedicate, to consecrate, to begin a life in service of something larger than itself. That is what these schools do every morning, in classrooms in Sderot and Karmiel and Kiryat Gat, with children from homes where Torah is not yet a daily presence.
The Chanuka gift to Chinuch Atzmai is not metaphorical. It is a direct continuation of the same work — taking a small flame and keeping it lit through circumstances that would otherwise extinguish it. For the duration of the chag, and for the duration of the year that follows, the chain holds because of donors who decide it should.
$30/month, beginning tonight, sustains a child's full year of Torah education in Eretz Yisrael. 501(c)(3) · EIN 13-1965385 · receipt by email within minutes.
Begin a sponsorship →