The Otzem Torah Academy was founded in the year 5753 (1993) in Atzmona. It came to fill a social and educational void felt by youth across the spectrum of the Religious Zionist community. The Academy is led by HaRav Rafi Peretz. He and a large staff of rabbis unsparingly devote their time and energy to the Academy’s students. With great pain and suffering, the Academy’s beit midrash (study hall) was uprooted from Atzmona in the summer of 5765. In spite of this kamnu vanitodad – “we rose up and gained strength” – and the Academy was reestablished in Moshav Yated, located in Cholot Chalutzah. The Academy’s goal is to cultivate individuals devoted to the entire Jewish People and who draw their values from the faith and Torah of Israel.