The Eternal Flame of Hebron

August 08, 2007

http://www.hebron.com/english/gallery.php?id=209
http://www.hebron.com/english/gallery.php?id=208

Beginning early Monday night the Hebron Jewish Community switched gears, moving into full-speed expulsion mode. The community had been gearing up for the planned expulsion for a few weeks, while at the same time conducting talks with various political and legal authorities in the Knesset and Defense ministry. Months ago the Hebron leadership authorized former Justice Minister, attorney Ya'akov Neeman to present a compromise solution to the issue at hand.

The Avraham Avinu neighborhood was founded by Jews exiled from Spain in 1540. This was the central Jewish community in Hebron for almost 400 years, until the 1929 massacre abruptly decimated the community, with the survivors of the pogrom expelled by the occupying British forces.

Land adjacent to the Jewish Quarter was purchased by Rabbi Haim Bajayo in 1807 on behalf of the community. Following the 1929 expulsion, Hebron Arabs constructed a market place – the Hebron "shuk" at this site. This market operated thru the 1990s – 2000s, being closed in stages by the Israeli Defense Forces for security reasons. The leases on the building expired and Hebron leaders requested to rent them. All requests were denied by the Israeli custodian for abandoned property, under whose auspices the buildings fell.

Following the murder of 10-month old Shalhevet Pass in March, 2001, Hebron residents moved into these empty structures and slowly transformed them into beautiful apartments, nine in number, as well as a Beit Midrash (Torah Study Hall) in Shalhevet's memory. They lived in these apartments for five years, during which time the issue revolved in the Israeli courts, in an effort to remove us from the buildings. A military appeals court recognized the community's ownership of the land and recommended that the buildings be leased to the Jewish community, however this recommendation was rejected by the state Attorney General Eliyakim Rubenstein.

After the expulsion from Gush Katif, the prosecutor's office decided to finally evict families from these apartments also. The day prior to the planned expulsion, community leaders met with General Yair Golan, commander of forces in Judea and Samaria, who offered them a deal. If the community would agree to voluntarily leave the apartments, the government would allow families to 'legally' return within a few months. Following a debate and vote in the middle of the night, the community accepted the deal. The next day the families moved out. A few days later the Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz, publicly announced that 'there had never been a deal.' He later changed this, stating that there had been an agreement, but General Yair Golan was unauthorized to finalize such a deal and it was null and void. This, despite the fact that Golan conducted numerous conversations with his superiors in the Defense ministry during the meeting with him in order to receive authorization to conclude the agreement.

Ten months ago two of the families who had agreed to move out of their homes, moved back in. Left with nowhere to live, and realizing that the agreement would never be honored, they decided enough is enough. With community backing, they returned to their abandoned homes. A few weeks ago the Supreme Court ruled that the government had the authority to again expel them, should they want to. The Israeli prosecutor's office, together with the 'Civil Administration' immediately issued expulsion orders. The families, with community support, refused to again leave voluntarily. Yesterday the expulsion orders were executed.

Hundreds of people came to Hebron to support the families and community. They filled the two family's apartments, as well as a third vacant apartment in the complex. The security forces numbered well over one thousand, including police, border police, the riot squad, and soldiers. At about 6:15 in the morning they attacked.

The doors to the apartments had been welded shut, so it took them some time to break in. People in the apartments offered no violent resistance, but just about everyone had to be dragged out. Where no cameras present, riot squad forces utilized excessive force, beating people and dragging them by their necks. A number of people were injured and necessitated medical treatment.

Within about two hours the apartments were vacant of people. The security forces then began destroying them, literally tearing the apartments apart. Amongst the rooms destroyed was the study hall/synagogue built in Shalhevet Pass' memory. All that was left was the eternal light, left hanging from the ceiling.

Ironically, this, more that anything else, represents the mood of Hebron's Jewish community. On the one hand, we have faced tremendous adversity and demolition. The site of people's homes in ruins is sickening. On the other hand, we know that the city of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the city where David began the Israelite monarchy, is an essential, eternal element of the Jewish people, which can never be extinguished.

True, there are those who would desire to exterminate us, literally. A veteran, respected Israeli journalist/commentator, Yaron London, said during a television show that the IDF shouldn't have wasted so many soldiers to evict families from their homes. Rather, they should have sent in a small unit and shot the resistors, 'reawakening the spirit of the Altelena.' [ http://news.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=505495&TypeID=1&sid=126 ]

However, we know that that the light of Hebron, the light of Avraham Avinu, the light of Eretz Yisrael, cannot and never will be doused, not by politicians, not by police and not by bullets. Nothing can destroy the eternal flame of the Jewish people, certainly not the everlasting glow of the holy city of Hebron .

Hebron and Darfur

August 3, 2007

A few days ago I toured with an American family from California. A fifteen-sixteen year old youth asked me the same question any number of times during the two hours we spent together. I don't know if I was able to satisfactorily respond to his queries.

When we were at Beit Hadassah and I described how the women and children living there were surrounded and lived under siege, he asked, "What, Arab police surrounded them?" My response was, of course, "no, Jewish police." "But why would Jewish police do something like that?" he asked.

When I told them the story of a little boy with a tooth-ache who was sent from Beit Hadassah to nearby Kiryat Arba to the dentist, who upon returning to Beit Hadassah wasn't allowed back in, he again asked, "An Arab guard wouldn't let him in?" And of course again I answered, 'no, a Jewish guard." "But why would a Jew do that to a child?"

When we arrived at the Shalhevet neighborhood, the 'shuk,' and I related to them the events leading up to next week's planned expulsion of two families from that site, again he piped up, "Arabs are going to throw you out?" And of course I responded, 'no, Jews are going to expel us.'

He looked at me with astonishment, his eyes wide, filled with question marks. "I don't understand. What does the Israeli government care about two families in the Shalhevet neighborhood in Hebron? Why are they going to forcibly expel families? How can they do that?!"

Very good questions, coming from a young man, first time in Hebron. I have trouble giving him a good answer. Not that I don't know the answer. The question is, how to express it, so that it will be comprehensible.

Yesterday Hebron marked the 78^th anniversary of the 1929 riots and massacre during which 67 Jews were slaughtered and over 70 injured. The Washington Post article, which I responded to last week, stated that the survivors 'fled.' This is, of course, a lie. The survivors were expelled. They weren't expelled once. They were expelled twice. First in August, 1929 following the riots, and then again, in the spring of 1936. A large group of families desired to return to Hebron, but were prevented from doing so due to 'political considerations' determined by the Jewish leadership at the time. However a group of some 30 families did move back to Hebron in 1931, and lived in the city until a few days after Passover in 1936. At that time the British again expelled them, saying that the Mufti was inciting, there was going to be trouble, and that the British police wouldn't be able to protect them. They threw them out with the clothes they were wearing, but nothing else. That was the end of a Hebron Jewish community until our return in 1967. It was, for all intensive purposes, the first time in almost a thousand years that Hebron had no Jewish population.

In the 1920s and the 1930s there was no Jewish state, no Jewish army, no Jewish ability to truly defend themselves. Today, 78 years later, we have Jewish police, Jewish military, a Jewish government, a Jewish state. It seems that they prefer not to follow in the footsteps of the first Jew, Abraham, who, being commanded by G-d to "Lech Lecha" to "Go" to walk the land, the length and width of Eretz Yisrael, did just that, stopping only in Hebron, making this city his home, the first Jewish city in the Land of Israel. Rather, the Israeli state, using all of the resources available to such a sovereign body, prefers to follow in the footsteps of the Mufti and the British.

Ah, you ask, the Mufti? The Mufti slaughtered people. How can you compare the Israeli government to Haj Amin el Husseini, a Jew-hater whose incitement led to the 1929 riots?

Very clearly, Amin el Husseini's goal was the expulsion of Jews, starting with Hebron, and reaching Jerusalem, and other cities in Israel. He wanted Jews out, and cared not how it happened. He had plans to annihilate all the Jews living in Eretz Yisrael following Rommel's expected invasion of Israel during World War Two. He met with Hitler in Berlin in the 1930s and clearly discussed more than formation of the Muslim Brigades, which fought against the allied forces in Europe.

And our government, where are they? Are they defending their people? Where are they today, as Kasam rockets continue to fall on Sderot? Where were they last year when rockets fired from Lebanon blasted northern Israel? How are they, at present, preserving not only the physical entity of the State of Israel, but also its heritage, its history, its essence?

Yesterday, the new-old Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, effectively declared war on Hebron's Jewish residents, and seemingly on all Jews living in Judea and Samaria. Barak received first-hand information from high-ranking legal advisors within the administration that the families do not have to be expelled from their homes, that there is no court ruling compelling forced eviction of the families, and that there are legally viable alternatives to the expulsion which could be acceptable to both sides. (One of Hebron's ranking legal advisors, former Justice Minister Ya'akov Neeman offered such a compromise, labeled the "Neeman plan" months ago, on behalf of the community, but the compromise was rejected for reasons not specified.) Despite this information, despite the chance to avoid what could turn into an ugly clash, Barak prefers to flex his muscles and show the country what he's made of: Black uniforms, hard-rubber batons, tear gas, and lots of force. Blood, sweat and tears. ('Settler blood and tears, or course!) (The last time such a decision was taken, the result was Amona).

A year and a half ago, nine Hebron families and a Torah study hall voluntarily left these homes in order to prevent what could have been an extremely violent situation. The community was given a firm promise, in the form of an agreement with the commander of forces in Judea and Samaria, General Yair Golan, that following our voluntary exit from the homes, families would soon be allowed to 'legally' return. That was a year and a half ago. The agreement was voided by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, using the excuse that Golan was not authorized to make the agreement. This, despite the fact that the General was on and off the phone with his bosses in the Defense Ministry during the meeting with Hebron representatives in order to receive their OK to the compromise.

Again we've been told that 'we can talk about the shuk after the families leave.' We've been through that once, once too many times. Not again. The property is Jewish property. A military appeals court recommended that the buildings be leased to the Hebron Jewish community. This too was rejected. What more do they want?

The answer to that seems very clear: they are looking for blood. Jewish blood. Shades of the Mufti – shades of the British; blood and expulsion. Not by Arabs and British, rather by Jews. Astounding. And very sad.

One of this morning's headlines in the ynetnews internet news site proclaims: 63 MKs demand that Israel not expel refugees from Sudan. [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L- 3433224,00.html] So now I have a new idea. Let's bring those refugees to Hebron and let them live in shuk. That way nobody will dare touch them. Unless, of course, they convert. Once they're Jewish, watch out. Then, for sure, they'll face expulsion: not from Israel, but from the Shalhevet neighborhood in Hebron.

Eretz Yisrael or Soviet Israel

July 25, 2007

Yesterday the Jewish people marked the fast day, Tisha b'Av – the ninth day of Av. Exactly 1938 years ago the heart of Israel went up in flames. On the 9^th day of Av the Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman army. Some 650 years previously, on the exact same day, the First Temple was razed by the Babylonians. That day, Tisha b'Av, the 9^th day of the month of Av, is commemorated each year as a fast day, from sunset to sunset.

Other inauspicious also occurred on the same date. Most well known was the expulsion from Spain in 1492. The decree ordering Jews to leave Spain was issued on March 31, 1492. The expulsion was to be completed by July 31 of that year. July 31 was the 9^th of Av. [http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayd.htm]

However, most significant was the first Tisha b'Av, marked by the rejection of Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel, by the Israelites, who had been liberated from Egypt only months earlier. Moses sent 12 men to spy the Land. Those men were the leaders of the people, the 'president' of each of the 12 tribes. The best of the best. According to Jewish sources, they realized that upon entrance into the Land of Israel they would be replaced, they would no longer be 'leaders.' As a result, upon their return to Moses and the rest of the Israelites, ten of them slandered the Land, calling it a land of giants that devours it inhabitants. Only two of the spies rejected this slander, Joshua and Kalev, exclaiming that Israel is a 'very very good land.' But they were not able to convince the majority who tore their clothes, wailed and demanded to return to Egypt. As a result, G-d decreed this day to be a day of hardship and mourning, and so it has remained over the centuries.

In other words, the root of Tisha b'Av, the ninth day of Av, is the rejection of our G-d-given Land, of Eretz Yisrael.

The mourning period, prior to Tisha b'Av is quite intense and, in many respects, difficult. With the advent of the month of Av, many religious Jews refrained from eating meat or drinking wine until after the fast. In addition, they did not wear freshly laundered clothing or bathe for 10 days. It would be expected that following the path of thousands of years of history, thousands of years of calamity, destruction and mourning, our people would have learned the lesson of Tisha b'Av. Unfortunately it seems that this has yet to be learned and internalized.

Just 10 days ago, as the grief of the month of Av began, the state of Israel 'celebrated' the inauguration of the state's ninth president. The commencement of Shimon Peres' reign as president is another reason to mourn. Shimon Peres is the embodiment of the vile spies, who, thousands of years ago, maligned and rejected Eretz Yisrael.

Peres was the driving force behind Oslo over 13 years ago. As was then, still today. On the day of his inauguration the eleventh spy proclaimed, "We have to rid ourselves of the 'territories'".

The Prime Minister has mouthed the same thoughts: we shouldn't fool ourselves – we won't be able to hold on to the 'territories.' He has ordered the notorious minister Haim Ramon, recently convicted of a 'sex crime' to head up expulsion from and destruction of 'hilltop communities.' Ramon recently suggested a 'toned-down' disengagement: rather than abandon some 90% of Yesha, as Olmert proposed following the last elections, Ramon called for an abandonment of 'only' 70% of Yesha.

The Churban – the destruction of 1938 years ago continues.

One of the most difficult and emotional episodes faced during these days of mourning began today, exactly two years ago, when Gush Katif was deleted from the face of the earth. Not only is the memory heartbreaking. It is also nauseating. Last week a number of programs on radio, and articles in the press 'questioned' the wisdom of Sharon's 'vision,' bringing about the churan of Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. Hundreds and thousands have been left without employment or permanent housing. Homes have been broken; students who once excelled in their studies lost all motivation to continue. People who were 'temporarily housed' at certain Kibbutzim find themselves again about to be expelled from their homes due to disagreements between the government and the kibbutz administration concerning the cost of rent. The state of Israel has, for all intensive purposes, abandoned these people, who gave their entire lives to the 'greening of the desert,' who suffered mortar attacks and terror killings for years and years, yet refused to give up.

And of course, the result of Israel's abandonment of Gush Katif was readily known long before the expulsion. That land would be utilized as a base from which to attack Israel. Now, two years later, the Israeli media, one of the main stalwarts of Sharon's madness, is 'starting to ask questions.' Maybe, just maybe Israel made a mistake?! It really is nauseating.

Over the past week hundreds and thousands of youth have attempted to return to Homesh, one of the two communities destroyed in the northern Shomron. From the highest point in Homesh you can view the Israeli coast, from Netanya to Ashdod and Ashkelon. This land, now cleared of all Jews, is still under Israeli control. But Israelis are forbidden from being there, in accordance with the expulsion law passed some two and a half years ago, legalizing the uprooting of 10,000 Jews from their homes.

Of course those brave souls, walking for hours to reach their destination because roads were closed off by security forces, we 'greeted' by baton-wielding police who beat them and dragged them away. However, these people never give up and have sworn to return again and again, until the Homesh community is rebuilt on the ruins of the destroyed town.

And what about Hebron? The craziness continues here too. The story of the Shalhevet neighborhood – the 'shuk' is well known. The 'shuk' - the area of the old Arab market, was built on Jewish property purchased in 1807. The market was closed years ago and the buildings left vacant. Following the murder of the 10-month old infant, Shalhevet Pass, in March 2001, we moved into those buildings and renovated them, transforming them into apartments for 9 families and a study hall in Shalhevet's memory.

Following the expulsion from Gush Katif, the government decided to expel us from those apartments too. The day before their ultimatum expired, ordering us out, they offered us a deal: we leave voluntarily, and the government would work out an arrangement allowing us to move back in 'legally' in a short period of time.

We had a 'town meeting' about this in the middle of the night and took a vote, and it was decided to opt for the deal. The next day the families moved out. That was over a year and a half ago, and we still aren't back in. The attorney general first denied a deal had been made and then later, admitted it had been agreed upon, but voided it.

Some months ago two of the families who had moved out of the "Shalhevet neighborhood" moved back in for lack of any other place to live. When the authorities discovered them this too started bouncing around in the courts. Last week they were presented with eviction notices, demanding they move out by this Friday at 12 noon or be forcibly expelled.

We have decided not to move out willingly this time around. The families won't leave voluntarily. The Israeli government has a moral obligation to allow Jews to live on Jewish land in Hebron, especially at this site, having been evicted with the promise of return. Enough expulsions, enough abandonment of Jewish land, enough broken promises. This time we will not give up easily!

In a few days we will mark the 78^th anniversary of the 1929 Hebron massacre which left 67 dead, 70 wounded and hundreds expelled from their homes in Hebron. Is the Israeli government going to follow in the footsteps of our Forefather Abraham, who settled the land, who settled Hebron, or in the footsteps of Haj Amin el Husseini, whose murderous incitement led to the riots, slaughter and expulsion? Do we live in Eretz Yisrael or Soviet Israel?

The following letter was sent today to Defense Minister Ehud Barak by Chairman of seven Knesset factions:

To Defense Minister Ehud Barak:

At the present time, when we are marking 78 years since the 1929 riots, you are faced with a fateful decision concerning one of the sites which represents, more than anything else, the murder and the thievery of the Hebron Jewish community of those days: the site of the 'shuk' in Hebron, where presently several families are living.

We the undersigned, chairmen of various parties in the Knesset, turn to you with this request to refrain from expelling these Jewish families living in the 'shuk' and to study alternative ways to resolve Jewish quarters at this site, legally.

Before our eyes are the following factors:

1. We are dealing with Jewish-owned land, which was stolen as a result of the terrible slaughter. It is incumbent on the government to act to return the stolen property as would be expected in relationship to stolen Jewish property anywhere in the world.
2. The preset time is a time of reconciliation, during which we are attempting to refrain from conflicts which are avoidable. A solution to this issue, was suggested by a highly respected attorney, former Justice minister Dr. Ya'akov Ne'eman. This should be seriously studied prior to physical conflicts which would almost inevitably occur.
3. The residents of Hebron prevented violence and conflict similar to the occurrences in "Amona" when they voluntarily moved out of these homes, based upon promises that they would be allowed to return, honoring and respecting promises of representatives of the state, IDF officers. This type of approach is to be encouraged and rewarded, not discouraged.
4. The continued residency of Jews in the shuk does not harm Hebron's Arabs, who have enjoyed an alternative modern market place in the Palestinian side of the city. The site also does not expand the Jewish community of Hebron at all. We are speaking of maintaining the status quo and preventing actions which could cause instability in this sensitive area.

For all the above reasons, we request, that you order that the issue of Jewish residency in the shuk be studied seriously, and that in any case, you prevent, for the time being, any eviction of Jewish residents from the site.

Sincerely,

Knesset party chairmen:

Yoel Hasson, Kadima

Meir Porush, Yahadut HaTorah

Uri Ariel, National Union-NRP

Gideon Saar – Likud

Robert Ilatov – Yisrael Beitanu

Ya'akov Margi – Shas

Moshe Sharoni – Retirees

Aunt Rosa Comes Home

May 20, 2007

Last week was Hebron Liberation Day, celebrating the 40^th anniversary of the return to the City of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs during the 1967 Six-day War.

This is always a momentous event, and this year even more so, considering all that's been happening in Israel over the past months and years.

When the Israel Defense Forces entered Hebron in June of 1967 they found white sheets hanging from the rooftops and windows. In actuality, the city was captured by one man, Rabbi General Shlomo Goren, then Chief Rabbi of the IDF, who liberated the city single-handedly. He was one of the first Jews to gain access to the second holiest site to the Jewish people in the all the world, Ma'arat HaMachpela – the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, in 700 hundred years. In 1267, following the capture of Hebron by the Mameluks, who expelled the occupied Crusaders, that holy site was declared a Mosque, off-limits to anyone not of the Islamic faith. And so it remained until the first week of June, 1967.

However, Rabbi Goren was in for a surprise. Defense Minister Moshe Dayan ordered that the Israeli flag, hanging on the side of the Ma'ara's outside wall, be removed and that all visitors entering the building remove their shoes 'because it's a mosque.' Those orders were later rescinded, but the policy was set and, in many respects, hasn't changed to this very day.

Despite the odds, Hebron remained in Jewish hands, and slowly developed. But when the Hebron accords were signed and implemented ten years ago, it seemed that the survival of Hebron's Jewish community was in jeopardy. With the advent of the Oslo War, otherwise known and the second intifada, and the daily shooting attacks from the surrounding hills into the Jewish neighborhoods, it looked like the blackest predictions might materialize. But they didn't. Hebron's Jewish community continues to thrive and prosper in spite of the problems. Our purchase and entrance into Beit HaShalom – the peace house, between Hebron and Kiryat Arba, proves the point.

How does one celebrate such a momentous occasion? Hebron Day itself, was Thursday, and I was privileged to spend most of the day with an old friend and partner to 'the cause,' Nachum Segal, host of the popular morning radio show in the New York metropolitan area, JM in the AM. On Thursday Nachum broadcast live from Hebron his entire show, which was a lot of fun. Using a make-shift studio in the Gutnick Center, just outside Ma'arat HaMachpela, Nachum, together with Hebron Fund director Yossi Baumol, interviewed numerous Hebron residents and personalities, giving listeners a real feel for the joy of the day. In addition the show was broadcast live on internet (audio and video). (Pictures and the sound track can be heard via the Hebron web site.)

This wasn't the first time Nachum broadcast live from Hebron. Over eleven years ago he broadcast via a cell phone and toured the city with Noam Arnon and myself. That too was a show I'll never forget. Nachum Segal is a true friend and associate in everything we do here, bringing Hebron to tens of thousands of people.

However, in reality, I didn't really feel Hebron Day until Friday afternoon, in a very round-about, yet somewhat direct fashion.

One of my friends called earlier in the week and asked if a Shabbat guest could sleep at our apartment on Friday night and I agreed. Friday afternoon a pleasant-looking middle-aged gentleman, dressed in a suit and tie and speaking with an accent appeared at our door. He introduced himself as Mordechai and came in. After a cup of tea and some introductory small talk, he asked if he could use my computer to check some email. Sitting him down next to the computer, I continued about my business, preparing for Shabbat.

A little while later I came back into the living room and found him staring, somewhat blurry-eyed, at a picture on the screen. The photograph, obviously taken decades ago, was of an attractive young woman, with a fur-collared coat and a white blouse. Her eyes stared at me as if she was standing in front of me, at that very moment. Mordechai turned and looked at me and said, 'this is a picture of my aunt. It is the first time in my life that I've ever seen her." And he turned back to screen to continue gazing at her. A little later he told us the story.

'Rosa was born and lived somewhere in Czechoslovakia. In the 1930s she managed to flee and immigrated to Belgium. In the late 1930s she married a widower and gave birth to three childen, living in Antwerp. She and her husband tried to obtain documents allowing them to escape Belgium also, but failed. During the last days of August, 1942, Rosa and her three young children were arrested by Nazis and transported to Auschwitz, where they arrived on September 3, after a three day train journey. Of the 555 women on the transport, only 88 were left alive for slave labor in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The other 469 were killed immediately. Being that my Aunt Rosa, my father's sister, was with three young children, she must have been gassed that same day. This is the first time I've ever seen her picture.'

'The Belgians saves all the immigration records and transport documents from that era, but they were classified as secret, and no one was allowed access to them. A few years ago, the documents were made public and over a period of time, computerized. I made contact with various officials who assisted me to locate my aunt, and a few days ago received an email containing documentary information and a picture. I was on my way to the airport and for some reason wasn't able to open the attached picture. But here, sitting at your computer, here she is, my Aunt Rosa.'

'My father was the only one of his family who survived the holocaust. We knew that he had a wife and children, all of whom were lost, together with his parents and brothers and sisters. But he never spoke to us about them. We found, written in his books, lists of names and their relationship to him. But he never talked about them. He died 27 years ago. But now, as least, I can see one of his sisters, my Aunt Rosa, who was killed with her three children, in 1942. She was 30 years old.'

Rosa, hy"d ended her life in the gas and flames of Auschwitz. But I have her picture here, next to me, and in a little while I'm going to take it over to Ma'arat HaMachpela. Maybe Rosa never made it to Hebron in body, but she sure did in spirit. We are here to keep that spirit and the spirits of millions and million of others, from the past, and in the future, alive. Hebron, the roots of our existence, continues to provide nourishment to our people. We are here to keep those roots from being destroyed. That's our privilege and our responsibility. This is why I can celebrate Hebron Liberation Day. If we are here, one way or another, all Am Yisrael is here.

Aunt Rosa, welcome home.

Count your blessings

April 19, 2007

Women and children in communal kitchen/dining room
at Beit HaShalom

In a few days we'll be celebrating the State of Israel's 59^th birthday. In a couple of weeks we'll be marking the fortieth anniversary of the Jewish people's return to Jerusalem and Hebron. There are, it seems, many people who ask themselves: what are we celebrating, or should we be celebrating at all?

Why ponder such questions? Let's start with a brief Hebron update. A month ago Hebron residents moved into a newly purchased structure – Beit HaShalom – the Shalom House, it was called. A huge building, almost 4,000 square meters large, Beit HaShalom is located above the main road leading from Hebron to Kiryat Arba. Recognized as a significant security asset by the IDF, military leaders from the Chief of Staff to the commander of the Hebron region refuse to condemn the Jewish presence there for 'security reasons.' In addition, the state attorney general is publicly on record as recognizing the legality of the purchase.

However, this has not prevented Defense Minister Amir Peretz from attempting to expel us from the site, solely for political reasons. Utilizing draconian measures, which demand that Jews (or anyone other than Arabs, for that matter) 'receive permission' from the government (under the guise of the 'civil administration of Judea and Samaria) in order to purchase and/or move into new property, orders were issued demanding that the community prove the legality of the purchase or be expelled. Hebron's attorneys are hard at work preparing the community's response. However, very likely, whatever Hebron's reply is, despite its legality, the chances that the explanations will be accepted range from slim to zilch. The panel making the decision falls under the authority of the Defense minister, who gives the orders and expects them to be carried out.

What then? Who knows? It has already been publicized that most of the ministers in the government oppose expulsion of the building's residents. Many Knesset members also back the Hebron community. Also, despite the Defense minister's authority to issue expulsion orders, such a command cannot be carried out with the approval of the Prime Minister, and very possibly, of the entire cabinet. Although the Prime Minister has not made any public statements concerning Beit HaShalom, people very close to him have expressed support for the community's presence in the building.

Of course, should it come down to the crunch, the community can always go the courts. In any normal country, Hebron's case would be considered to be very strong, perhaps even undefeatable. But we all know that the Israeli court system does not always deal with justice, rather, with legalizing otherwise illegal political policies. (See, for example, the Supreme Court ruling on the Gush Katif-Northern Shomron expulsion law.) So, it is almost impossible to predict the events of the next few weeks, at least as far as Beit HaShalom is concerned.

This being the case, knowing full well the absurdity of such problems, on top of what has happened in the past (Oslo, the Hebron and Wye Accords, Gush Katif) and current speculation concerning further planned expulsions and abandonments, why should we celebrate? On the face of it, what is there to be happy about?

Exactly 28 years ago, a group of ten women and some forty children moved from Kiryat Arba into an abandoned building in Hebron called Beit Hadassah. Jews had come back to Hebron during the 1967 Six-day war and lived in the regional military compound from 1968 to 1971. At that time the first buildings in Kiryat Arba were constructed. However, the goal was to return to Hebron. That goal was only realized in early May of 1979.

The women and children lived for months under siege; whoever left the building was not allowed to return. Husband could visit their families from 'outside the fence;' no one was allowed in. Living conditions were primitive, to say the least. Running water and sanitary facilities were a dream. Hepatitis was a reality. One morning Rebbitzen Miriam Levinger awoke to find her son Shlomo's eyes yellow. She expected all the women to flee following that revelation. But no one left. (Today Shlomo and his family live in Beit HaShalom.) For an entire year the women and children lived in Beit Hadassah waiting for the Israeli government, then led by Menachem Begin, to give their stamp of approval. That permission finally came, but only after a terrible terror attack at the site which left six men dead and twenty wounded.

That year, 1979-1980 , could easily have been a year of despair, a year of 'another attempt failed – why try again?' The women and children could quite justifiably have 'gone home.' After all, a year is a long time, and no one knew when that 'year' would come to an end, or what the final result would be.

But they held their own, the women, the children, their husbands, their extended families, their friends and the entire community. Truthfully, I think many more watching and waiting. Without sounding too mystical, more than likely the souls of all those who had once lived in Hebron, those who had died in Hebron, including the 1929 massacre victims, and perhaps even the neshamot, the souls of those millions lost in the holocaust, were watching and waiting. Had the time come? What are these people really made of ? Will Jews finally come home, come back to live in first Jewish city in Israel, will they withstand the pressures, or will they collapse? Will Hebron again be Jewish?

The women and children knew, consciously and subconsciously, in body and in spirit: all eyes are on us. The eyes of eternity - not sleeping, not slumbering: watching and waiting.

The women and children stayed put – they refused to bow to pressures, physical, political or psychological. And they won. Who would ever have believed it would happen? Jews, again living in Hebron, after an absence of fifty years. Ma'arat HaMachpela, the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the second-holiest site to Jews in the entire world, just down the street from Jewish homes, Jewish families, Jewish children. The dream came true.

In August or September of 1979, or during the cold winter of 1980, had you asked: what is there to celebrate – 'look what the Israeli government is doing to those 'poor' women and children in Beit Hadassah' – what might the response have been? But, thank G-d, today, so many years later, we do celebrate – we celebrate our return to Hebron and to Jerusalem and to our land. Had we not come back to Eretz Yisrael, had the state not been founded, more than likely, today we would not be here in the city of the Forefathers, nor would we be in Jerusalem, and who knows how many Jews would be in Israel at all.

Life is far from perfect, and there is much to be improved, but if we don't know how to count our blessings, and they are abundant, by my way of thinking we are blind to the good that G-d has given us. G-d gave us the framework and the tools and said "Go to it." True there have been many mistakes made, but the very existence of Jews living in Israel at all, and most certainly a Jewish community in Hebron, are indelible proofs that we can do it – we can succeed against all odds, we can be victorious in our yearning to resettle our land. And just as we have been triumphant in the past, so too, will we be successful in the future. No doubt about it.

With blessings from Hebron.

LIFE IN JEWISH HEBRON

March 28, 2007

LIFE IN JEWISH HEBRON
From: AFSI: Mideast Outpost [http://mideastoutpost.com/] or http://www.afsi.org/OUTPOST/2007/Outpost_2007_04.pdf

(Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of articles Outpost will publish on the most important Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the much maligned "settlements.")

If the Jewish people has undeniable rights anywhere on earth it is in Hebron. Hebron, numbered among the four holy cities (with Jerusalem, Tiberias and Safed) is the first Jewish city in history. It is the place where the Jewish national patriarchs lived and were buried. Their burial plot – Ma'arat HaMachpela, the Tomb of the Patriarchs—was the first Jewish property purchased in the Land of Israel, and one of the Jewish people's most impressive monuments was built atop it.

The Jewish community in Hebron existed for thousands of years until it was brutally displaced in 1929—after Arab marauders murdered, raped and burned to death scores of Jews and dispossessed the community of properties that included hundreds of acres of real estate. Not surprisingly, after Israel's conquest of Judea and Samaria in the Six Day War of 1967, the restoration of Hebron loomed large as a goal for many Jews. In 1967 a group of religious Jews rented the Park Hotel in Hebron for the Passover period – and refused to leave. Pressure grew upon a reluctant government, which then allowed the group to settle on empty land adjoining the city, which became Kiryat Arba. But the Jews of Kiryat Arba did not give up on their goal of returning to Hebron itself.
A tragedy paved the way for the renewal of Jewish life in Hebron. In 1975 a baby boy named Avraham Yedidya was born to famous Hasidic artist Baruch Nachshon and his wife Sarah, who were among the first Jews to come to Kiryat Arba in 1968. Three months later Sarah found her newborn baby lifeless in his crib. The young mother was beside herself. "Everything in this world has a purpose," she thought to herself. "What was the purpose of her three- month old son?"

Sarah Nachshon decided that Avraham Yedidya would be buried in the ancient Jewish cemetery in Hebron. The cemetery had been last used to inter Jews slaughtered in the 1929 riots in Hebron. It is minutes from the traditional graves of Ruth and Jesse and overlooks Ma'arat HaMachpela. Perhaps, Sarah thought, this was the purpose of Avraham Yedidya, to take part in a sad but vital part of renewing Jewish Hebron. After almost fifty years, the Jewish cemetery of Hebron would again be utilized as a Jew's last resting place.

Late in the afternoon the funeral procession left Kiryat Arba for the ancient Jewish cemetery in Hebron. Then, suddenly, the mourners encountered soldiers and roadblocks. "No, you may not proceed to the cemetery," the soldiers ordered the mourners, "the cemetery is off-limits. You must bury the baby in Jerusalem."

One of the car doors opened. A short woman stepped out, with a bundle in her arms. "Are you looking for me—are you looking for my baby? My name is Sarah Nachshon. Here is my baby, in my arms. If you won't let us drive to the cemetery we will walk!"

Men with shovels and flashlights, and women, Kiryat Arba residents, walked through ancient Hebron in the early evening. They passed Ma'arat HaMachpela. They passed the sheep sty atop the 450 year-old Abraham Avinu synagogue, left in ruins, destroyed by the Jordanian occupiers and Hebron Arabs. Blockades, set up to stop the crowd, were pushed aside. Senior officers gave orders over their walkie-talkies: "Stop them—don't let them proceed"—but the soldiers, overcome by the scene, radioed back: "We can't stop them. If you want, come here and do it yourselves." The procession continued, past Beit Romano, Beit Shneerson, home of Menucha Rachel Shneerson Slonim, granddaughter of the "Ba'al HaTanya," up the steep hill to the ancient cemetery.

Sarah Nachshon released the body of her tiny son and it was lowered into the freshly dug grave, only meters from the mass grave of the 1929-Tarpat riot victims. Mustering her voice, Sarah spoke: "Four thousand years ago our Patriarch Abraham purchased Hebron for the Jewish People by burying here his wife Sarah. Tonight Sarah is repurchasing Hebron for the Jewish People by burying here her son Avraham."

Four years later a group of 10 Jewish women and 40 children resettled Hebron, moving into the abandoned Beit Hadassah building, just minutes from the cemetery. One of those ten women was Sarah Nachshon.

One of the most common questions I receive, from journalists and tourists alike is: What's it like to live in Hebron? What's everyday life all about?

There is a stereotype attached to places like Hebron, similar to the Wild West. In all honesty, it's generally not like that.

So, what is it like? Usually, life is a routine, just as it is elsewhere in Israel and around the world. I can speak for myself and I think this fairly represents most people here. I get up in the morning, pray, eat breakfast, and then go to work. There are many men who arise early for prayers at Ma'arat HaMachpela and then attend a daily Talmud class.

Each person has his/her own employment: there are men who study Torah in a yeshiva or kollel; a few men are sofrim (scribes); others work in some aspect of education, many here in Hebron or in Kiryat Arba. There's a doctor who lives in Hebron who has clinics around the county. We also have musicians, artists, nurses and office workers living in Hebron. Of course, during the day, the kids are in school, either in Hebron or Kiryat Arba. Those of high school age and above may study and live away from home, as is wont in Israeli religious society. After-school youth groups, clubs, library and homework assistance are all part of every day life.

Shopping, a post office, doctors and dentists, a medical center with up-to-date technology can all be found in Kiryat Arba. There are several supermarkets that are less than 5-10 minutes from our homes. Orders can also be given over the phone and delivered to our door. In other words, for the most part, it's not difficult to be self-sufficient within a radius of 10 minutes from our homes.

So when is life not so normal? One day last week my cell phone rang at about 4:50 in the morning. One of my colleagues was on the phone: Excitedly she said, "Get here fast, the police are here…" (In truth, not even my wife can get me out of bed so fast, especially at that time of the morning, but…)

And of course, as I write ( March 20), the Hebron community's purchase of Beit HaShalom (The House of Peace), between Kiryat Arba and Hebron, and our moving into the building, has radically changed my personal daily schedule and the lives of many others. [See: http://www.hebron.com/english/article.php?id=315] Many Hebron families have, as a result of the purchase, moved into the new building, albeit temporarily, in order to maintain possession of the structure. People are spending days and nights there, helping with necessary renovations. Hebron's Talmud Torah has started giving classes there. A neighborhood, where up until a few days ago Jews had no presence, is now thriving with Jewish life: men, women, many children and multitudes of visitors.

This kind of event generally does not occur elsewhere. In Hebron, this is the second time in a year that this type of 'adventure' has transpired. So in some ways it could be concluded that life in Hebron is quite different from just about anywhere else in the world.

And of course it's not normal for your own government to restrict your movements and ignore your most basic rights in the city where you live. Today Jews are allowed to enter only three percent of the municipal area of Hebron. Yet thousands of Arabs continue to live in the Israeli zone. The Palestinian Authority is deliberately establishing institutions in this area for the express purpose of "strangling" the Jewish community by attracting masses of Arabs.

Although the 1997 "Hebron Accord" stipulated that Jews should enjoy total freedom of movement in Hebron and the right to visit and worship at shrines such as Elonei Mamre and the Tomb of Otniel ben Katz, its provisions are totally ignored. Jews find it virtually impossible to register title to land. In the past 20 years the Israeli government has issued permits for only three buildings. Offspring of the Jewish community who marry and wish to live in their community cannot do so—due to the racist Jews-only building restrictions.

Under blatantly discriminatory guidelines from the State Attorney's Office, the Israeli government uses law-enforcement as a technique to harass the Jewish community. The procedures require the police to invest unprecedented resources in personnel, funds and motor vehicles in order to monitor the Jews. As a direct result of this over-enforcement there is wholesale opening of investigation files for trifling offenses and inconsequential activities, often ending with acquittals or closure of files on technical grounds. This adds up to a grievous, ongoing blow to the personal freedoms of the Jewish residents of Hebron, coupled with cumulative damage in the form of files that besmirch the inhabitants with criminal records—files that would not have been opened anywhere else in Israel.

One last point: it is important to keep in mind that no one is being forced to live in Hebron. All the people who reside here do so because they want to be here. Anyone who wishes to leave, for any reason, can do so. However, most people stay, regardless of the difficulties and the 'abnormalities,' despite the terror attacks and murders that have claimed dozens of casualties in Hebron's Jewish community since the "second Intifada" that began in September 2000.

They remain because it is a privilege to live in Israel's first Jewish city, and to walk in the footsteps of Avraham and Sarah, and King David. Despite the problems, Hebron is our home, and we are honored to be residents of such a holy city.

Of course, there are those who would say that we are crazy for wanting to live here. So be it: Crazy or not, Hebron is here to stay, and so are its Jewish inhabitants.

Buying a building in Hebron

March 26, 2007

Last week Hebron's Jewish community received a green light from its attorneys, Eitan Geva and Nadav HaEtzni. The deal was completed to their satisfaction. We could move in.

The community purchased a 4,000 sq. meter structure, overlooking the road between Hebron and Kiryat Arba. A complicated and expensive affair which took several years to conclude, the building was purchased from its previous owner for approximately $700,000 through an office in Jordan.

As soon as the final legalities were finished, it was decided to take possession of the newly-owned property. A group of students from Yeshivat Shavei Hevron, together with Hebron community residents, moved in.

Such a transaction, anywhere else in the world, would not even make the local papers. People buy and sell property every day, not only for hundreds of thousands of dollars, but for millions of dollars. However, Hebron is different. Purchase of a building in Hebron makes international headlines. "Isn't this a provocation?" "Is the community trying to expand?" "Why did you take over a 'palestinian' house?"

Let's take one question at a time: An Arab contractor claims the building belongs to him and says he has the papers to prove it.

Any Arab suspected of selling property to Jews is considered to have committed a capital crime, the punishment for which is death. A year ago Muhammad Abu al-Hawa was killed for such a crime. "Fatah gunmen in Jericho have claimed responsibility for the murder, condemning the victim as a "traitor." In a leaflet, the gunmen threatened to kill any Arab who dares to sell his house to Jews." (The Jerusalem Post, April 16, 2006).

To further prove the point, a few days ago, while being interviewed by CNN correspondent Ben Weidman, an Arab woman interrupted our conversation, speaking to him in Arabic at a rapid pace. When she had concluded I queried, "what did she say." Weidman replied that she wants copies of the sales documents in order to put the seller on trial. Another Arab resident of the area told Ga'alie Tzahal radio journalist Guy Varon, "If the Jews really did buy it, all the more power to them. But we will find the seller and chop him up into tiny pieces."

This being the case, any Arab who is suspected of dealing with Jews, immediately yells 'counterfeit' – I didn't do it! In this particular instance, however, the Arab in question really did sell the property, but he didn't know it was being sold to Jews. He thought the deal was with another Arab. To prove the point, the police have been given a video of him counting the money.

Is the community trying to expand? There are dozens of families on a waiting list to live in Hebron. The first generation's children are marrying and many of them wish to reside in Hebron. However, there are no available apartments. In order to build in Hebron (on empty, undisputed Jewish-owned property) permits reaching the heights of the Defense minister must be obtained. Given the current political climate, such permits are very difficult to receive. Purchasing from Arabs is dangerous (for them), expensive, and very intricate. It isn't often that a seller is found and a workable deal formulated. However, if such an occurrence presents itself, why not? Because we are Jews? Should a Jew be prevented from purchasing property in Hebron, Maryland, or any of the other 11 Hebrons in North America because he was Jewish, headlines and legal actions due to racism and anti-Semitism would be immediate. Why is it that only in the original Hebron, the first Jewish city in Israel, should Jews be forbidden from legally purchasing a building, only because we are Jewish? Why should such a purchase be considered a provocation?

How does this building affect security in the region? According to high-ranking officers, this structure, which was previously used by the IDF to station guards, will only enhance the area's security due to its strategic location between Hebron and Kiryat Arba.

It is important to note: There are all kinds of rumors floating around, of various sorts and sizes. According to our sources, a police investigation has determined that the sale was fully 'legal.' However, the Defense Minister, Amir Peretz isn't overly interested in legalities and wants us out. He may very well be looking for an excuse to issue an expulsion order. Clearly, any such order could only be defined as racist and anti-Semitic. The Arabs can renovate, build and purchase as much as they so desire. Only Jews, because they are Jews, must be prevented from all of the above. This is, of course, an unacceptable exploitation of authority for political reasons, despite the validity of the purchase.

Finally, this building has been named "Beit HaShalom" – the House of Peace. It is our fervent desire to live in Hebron peacefully with our neighbors. We seek neither violence nor confrontation. But we do demand the right, our legitimate right, to continue to live in the city of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. This year marks the fortieth anniversary of Israel's return to Hebron in the 1967 Six-day war. What better a way to commence this celebration than to purchase and populate a new building in Hebron!