Hebron Articles-June, 1999David Wilder
Lessons from the NorthJune 25, 1999
A short time ago we called friends of ours in Kiryat Shmona. D. has lived
there all her life. Her husband A. has lived there since they married
nineteen years ago. I know Kiryat Shmona fairly well, as my wife lived and
worked there for two years, before we met.
I'll never forget my first glimpse of Kiryat Shmona, on the northern border
of Israel. Ensconced by the greens and browns of the Naftali mountains,
the scenery is breathtaking. The air is clean and pure, filled with the
fragrances of flowers and freshness. Looking from the border of the city
down into the lush Hahula valley, your head spins. The fields and the
fish ponds are quite unlike the sticky swamps once covering the area, to
be dried out by Jews decades ago, when they started returning to
Israel.
The Jews of Kiryat Shmona are a special breed of people. Living on the
border of Israel and Lebanon, these brave folk have suffered
terror attacks and numerous Katusha rocket attacks. Time after time,
frequently without advanced warning, Katusha rockets blast through a living
room ceiling or explode in a school room. Fortunately miracles are common.
Stories of near-misses abound. Unfortunately, with all the miracles,
sometimes tragedy strikes. A pregnant women lost twin fetuses as the result
of a Katusha exploding next to her. And last night two men, Shimon
Elimelech, aged 45 and Toni Zanna, aged 36, both working late at night in
the emergency center at the Kiryat Shmona Municipality were killed
instantly when a Katusha ripped into the room where they were sitting.
Ironically both men lived in the same building elsewhere in the city. The
two of them leave six orphans.
The present state of affairs is a result of an agreement between the
terrorist Hizbullah organization and the State of Israel following a
military escapade called 'The Grapes of Wrath" a few years ago. This
agreement should be taught in military academies around the world under
the title, "Treaty of Farce." In short this agreement allows Hizbullah to
kill Israeli soldiers patrolling in Lebanon, and allows them to launch
Katusha rocket attacks on Israel if any Lebanese civilians are killed, or
are reported to be killed during battles between Israeli and Hizbullah or
Lebanese forces. Otherwise they are supposed to refrain from shooting
Katushas.
A few days ago Hizbullah terrorists, in the midst of a battle with Israeli
forces, took cover in a civilian house. They later reported that, as a
result of continued Israeli attacks, two civilian women in the house were
killed. That night Katusha rockets flew through the air.
That was expected. What happened last night was unexpected. Without any
seeming reason, again, Katushas began exploding in different northern
Israel communities. At about 1100 a Katusha landed in the Kiryat Shmona
municipality building, killing the two men. In retaliation Israel bombed
Hizbullah bases in Lebanon.
The situation in North Israel and South Lebanon is intolerable. Our
citizens are being held hostage by a relatively small group of guerilla
terrorists who are backed by Syrian terrorist president Hafez el-Assad.
Assad's whose first goal is to regain the Golan Heights, captured by Israel
after Syria attacked in 1973. He might not be around to try and accomplish
his second goal, but having the Golan back in Syrian hands will make the
job easier for his successor.
What is Israel supposed to do? I won't try and conjure up a swift solution.
There are solutions, but Israel is, as of yet, unwilling to do what is
necessary. But there are lessons that can be learned from this fiasco in
the north. Just to list a few
1. If the Golan Heights are abandoned to Syria, Israelis in Kiryat Shmona
won't be the only Jews being attacked by rocket fire. Back in the 1960's
Israelis on the Israeli side of the Kinneret were picked off by Syrian
sniper fire from their side of the Sea of Galilee. Following abandonment of
the Golan, sniper fire will be the least of their worries.
2. Hizbullah has already announced that an Israeli withdrawal from Southern
Lebanon will not bring an end to their attacks. Once they can get closer to
the border without having to be concerned with running into Israeli
patrols, they will be able to launch Katusha rockets deeper into Israeli
territory.
3. If Israel does not know how to stop Katusha attacks originating over the
border in South Lebanon, what will we do when they start flying into Petach
Tikvah, Kfar Saba, Netanya, and Tel-Aviv. These won't be launched from
Lebanon, but rather from Kalkilya. The proposed palestinian state, almost
a forgone conclusion amongst most Israeli politicians, even those on the
right, will host terrorists more sophisticated than the Hizbullah
guerillas. What response will the Israeli government have after those
attacks?
There are many lessons to be learned from the debacle in the North. The
most important one is that we should not repeat the same mistakes, which
will lead to similar, if not more serious catastrophes throughout the
country in the not very distant future.
Our friends in Kiryat Shmona are just as dedicated as anyone I know living
here in Hebron, or anywhere else in Israel. But they are starting to wear
down. Continued rocket attacks on your homes and schools doesn't make for
an easy life. Living and sleeping in bomb shelters, (as they did
today and will be doing this Shabbat) is not a pleasant way to live. Many
good people have left Kiryat Shmona for this very reason. If the Israeli
government doesn't solve the problem soon, others too are going to leave
for the center of the country. When terrorists in 'palestine' start
launching missiles into Tel Aviv, where are they going to go then?
Thursday, June 24, 1999
Thursday, May 27, 1999
Hebron Articles May, 1999
Hebron Articles – May, 1999
David Wilder
-------------Day of Judgement------------------May 28, 1996May 16, 1999
Monday is a day of Judgement - a Day of Awe. It is a day when
the Israeli People must make a choice - one of the most, if not the
most, important, critical, fateful decisions made by a public body, a
Jewish body, ever. Most decisions are made by a small group of people, in
the heat of a crisis. Who decides war or peace, who decides life and
death? Usually a few leaders, if not only one - who sits alone, pondering
the future of his people, weighing the lives of his soldiers, the fate of
his county, of the world.
Elections may generally be important, but usually, the outcome,
in spite of differences between the candidates, is not
earthshattering - it doesn't have an immediate effect on the
existence of a People, on the future of a Land.
Monday, in Israel, without trying to be overly melodramatic, the
truth is, that this is exactly what we are facing. Does this mean
that if Barak is elected 'we are done for?' No - of course not. Nothing
or nobody has been able to eradicate the Jewish People and nothing or
nobody ever will. Israel is eternal. The prospects for the immediate
future will not be easy regardless of the results of the election. If
Barak wins, he will continue on his chosen path until the bubble bursts -
until the Arabs have so much that even he will have to say stop - and by
then it will be too late. The resulting war will be barbaric and bloody,
but it will have to be fought and won. And if Bibi wins, - we mustn't
live under any illusions. Our experiences of the last three years have
taught us a lesson about Binyamin Netanyahu.
Where does this all lead? Is our future all black? Almost all of the
reporters who arrive in Hebron ask me the same question "What will you do
if Barak wins?" There is only one reply Hebron existed before Barak and
Netanyahu. Hebron will continue to exist after Barak and Netanyahu. We
are staying in Hebron, regardless of who wins the elections. That is our
right and our obligation. "And what if... what if... what if..." There
are so many hypothetical possibilities, it is impossible to prepare
contingency plans for them all. We hope and pray that most all of them
will never materialize, that we will never have to worry about them. And
if and when IT should happen - we'll worry about it then. We have to do
what we know and believe is right, not for us, but for the Jewish People,
of past, present and future.
That is, of course, a tremendous responsibility. But if we have been
so privileged as to be where we are, when we are, we trust in G-d that He
will give us the tools to make the right decisions at the right time.
Such it is, not only with Hebron, but with all of Israel - the Land and
the People. We don't live in easy times. But we, the citizens of the
State of Israel, have been given the privilege to participate in the
dream of the Jewish People, to be a part of the return to Israel after a
2,000 year exile. We believe with all our hearts that we weren't brought
back here only to be thrown out again - and we won't be. How the dice
will fall, how it will all work out, is a great unknown - but in the end,
it will work out. There may be different directions to go in, there may
be easier routes and more difficult ones, but in the end they all lead to
the same place.
So Monday's Day of Judgement isn't a question of
survival or destruction - it is rather the road we will take to ensure our
survival - whether it will be easier or harder. We have, to some
degree, the possibility to determine our own future. But regardless of the
results we will survive - in Hebron, in Jerusalem and in Eretz Yisrael -
forever.
Elections 1999 May 14, 1999
Next week we again go to the polls. Three years ago we defined those
elections as the most fateful in the State of Israel's history. They were.
But these elections are more important.
Binyamin Netanyahu is not "the child we were praying for." He has committed
almost unforgivable blunders, including abandonment of over 80% of Hebron
and most recently, agreeing to the ? accords. Why did he do this? The
answer is still a very big question mark.
There are those who say he had no choice. I don't buy it. After the
September attack two and a half years ago, Arafat's reaction to the tunnel
opening in Jerusalem, Netanyahu had every excuse in the world to stop
implementation of Oslo. Even Rabin was quoted as saying that if PA
weapons, supplied by Israel, were ever used against Israeli forces, the
'peace process' would grind to a halt. If Netanyahu really desired to
avoid territorial concessions, the Hebron abandonment could have been
avoided. This in spite of his guarantees during the last campaign, that he
would continue where Labor left off.
I don't have to waste too much time on Wye. We all know that Arafat has
violated every and all of the obligations he previously undertook. That is
no secret. Even the Americans know it. Again, Netanyahu could easily have
wiggled out of further agreements.
This is, of course, all in light of Israel's seeming commitments to Oslo.
But Netanyahu could also have come into office and either declared, "I am
not chopping up any more of Eretz Yisrael," or he could have initiated
other projects (massive building in Hebron, East Jerusalem, and throughout
all of Judea, Samaria and Gazza), thereby forcing Arafat to publicly
renounce Oslo.
As we all know, he didn't do this. He followed the road to Hell, first
paved by his immediate predecessors. This may very well be the reason that
he WILL NOT be reelected. We have already witnessed that all of those who
have relinquished Eretz Yisrael have fallen from power.
But...
Being that the right was running the country and not the left, those of us
in Hebron, and in Yesha, were recalled from the dead. We were no longer an
illegitimate species. We had who to speak to. Sometimes it didn't do too
much good. But sometimes it did. Much done behind the scenes which cannot
be publicly detailed occurred in spite of Netanyahu's policies.
The Education ministry was in the hands of the NRP and not run by Meretz.
Rabbi Meir Porush, an overwhelming supporter of Hebron and all Yesha funded
building projects from his post as Deputy Minister of Building.
Etc. Etc. Etc.
The Ehud Barak candidate for education may very well be Yosef (Tommy)
Lapid, whose entire campaign is focussed around 'anti-religion.' We may
find ourselves with a Moslem Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs and
another Arab sitting in crucial cabinet sessions where Israel's future
could be determined. Yossi Beilin, Shimon Peres, Uzi Baram and Haim Ramon
will hold key ministries. Needless to say, the fate of major portions of
Eretz Yisrael and dozens of communities will be in jeopardy. If Peres was
able to pull the wool over Rabin's eyes, what will he do to the weak,
inexperienced Barak?
I could go on, but it is unnecessary. We all know what has to be done.
Despite the polls, we have to do whatever is still possible to get
Netanyahu reelected.
It is almost Shabbat here. In a few minutes my wife will light the candles
and we will go to pray Shabbat prayers at Ma'arat HaMachpela. We will pray
that Netanyahu doesn't lose on Monday, and that we get a second chance on
June 1, when the run-off election is scheduled to take place. We ask all
of you to pray too, that Binyamin ben Ben-tzion and Tzila Netanyahu be
reelected to the office of Prime Minister and that Ehud Barak is defeated.
Shabbat Shalom.
The Shame and the PrideErev Yom Hebron 5759May 13, 1999
Tomorrow is Yom Yerushalayim Jerusalem Day. Saturday, the 29th day of Iyar is the thirty-second anniversary of our return to Hebron - what we call “Hebron Day.”
Hebron Day is normally a time of special significance. Following an over 30-year absence from the first Jewish city in Israel, as a result of the 1929 massacre and exile, the return in 1967 was reason to celebrate. This year Hebron Day is especially poignant as we commemorate the 70th anniversary of that massacre.
It seems though, that the most significant facet of our return to Hebron in 1967 was the renewal of a Jewish presence at Ma’arat HaMachpela - the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
Many times tourists and journalists ask me why we have chosen to live in Hebron. Why be here, and not in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, or anywhere else in Israel? Why Hebron?
This is my response Ma’arat HaMachpela, is the second holiest site in the world for the Jewish people, second only to Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Chronologically, Ma’arat HaMachpela preceded Jerusalem by hundreds of years. According to Jewish sources Abraham purchased the Caves of Machpela to bury his wife Sarah after discovering there the tomb of Adam and Eve and the entrance to the Garden of Eden. Thus its importance, not only to Abraham, but for all generations.
For seven hundred years, from 1267, when the Crusader Wars concluded with the Mamalukes expelling the Christians from Hebron and from Israel, Ma’arat HaMachpela became off limits to all peoples, excepting Muslims. Jews and Christians attempting to visit were told that Ma’arat HaMachpela is a Mosque and that only Moslems can pray in a Mosque. Jews were forced to stand outside at what was known as the 7th step, on the way into the 2,000 year old structure atop the original caves. Only when we returned in 1967 were we again able to enter and pray in Ma’arat HaMachpela.
Today we are told by such notables as Mustafa Natsche, the Arab Mayor of Hebron, and officials such as the late Minister of Religious Affairs in the Palestine Authority, Hassan Taboub, that when “they” again control all of Hebron (G-d forbid), we Jews will no longer be able to pray at Ma’arat HaMachpela because it is a Mosque and only Moslems can pray in a Mosque. So they promise us ‘visitation rights.’ We know all about these visitation rights. We had them for 700 years, when we had no choice but to stand outside at the 7th step.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the only reason Ma’arat HaMachpela is today accessible to Jews and Christians is due to the permanent Jewish presence in Hebron. If we weren’t here, none of the 450,000 plus people who visit here annually would be able to get anywhere near Ma’arat HaMachpela.
I cannot imagine the following scenario becoming reality A family arrives in Israel for a visit. The children turn to the parents with a simple request “Mommy, Daddy, let’s go visit Abraham in Hebron. We just learned how he bought Ma’arat HaMachpela in school, a few weeks ago. Let’s go see it.”
And the parents look at each other and say, “Sorry but we can’t go.”
And the children ask, “Why not it’s only an hour from Jerusalem.”
And what will the parents answer? - “Because they took it away from us” or will they have to answer, “BECAUSE WE GAVE IT TO THEM?!” WE ABANDONED THE SECOND HOLIEST SITE IN THE WORLD TO OUR ARCHENEMIES WHO ALREADY PROCLAIMED THAT WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO VISIT THERE?
Very simply, this doesn’t make any sense.
We aren’t here because Hebron belongs to us. Hebron belongs to each and every Jew just as much as it belongs to me, or my family or friends. We are here as a kind of ‘keeper of the keys,’ keeping Hebron and Ma’arat HaMachpela for all the Jewish people. And not just for this generation but also for our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, forever. And who knows maybe one day one of them will COME LIVE HERE IN HEBRON. And if you think that’s a really wild thought well, ask my parents!
That is why we are here in Hebron. It is a privilege but also an obligation. It isn’t so easy to live in the shadow of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Lea, King David, and tens and hundreds of thousands of righteous who preceded us.
It isn’t easy for many reasons. For example, yesterday as I was entering Ma’arat HaMachpela to attend a friend’s family festivity I heard a border policeman telling a visitor that it is forbidden to take a shofar (ram’s horn) inside because it is a “musical instrument.” I responded that a shofar is an instrument of holiness and may definitely be taken into Ma’arat HaMachpela. His answer It is only an instrument of holiness on Rosh HaShana (the Jewish New Year), but not during the rest of the year.” I asked to speak with his commander, who also forbade taking a shofar into the building. I requested to speak with his superior who finally permitted the shofar to be taken into the building.
The security forces have also decided that mirrors are potentially ‘dangerous’ and confiscate them from people entering Ma’arat HaMachpela. This includes makeup mirrors, and the like. Many times men, going to pray with Tallis (prayer shawl) and Tefillin (phylacteries) take a small mirror with them in order to check that the Tefillin are properly placed on their head. Yesterday, my friend, who was celebrating his newly born son’s Brit Milah (circumcision) had his small circular-shaped mirror taken away from him. When I asked the officers why they allow people wearing glasses or carrying cameras into the Ma’ara, I received a blank stare in return.
So where are we - in Israel or in Russia of the 1960s and 1970s?
There is pride in Hebron, but there is also shame in Hebron. Following a seven hundred year exile from Ma’arat HaMachpela and an almost 40 year exile forced exile from Hebron, a Jew cannot bring a shofar into Ma’arat HaMachpela, AS DECREED BY A JEWISH, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT?!
Yes, there is shame - shame which to a great degree is inexplicable. But there is also pride, for with it all WE HAVE RETURNED HOME. Sometimes we must struggle, sometimes with the Arabs, and yes, sometimes with our own. But we are struggling HERE, in Hebron, at Ma’arat HaMachpela. With time this ridiculous strife will come to an end and there will be only pride, and no shame. Until them we will press on, living here, educating, and attempting to follow in the footsteps of our sacred ancestors.
From Hebron we send our blessings for a Happy Jerusalem Day and Happy Hebron Day proud and glad that we have the privilege to be representing you here, in the City of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs.
The Crossroad of Civilization May 7, 1999
After years of waiting excavations have begun in the Tel Hebron (Rumeida) neighborhood. This location is thought to be the site of the original Hebron, home to the Patriarchs and Matriarchs and King David, well over 3,000 years ago. The first week or so of digging revealed a huge (for those days) winery, probably dating to the Byzantine era, about 1,500 years ago. Archeologists working under the auspices of the Israeli Antiquities Authority believe that following the Moslem conquest the area was transformed into an agricultural center.
Another find, capturing all our interests, included several skeletons, some of children and at least one adult. It is clear that at some point in time the land was also used as a cemetery. What we do not know is which people the skeletons belonged to. They were found on a surface above the winery, leading us to believe that they may be Jewish or possibly Moslem. It is still unclear how this revelation will affect the continued excavation. What is clear is that the area being dug out was within the original Hebron wall, part of which has also be uncovered. The implications of this fact are of major significance. It is extremely likely that underneath these discoveries, which are very close to the surface, are ruins extending back in time to the Bronze Age the days of Abraham, and later, King David. To this date the oldest find is that of pottery four thousand years old, uncovered several months ago. Yesterday a pottery signature with the word Melech (King) on it, approximately 2,700 years old, from the era of Hezkiah HaMelech was discovered. (Pictures of the excavations can be viewed on the Hebron Web Site http//www.hebron.org.il/TelRumeida/trdig.htm)
The archeologist heading the excavation is Emmanuel Isenberg. His authority to dig is being challenged by another archeologist, Avi Ofer, who excavated in Hebron over 15 years ago. Ofer is claiming that he should have first rights to continue digging, as a result of his previous work in Hebron. The Antiquities Authority believes otherwise, and the Israeli Supreme Court is due to hear the case and rule in the near future.
Here is where the crossroads of history and politics meet, one way or another. Avi Ofer is not only an archeologist. He is also a major Israeli activist. He is one of the leaders of Shalom Achshav, the Peace Now organization. A few months ago we had a discussion with him in our Hebron offices. His statement, still reverberating in my ears, represents the paradox of politics and Hebron. He said, “Tel Hebron is the second most important archeological site in Israel, second only to Jerusalem and Temple Mount. However, as unfortunate as it may be, the site belongs to Arafat and the Palestinians.”
It is well known that after the excavations are completed, it is the intention of Hebron’s Jewish Community to construct permanent housing at the site. As in Jerusalem, it is possible to build above excavations, thereby allowing accessibility to visitors, while living in buildings above them. Avi Ofer has made it abundantly clear that he opposes any Jewish building at the site, for reasons which extend well beyond his professional interests. The Israeli left demands the removal of Jews from all of Hebron.
The Jewish Community of Hebron had no say, and has no say in the choice of archeologists working at the site. But we know that should Avi Ofer be granted the permit to work there, he will do everything in his power to keep us from utilizing the site for a fully constructed present day neighborhood.
As the digging was getting underway, Israel’s archenemy Arafat was preparing to ‘declare a state.’ On May 4, the day he promised to make it official, we were observing the uncovering of our ancient history. The land the Arabs (and Avi Ofer) claim is theirs is being bared for all to see. True, at some time in history it is possible that Moslems lived there. But that was many hundreds and thousands of years after Jewish Israelites had settled that same land. Tel Hebron, known also as Tel Rumeida and Admot Ishai is not only a crossroad of civilization. It is the roots of all civilization. Those roots, from which we still soak up the teachings of our Forefathers, are based in Hebron, at Tel Hebron and Ma’arat HaMachpela, which is located in the valley under the neighborhood. Jews lived at Tel Hebron 4,000 years ago, three thousand years ago, two thousand years ago, one thousand years ago. And, of course, today. How an archeologist, whose primary objective is to uncover the past, enabling us to learn about our land and ourselves can make such a statement, “but it belongs to Arafat” is beyond my comprehension.
The crossroad of civilization still runs via Tel Hebron. Our people and our state stem from Tel Hebron. This neighborhood provides and represents, perhaps more than any other place in Israel, the moral and historical justification of our existence, not only in Hebron, but in all of Israel. The crisscross of present day politics cannot eradicate the roots of our existance. That is why we are here, and that is why we will stay here, forever.
David Wilder
-------------Day of Judgement------------------May 28, 1996May 16, 1999
Monday is a day of Judgement - a Day of Awe. It is a day when
the Israeli People must make a choice - one of the most, if not the
most, important, critical, fateful decisions made by a public body, a
Jewish body, ever. Most decisions are made by a small group of people, in
the heat of a crisis. Who decides war or peace, who decides life and
death? Usually a few leaders, if not only one - who sits alone, pondering
the future of his people, weighing the lives of his soldiers, the fate of
his county, of the world.
Elections may generally be important, but usually, the outcome,
in spite of differences between the candidates, is not
earthshattering - it doesn't have an immediate effect on the
existence of a People, on the future of a Land.
Monday, in Israel, without trying to be overly melodramatic, the
truth is, that this is exactly what we are facing. Does this mean
that if Barak is elected 'we are done for?' No - of course not. Nothing
or nobody has been able to eradicate the Jewish People and nothing or
nobody ever will. Israel is eternal. The prospects for the immediate
future will not be easy regardless of the results of the election. If
Barak wins, he will continue on his chosen path until the bubble bursts -
until the Arabs have so much that even he will have to say stop - and by
then it will be too late. The resulting war will be barbaric and bloody,
but it will have to be fought and won. And if Bibi wins, - we mustn't
live under any illusions. Our experiences of the last three years have
taught us a lesson about Binyamin Netanyahu.
Where does this all lead? Is our future all black? Almost all of the
reporters who arrive in Hebron ask me the same question "What will you do
if Barak wins?" There is only one reply Hebron existed before Barak and
Netanyahu. Hebron will continue to exist after Barak and Netanyahu. We
are staying in Hebron, regardless of who wins the elections. That is our
right and our obligation. "And what if... what if... what if..." There
are so many hypothetical possibilities, it is impossible to prepare
contingency plans for them all. We hope and pray that most all of them
will never materialize, that we will never have to worry about them. And
if and when IT should happen - we'll worry about it then. We have to do
what we know and believe is right, not for us, but for the Jewish People,
of past, present and future.
That is, of course, a tremendous responsibility. But if we have been
so privileged as to be where we are, when we are, we trust in G-d that He
will give us the tools to make the right decisions at the right time.
Such it is, not only with Hebron, but with all of Israel - the Land and
the People. We don't live in easy times. But we, the citizens of the
State of Israel, have been given the privilege to participate in the
dream of the Jewish People, to be a part of the return to Israel after a
2,000 year exile. We believe with all our hearts that we weren't brought
back here only to be thrown out again - and we won't be. How the dice
will fall, how it will all work out, is a great unknown - but in the end,
it will work out. There may be different directions to go in, there may
be easier routes and more difficult ones, but in the end they all lead to
the same place.
So Monday's Day of Judgement isn't a question of
survival or destruction - it is rather the road we will take to ensure our
survival - whether it will be easier or harder. We have, to some
degree, the possibility to determine our own future. But regardless of the
results we will survive - in Hebron, in Jerusalem and in Eretz Yisrael -
forever.
Elections 1999 May 14, 1999
Next week we again go to the polls. Three years ago we defined those
elections as the most fateful in the State of Israel's history. They were.
But these elections are more important.
Binyamin Netanyahu is not "the child we were praying for." He has committed
almost unforgivable blunders, including abandonment of over 80% of Hebron
and most recently, agreeing to the ? accords. Why did he do this? The
answer is still a very big question mark.
There are those who say he had no choice. I don't buy it. After the
September attack two and a half years ago, Arafat's reaction to the tunnel
opening in Jerusalem, Netanyahu had every excuse in the world to stop
implementation of Oslo. Even Rabin was quoted as saying that if PA
weapons, supplied by Israel, were ever used against Israeli forces, the
'peace process' would grind to a halt. If Netanyahu really desired to
avoid territorial concessions, the Hebron abandonment could have been
avoided. This in spite of his guarantees during the last campaign, that he
would continue where Labor left off.
I don't have to waste too much time on Wye. We all know that Arafat has
violated every and all of the obligations he previously undertook. That is
no secret. Even the Americans know it. Again, Netanyahu could easily have
wiggled out of further agreements.
This is, of course, all in light of Israel's seeming commitments to Oslo.
But Netanyahu could also have come into office and either declared, "I am
not chopping up any more of Eretz Yisrael," or he could have initiated
other projects (massive building in Hebron, East Jerusalem, and throughout
all of Judea, Samaria and Gazza), thereby forcing Arafat to publicly
renounce Oslo.
As we all know, he didn't do this. He followed the road to Hell, first
paved by his immediate predecessors. This may very well be the reason that
he WILL NOT be reelected. We have already witnessed that all of those who
have relinquished Eretz Yisrael have fallen from power.
But...
Being that the right was running the country and not the left, those of us
in Hebron, and in Yesha, were recalled from the dead. We were no longer an
illegitimate species. We had who to speak to. Sometimes it didn't do too
much good. But sometimes it did. Much done behind the scenes which cannot
be publicly detailed occurred in spite of Netanyahu's policies.
The Education ministry was in the hands of the NRP and not run by Meretz.
Rabbi Meir Porush, an overwhelming supporter of Hebron and all Yesha funded
building projects from his post as Deputy Minister of Building.
Etc. Etc. Etc.
The Ehud Barak candidate for education may very well be Yosef (Tommy)
Lapid, whose entire campaign is focussed around 'anti-religion.' We may
find ourselves with a Moslem Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs and
another Arab sitting in crucial cabinet sessions where Israel's future
could be determined. Yossi Beilin, Shimon Peres, Uzi Baram and Haim Ramon
will hold key ministries. Needless to say, the fate of major portions of
Eretz Yisrael and dozens of communities will be in jeopardy. If Peres was
able to pull the wool over Rabin's eyes, what will he do to the weak,
inexperienced Barak?
I could go on, but it is unnecessary. We all know what has to be done.
Despite the polls, we have to do whatever is still possible to get
Netanyahu reelected.
It is almost Shabbat here. In a few minutes my wife will light the candles
and we will go to pray Shabbat prayers at Ma'arat HaMachpela. We will pray
that Netanyahu doesn't lose on Monday, and that we get a second chance on
June 1, when the run-off election is scheduled to take place. We ask all
of you to pray too, that Binyamin ben Ben-tzion and Tzila Netanyahu be
reelected to the office of Prime Minister and that Ehud Barak is defeated.
Shabbat Shalom.
The Shame and the PrideErev Yom Hebron 5759May 13, 1999
Tomorrow is Yom Yerushalayim Jerusalem Day. Saturday, the 29th day of Iyar is the thirty-second anniversary of our return to Hebron - what we call “Hebron Day.”
Hebron Day is normally a time of special significance. Following an over 30-year absence from the first Jewish city in Israel, as a result of the 1929 massacre and exile, the return in 1967 was reason to celebrate. This year Hebron Day is especially poignant as we commemorate the 70th anniversary of that massacre.
It seems though, that the most significant facet of our return to Hebron in 1967 was the renewal of a Jewish presence at Ma’arat HaMachpela - the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
Many times tourists and journalists ask me why we have chosen to live in Hebron. Why be here, and not in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, or anywhere else in Israel? Why Hebron?
This is my response Ma’arat HaMachpela, is the second holiest site in the world for the Jewish people, second only to Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Chronologically, Ma’arat HaMachpela preceded Jerusalem by hundreds of years. According to Jewish sources Abraham purchased the Caves of Machpela to bury his wife Sarah after discovering there the tomb of Adam and Eve and the entrance to the Garden of Eden. Thus its importance, not only to Abraham, but for all generations.
For seven hundred years, from 1267, when the Crusader Wars concluded with the Mamalukes expelling the Christians from Hebron and from Israel, Ma’arat HaMachpela became off limits to all peoples, excepting Muslims. Jews and Christians attempting to visit were told that Ma’arat HaMachpela is a Mosque and that only Moslems can pray in a Mosque. Jews were forced to stand outside at what was known as the 7th step, on the way into the 2,000 year old structure atop the original caves. Only when we returned in 1967 were we again able to enter and pray in Ma’arat HaMachpela.
Today we are told by such notables as Mustafa Natsche, the Arab Mayor of Hebron, and officials such as the late Minister of Religious Affairs in the Palestine Authority, Hassan Taboub, that when “they” again control all of Hebron (G-d forbid), we Jews will no longer be able to pray at Ma’arat HaMachpela because it is a Mosque and only Moslems can pray in a Mosque. So they promise us ‘visitation rights.’ We know all about these visitation rights. We had them for 700 years, when we had no choice but to stand outside at the 7th step.
I have no doubt whatsoever that the only reason Ma’arat HaMachpela is today accessible to Jews and Christians is due to the permanent Jewish presence in Hebron. If we weren’t here, none of the 450,000 plus people who visit here annually would be able to get anywhere near Ma’arat HaMachpela.
I cannot imagine the following scenario becoming reality A family arrives in Israel for a visit. The children turn to the parents with a simple request “Mommy, Daddy, let’s go visit Abraham in Hebron. We just learned how he bought Ma’arat HaMachpela in school, a few weeks ago. Let’s go see it.”
And the parents look at each other and say, “Sorry but we can’t go.”
And the children ask, “Why not it’s only an hour from Jerusalem.”
And what will the parents answer? - “Because they took it away from us” or will they have to answer, “BECAUSE WE GAVE IT TO THEM?!” WE ABANDONED THE SECOND HOLIEST SITE IN THE WORLD TO OUR ARCHENEMIES WHO ALREADY PROCLAIMED THAT WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO VISIT THERE?
Very simply, this doesn’t make any sense.
We aren’t here because Hebron belongs to us. Hebron belongs to each and every Jew just as much as it belongs to me, or my family or friends. We are here as a kind of ‘keeper of the keys,’ keeping Hebron and Ma’arat HaMachpela for all the Jewish people. And not just for this generation but also for our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, forever. And who knows maybe one day one of them will COME LIVE HERE IN HEBRON. And if you think that’s a really wild thought well, ask my parents!
That is why we are here in Hebron. It is a privilege but also an obligation. It isn’t so easy to live in the shadow of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Lea, King David, and tens and hundreds of thousands of righteous who preceded us.
It isn’t easy for many reasons. For example, yesterday as I was entering Ma’arat HaMachpela to attend a friend’s family festivity I heard a border policeman telling a visitor that it is forbidden to take a shofar (ram’s horn) inside because it is a “musical instrument.” I responded that a shofar is an instrument of holiness and may definitely be taken into Ma’arat HaMachpela. His answer It is only an instrument of holiness on Rosh HaShana (the Jewish New Year), but not during the rest of the year.” I asked to speak with his commander, who also forbade taking a shofar into the building. I requested to speak with his superior who finally permitted the shofar to be taken into the building.
The security forces have also decided that mirrors are potentially ‘dangerous’ and confiscate them from people entering Ma’arat HaMachpela. This includes makeup mirrors, and the like. Many times men, going to pray with Tallis (prayer shawl) and Tefillin (phylacteries) take a small mirror with them in order to check that the Tefillin are properly placed on their head. Yesterday, my friend, who was celebrating his newly born son’s Brit Milah (circumcision) had his small circular-shaped mirror taken away from him. When I asked the officers why they allow people wearing glasses or carrying cameras into the Ma’ara, I received a blank stare in return.
So where are we - in Israel or in Russia of the 1960s and 1970s?
There is pride in Hebron, but there is also shame in Hebron. Following a seven hundred year exile from Ma’arat HaMachpela and an almost 40 year exile forced exile from Hebron, a Jew cannot bring a shofar into Ma’arat HaMachpela, AS DECREED BY A JEWISH, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT?!
Yes, there is shame - shame which to a great degree is inexplicable. But there is also pride, for with it all WE HAVE RETURNED HOME. Sometimes we must struggle, sometimes with the Arabs, and yes, sometimes with our own. But we are struggling HERE, in Hebron, at Ma’arat HaMachpela. With time this ridiculous strife will come to an end and there will be only pride, and no shame. Until them we will press on, living here, educating, and attempting to follow in the footsteps of our sacred ancestors.
From Hebron we send our blessings for a Happy Jerusalem Day and Happy Hebron Day proud and glad that we have the privilege to be representing you here, in the City of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs.
The Crossroad of Civilization May 7, 1999
After years of waiting excavations have begun in the Tel Hebron (Rumeida) neighborhood. This location is thought to be the site of the original Hebron, home to the Patriarchs and Matriarchs and King David, well over 3,000 years ago. The first week or so of digging revealed a huge (for those days) winery, probably dating to the Byzantine era, about 1,500 years ago. Archeologists working under the auspices of the Israeli Antiquities Authority believe that following the Moslem conquest the area was transformed into an agricultural center.
Another find, capturing all our interests, included several skeletons, some of children and at least one adult. It is clear that at some point in time the land was also used as a cemetery. What we do not know is which people the skeletons belonged to. They were found on a surface above the winery, leading us to believe that they may be Jewish or possibly Moslem. It is still unclear how this revelation will affect the continued excavation. What is clear is that the area being dug out was within the original Hebron wall, part of which has also be uncovered. The implications of this fact are of major significance. It is extremely likely that underneath these discoveries, which are very close to the surface, are ruins extending back in time to the Bronze Age the days of Abraham, and later, King David. To this date the oldest find is that of pottery four thousand years old, uncovered several months ago. Yesterday a pottery signature with the word Melech (King) on it, approximately 2,700 years old, from the era of Hezkiah HaMelech was discovered. (Pictures of the excavations can be viewed on the Hebron Web Site http//www.hebron.org.il/TelRumeida/trdig.htm)
The archeologist heading the excavation is Emmanuel Isenberg. His authority to dig is being challenged by another archeologist, Avi Ofer, who excavated in Hebron over 15 years ago. Ofer is claiming that he should have first rights to continue digging, as a result of his previous work in Hebron. The Antiquities Authority believes otherwise, and the Israeli Supreme Court is due to hear the case and rule in the near future.
Here is where the crossroads of history and politics meet, one way or another. Avi Ofer is not only an archeologist. He is also a major Israeli activist. He is one of the leaders of Shalom Achshav, the Peace Now organization. A few months ago we had a discussion with him in our Hebron offices. His statement, still reverberating in my ears, represents the paradox of politics and Hebron. He said, “Tel Hebron is the second most important archeological site in Israel, second only to Jerusalem and Temple Mount. However, as unfortunate as it may be, the site belongs to Arafat and the Palestinians.”
It is well known that after the excavations are completed, it is the intention of Hebron’s Jewish Community to construct permanent housing at the site. As in Jerusalem, it is possible to build above excavations, thereby allowing accessibility to visitors, while living in buildings above them. Avi Ofer has made it abundantly clear that he opposes any Jewish building at the site, for reasons which extend well beyond his professional interests. The Israeli left demands the removal of Jews from all of Hebron.
The Jewish Community of Hebron had no say, and has no say in the choice of archeologists working at the site. But we know that should Avi Ofer be granted the permit to work there, he will do everything in his power to keep us from utilizing the site for a fully constructed present day neighborhood.
As the digging was getting underway, Israel’s archenemy Arafat was preparing to ‘declare a state.’ On May 4, the day he promised to make it official, we were observing the uncovering of our ancient history. The land the Arabs (and Avi Ofer) claim is theirs is being bared for all to see. True, at some time in history it is possible that Moslems lived there. But that was many hundreds and thousands of years after Jewish Israelites had settled that same land. Tel Hebron, known also as Tel Rumeida and Admot Ishai is not only a crossroad of civilization. It is the roots of all civilization. Those roots, from which we still soak up the teachings of our Forefathers, are based in Hebron, at Tel Hebron and Ma’arat HaMachpela, which is located in the valley under the neighborhood. Jews lived at Tel Hebron 4,000 years ago, three thousand years ago, two thousand years ago, one thousand years ago. And, of course, today. How an archeologist, whose primary objective is to uncover the past, enabling us to learn about our land and ourselves can make such a statement, “but it belongs to Arafat” is beyond my comprehension.
The crossroad of civilization still runs via Tel Hebron. Our people and our state stem from Tel Hebron. This neighborhood provides and represents, perhaps more than any other place in Israel, the moral and historical justification of our existence, not only in Hebron, but in all of Israel. The crisscross of present day politics cannot eradicate the roots of our existance. That is why we are here, and that is why we will stay here, forever.
Tuesday, April 27, 1999
Hebron Articles March-April, 1999
Hebron Articles – March-April, 1999
David Wilder
Courage, Faith and Self-Sacrifice
Rosh Hodesh Iyar 5759 April 16, 1999
It was just after Pesach, 20 years ago. Two women, both instrumental in the return to Hebron eleven years earlier, now living in Kiryat Arba, sat down to talk. They pondered how to return to the city of Hebron itself.
By 1979 Kiryat Arba was an established community of thousands. Apartments, schools, playgrounds and small businesses abounded. But, when a small group of Jews returned to Hebron in 1968 their aim was not the establishment of a new Hebron suburb; their goal was to renew the ancient Jewish community in Hebron.
Miriam Levinger later spoke with her husband, Rav Moshe Levinger, mentioning an idea that had been broached: maybe women and children would be able to accomplish what the men were, as of yet, unable to do: to move back into the abandoned Beit Hadassah building in the heart of Hebron.
Hadassah building in the heart of Hebron.
Beit Hadassah was built in the late 1800s, originally a free medical clinic and guest house for Jews and Arabs alike. The one-story structure was too small to serve the many people taking advantage of the free services, and in the early 1900s a second floor was added. The clinic continued to operate under the auspices of the Hadassah women’s organization until the 1929 massacre, at which time all Jews were expelled from Hebron.
When a small group of families returned to Hebron in 1931, they lived in and around Beit Hadassah, utilizing the building as a school for the children. However, they too were expelled from Hebron by the British in 1936, following continued Arab aggression throughout Israel.
After the Six-day war and return to Hebron in 1967, Beit Hadassah was left vacant. Israeli soldiers sometimes stood guard from the roof of the building. In spite of various attempts to enter the building, Beit Hadassah was declared ‘off-limits’ and Jewish civilians were not allowed in.
Rav Levinger liked of his wife’s idea to have women and children secretly enter the premises. A chain of command was established, and a plan was developed. A few days later he asked Miriam if she was ready to go. Very quickly and very quietly a group of 10 women was organized. On the eve of the new month of Iyar, at three o’clock in the morning, the women, together with forty children, made the five-minute drive into downtown Hebron, arriving behind the main entrance to Beit Hadassah. A ladder was erected, leading into Beit Hadassah’s back windows. Again, very quickly, and very quietly, the women and children climbed into the empty downstairs room, whose floor was thick with dust and dirt. It was only then that Miriam Levinger understood why her husband had presented her with two brooms before leaving her Kiryat Arba home.
As the men made their way back to Kiryat Arba the women cleared some room on the floor for the mattresses they brought with them. Soon, everyone was asleep.
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See pictures of the return to Hebron in 1979: http://www.hebron.org.il/beithadassah/RtrnBeitHadas.htm
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When they woke up the next morning, the children started singing, ‘v’Shavu banim l’gvulam’ - ‘the children have returned home.’ Surprised Israeli soldiers stationed on the roof came down to investigate and discovered the group. They had no idea what to do with them. Neither did anyone else, including the Israeli government, then led by Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Begin wasn’t really keen on having Jews again living in the heart of Hebron, but he was opposed to physically removing them from the site. So, after a short time a solution was found. Police and soldiers surrounded Beit Hadassah. No one new was allowed in, and anyone leaving would not be allowed to return. The intention was to starve the group out.
Menachem Begin was approached by Rav Levinger: “When Israel surrounded the Egyptian third army in Sinai, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Egyptians were allowed food, water and medical supplies. If this was permitted to our enemy, who had just attacked us and killed our soldiers, the least you can do is allow the same to the women and children in Hebron.” And so it was. For close to a year.
One day a little boy in Beit Hadassah had a toothache and was sent to the dentist in Kiryat Arba. When he returned to Hebron, the Israeli soldier at the gate refused to let him back in. The little boy started crying, “I want my Ema (mommy).” Finally, only after an almost cabinet-level decision, the little boy was allowed back in.
Due to the lack of any real sanitary facilities, there was an outbreak of hepatitis. One of the women, upon entering Beit Hadassah, was pregnant. Hepatitis and pregnancies do not mix well together. When her friends told her she should leave Beit Hadassah rather than risk contracting the disease she replied, “If I can’t come back, I will not leave.”
As her due date approached, again the other women tried to convince her to leave for hospital to give birth. The answer: "If I cannot come back here with my baby I will not leave. Miriam Levinger is a nurse. She will assist me and everything will be OK.”
Pressure on the Israeli government was tremendous. Finally she received a written permit stating that she could return following the birth. After reading the permit, however, she refused to take it. “Why not?” asked the astonished messenger. “Because it is written here that I can come back, but it doesn’t say that I can bring my baby with me.”
After a second permit was issued she left Hebron for hospital in Jerusalem, gave birth to a little girl, named her Hadassah, and returned to Beit Hadassah in Hebron. (Later, the women and children were allowed to leave the building and return, but no one else was allowed in, excepting special occasions.)
These women and children lived this way until a terrorist attack in early May of 1980, when six Jews were shot to death on a Friday night across the street from Beit Hadassah. Only then did the Israeli government allow the men to join their families, and then officially sanctioned a permanent Jewish presence in Hebron. A few years later the government rebuilt Beit Hadassah, adding two floors onto the original building. Today Beit Hadassah houses ten families, the Hebron Heritage Museum, including the 1929 memorial room, archives, a library, and a volunteer’s apartment.
This is how Hebron’s Jewish community, an ancient community decimated by the murderous massacre incited by Haj Amin el-Husseini in 1929, was reestablished. These ten women and forty children, true modern-day pioneers, literally gave a year of their lives in order to bring about the renewal of The Jewish Community of Hebron. Their courage, faith and self sacrifice brought us back to Hebron. It started today, exactly twenty years ago. And we all owe them an eternal debt of gratitude and appreciation.
Different Kinds of HeroesMarch 19, 1999
Seven years ago, if I remember correctly it was January first, a young man with three children and a pregnant wife, Shella, was murdered near his Kfar Darome home in Gush Katif, Gazza. I remember Doron Shorshan from many years ago when he began studying at Machon Meir in Jerusalem - a yeshiva for "chozrim b'tshuva" - Jews returning to their religious roots. Doron was a teenager - he may still have been in high school. He was always smiling, always doing something, finding it very difficult to sit still. And everyone liked him.
Years later he married Shella and they set up their home in Kfar Darome, a small, isolated community in Gazza. Not too many families were able to settle there for lack of space and homes. But the young families who were fortunate enough to get a house, or in those days, a caravan or small prefab, lived the idealistic life of Israeli pioneers. Doron liked to work with his hands and to work the land. Together with Shella their family began to grow. AviChai, Tal and Hadar. And another child, on the way. A life of ideals on the Land - almost bliss.
Until that winter day when terrorists ambushed Doron on his way home, shooting and killing him as he was driving, not far from Kfar Darome.
Shella later gave birth to their fourth child and second son, who she named Yair-Doron. Yair means "will radiate" or "give forth light." The connotation is obvious.
Two years later - again, tragedy. Six year old Tal was suddenly stricken with meningitis. After a week in the hospital, she died. It was almost exactly two years to the day when her father was killed. In a children's book, recommended also to adults, Shella writes, "Tal missed her father," everyone said. "Now she is with him in heaven so that he won't be sad."
What does a woman do in such a situation? Shella Shorshan is a special human being, living in a special neighborhood. Kfar Darome is a very close-knit community. Unfortunately Shella is not the only 'war widow.' With support from her friends and family she became a symbol of courage. Over time she became a spokesperson for the Kfar Darome community and for all of Gush Katif. About a month ago, while spending a Shabbat at Kfar Darome with my family, someone told me, "Shella? Shella and Kfar Darome are synonymous. She is not a stationary symbol, rather Shella Shorshan became a full fledged leader, working and representing these brave souls, living in an area that might be described as 'close to the end of the world." The community is literally surrounded by thousands of Arabs from Gazza, Arabs who don't want them there and more then Hebron's Arabs want us here in Hebron.
But rather than surrender to the aspirations of her husband's murderers, Shella built a new life for herself and her children, a life centered not around herself, but around Kfar Darome and all of Gush Katif.
This coming Wednesday night Shella is taking a further step to rebuilding her life She is marrying a Jerusalem doctor, and will, with G-d's help, continue to raise a family - a family dedicated to Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael and Torat Yisrael.
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Four years ago, one weekday night, Nachum Hoss called his wife Avigial in Hebron and told her that soon he would be home. He was catching the next bus from Jerusalem and would arrive an hour later. An hour came and went, and suddenly rumors started flying. Something had happened - a bus had been shot at - people were hit - some were killed.
That night a Bat Mitzvah party was being celebrated in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. A family from outside of Hebron decided to celebrate their daughter's Bat Mitzvah in Hebron. One of the guests was a doctor. In the middle of the party he was requested to step outside. He was told that Avigial's husband Nachum had been killed in a terrorist attack outside of Hebron, one of the two people murdered. He accompanied some Hebron residents, friends of Avigial and Nachum, to break her the news. She already knew something was wrong, because Nachum should have been home a long time ago. As the group entered her small apartment, with tears in her eyes, she said, "you don't have to tell me - I already know."
Avigial Hoss graduated from the Kiryat Arba Ulpana high school for girls and then married Nachum. Nachum was a major activist and was known as Rav Moshe Levinger's 'right-hand man.' After the wedding they so wanted to live in Hebron that they agreed to move into a tiny apartment in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. Nachum worked in Jerusalem and Avigial, in a Hebron nursery school, as an assistant.
Following Nachum's murder Avigial stayed in Hebron, finished post-high school studies, and became a nursery school teacher. Not having any children of her own, Avigial became an 'Ema' - mother to dozens of Hebron children, filling them with love and happiness every day. I know how much the children love her - I see it in my four year old son, who is in Avigial's class - I see how, every morning, he can't wait to get to nursery school - to his friends, and to Avigial.
Earlier this week, one morning, a Hebron woman approached me with a special request. "We need you to design a wedding invitation, fast." When I asked why the hurry I was told, "Avigial just got engaged, and they are getting married next week, before Passover, and they want to send out invitations before the end of this week."
A week and a half ago, with many of us, Avigial stood by Nachum's grave, on the fourth anniversary of his murder. Next Thursday night we will all participate in Avigial and Yigal's simcha - their wedding, next to the walls of Ma'arat HaMachpela in Hebron.
These two women - Shella Shorshan and Avigial Hoss - are living examples of heroism- authentic heroism. They are heroes because, in spite of their tragic losses, they did not succumb to the terrorists who murdered their husbands. The terrorists who shot at Doron Shorshan and Nachum Hoss wanted not only to kill their victims, but also to destroy the fabric of all normal life, thereby causing families and friends to despair, to pick up and leave - be it from Hebron or Kfar Darome. These two women did, as have others like them, the opposite. They struggled on, overcoming the pain, overcoming the anguish, and continued forward, reestablishing lives of value, lives of purpose - selflessly giving to others, defeating the terrorist's goals.
Now, next week, these two women will begin new lives, with G-d's help lives of happiness, full family lives that they so richly deserve. Shella and Avigial are different kinds of heroes - because their heroism is a continuance of normalcy in a sea of seeming insanity. They have proven that, as hard as they will try, the terrorists cannot, and will not win.
To Shella and to Avigial - Mazal Tov - may you be blessed with health and happiness all the days of your lives, together with your old friends and new families - HaShem Yivarch etchen b'Shalom - May G-d bless you with true peace.
Surrender to TerrorMarch 9, 1999
A few months ago, after years of waiting, and following the brutal stabbing murder of 63 year old Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan, Hebron's Jewish Community received building permits allowing construction of a new apartment building - Beit Ha Shisha. This building is named after six men: Hanan Krauthammer, Gershon Klein, Ya'akov Zimmerman, Zvi Glatt, Shmuel Marmelstein, and Eli HaZe'ev, all of whom were killed in a terror attack in front of Beit Hadassah in the early spring of 1980. Despite continued requests, previous administrations refused to OK the construction. Until the murder of Rabbi Ra'anan late last summer.
As construction began The Jewish Community of Hebron discovered that the road in front of Beit Hadassah, which had been closed to all Arab traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian since the murder, was about to be reopened to Arab pedestrians.
This stretch of road, at most a hundred meters, literally touches apartment buildings Beit Hadassah and Beit Shneerson, a children's playground and a daycare - nursery school complex. In the past Arabs found their way into the courtyard and stole children's bicycles and other toys. One day a Hebron resident living in Beit Shneerson came home to find an Arab in his kitchen.
Intelligence reports constantly warn of Arab plans to harm Hebron's Jewish population. From this street, into a Jewish residence, is a matter or seconds. The likelihood of a hand grenade being tossed into a house is far from wild imagination. Unfortunately, it is too real a possibility. For these reasons the community objected to the street's reopening. Arabs were able to easily reach their destination by walking a few meters out the their way. They were delayed, perhaps, two or three minutes.
Our objections reached deaf ears. The street was reopened.
However, it was not chance coincidence that the road was reopened when work began on Beit HaShisha. Arab leaders in Hebron and in the Palestinian Authority, utilizing their connections with the US State Department, issued a warning to Israeli military leaders: Hebron's Arab population is liable to violently object to the new construction by the Jews in Hebron unless they are appropriately appeased. Steady US pressure on Netanyahu and then Defense Minister Mordechai, together with the Arab threats achieved the goal - the reopening of the street.
During the week following Rabbi Ra'anan's murder Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the Admot Ishai neighborhood, paying his condolences to the Rabbi's widow and family. Upon witnessing the housing conditions in the neighborhood he immediately promised government approval to rectify the deplorable situation. Seven families live in this neighborhood in the equivalent of mobile homes - caravans 45 square meters. One family has two caravans - 90 meters - because they have twelve children. This is the way people have had to live for the past fourteen years.
Before permanent housing can be constructed, archeological excavations are required in the area, due to the antiquity of the site. Some four thousand years ago Abraham and Sarah resided here, as did King David almost a thousand years later. In order to commence with the archeological digs two of the caravans must be removed. The families living in them are supposed to move into a 'double-decker' caravan, to be placed on top of two other remaining caravans. Those two new caravans were supposed to be moved into the neighborhood today. Sometime next week the other two caravans were to be removed.
Last week we learned that the road leading to the Tel Rumeida-Admot Ishaineighborhood, closed to Arab vehicular traffic for over eight months, wasto be reopened on the same day that the new caravans were to be broughtinto Hebron. It was closed when tourists from Ranana, celebrating their son's Bar Mitzvah, were shot at while walking down the road. The mother of the Bar Mitzvah boy, Esther Hizmi, was hit in the leg.
A couple of days ago we learned that, again, Arab threats were responsible for Israeli relinquishment. Again, they warned of massive riots in Hebron, should two new caravans be moved into Tel Rumeida. They promised to maintain quiet if….the road was reopened to Arab traffic.
This road, a narrow steep winding hill, is our only route into the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, without having to travel through the section of Hebron controlled by Arafat. Reopening it to Arab traffic will pose a grave threat to the Jews who daily walk and drive up and down this road. In the past a man was stabbed on this road. It has also been the site of firebomb and rock attacks.
Again, American pressure is being applied. Sources close to the community revealed that the State Department is again twisting the screws, demanding that Israel reopen the road, despite the dangers involved. And again, Israel acquiesced and the deal was made. When the caravans were to be brought into Hebron, the road would be reopened.
This morning Hebron's Jewish leadership notified the appropriate authorities of cancellation of the new caravans. We refuse to play into Arab-American hands, playing chit for chat, thereby allowing the Arabs to use threat of force to gain Israeli concessions, concessions which endanger our lives. We refuse to cooperate with cowards in the Israeli administration who are bowing down to Arab threats.
A few days ago I participated in a conference in Jerusalem sponsored by the Victims of Arab Terror (VAT), founded and led by Mrs. Shifra Hoffman. There I heard Mrs. Joyce Baum, mother of David, who would shortly have celebrated his 20th birthday had he not been murdered outside Beit El a few years ago. She told how she was almost killed by the same terrorist who murdered her son, due the failure Israeli and PA forces to apprehend him. I heard Mr. Nisim Gudai of Kiryat Arba describe how Arabs stabbed him in the back in Hebron, and how, miraculously, the knife did not hit any vital organs. I heard the sister of Esther Ochana, a woman soldier killed by a rock, speak of her family's experiences. I too spoke, of two nursery school teachers shot by terrorists in Hebron a few months ago, and of Hebron's Nachum Hoss and Yehuda Partush, killed exactly four years ago that day.
And I ask now, as I did then, why does Israel continue to submit to Arab threats and American pressure? Why should Israelis have to pay the price of Arab-American blackmail?
Earlier today I was visited by a representative of the American consulate in Jerusalem. When she asked me why we had cancelled the caravans, I answered quite simply: "We refuse to acquiesce to Arab terror!" If need be we will force the Israeli government to relearn what we all know and what, in the past, Israel practiced - the ABCs of independence and sovereignty: Do not surrender to threats - do not surrender to terror!
David Wilder
Courage, Faith and Self-Sacrifice
Rosh Hodesh Iyar 5759 April 16, 1999
It was just after Pesach, 20 years ago. Two women, both instrumental in the return to Hebron eleven years earlier, now living in Kiryat Arba, sat down to talk. They pondered how to return to the city of Hebron itself.
By 1979 Kiryat Arba was an established community of thousands. Apartments, schools, playgrounds and small businesses abounded. But, when a small group of Jews returned to Hebron in 1968 their aim was not the establishment of a new Hebron suburb; their goal was to renew the ancient Jewish community in Hebron.
Miriam Levinger later spoke with her husband, Rav Moshe Levinger, mentioning an idea that had been broached: maybe women and children would be able to accomplish what the men were, as of yet, unable to do: to move back into the abandoned Beit Hadassah building in the heart of Hebron.
Hadassah building in the heart of Hebron.
Beit Hadassah was built in the late 1800s, originally a free medical clinic and guest house for Jews and Arabs alike. The one-story structure was too small to serve the many people taking advantage of the free services, and in the early 1900s a second floor was added. The clinic continued to operate under the auspices of the Hadassah women’s organization until the 1929 massacre, at which time all Jews were expelled from Hebron.
When a small group of families returned to Hebron in 1931, they lived in and around Beit Hadassah, utilizing the building as a school for the children. However, they too were expelled from Hebron by the British in 1936, following continued Arab aggression throughout Israel.
After the Six-day war and return to Hebron in 1967, Beit Hadassah was left vacant. Israeli soldiers sometimes stood guard from the roof of the building. In spite of various attempts to enter the building, Beit Hadassah was declared ‘off-limits’ and Jewish civilians were not allowed in.
Rav Levinger liked of his wife’s idea to have women and children secretly enter the premises. A chain of command was established, and a plan was developed. A few days later he asked Miriam if she was ready to go. Very quickly and very quietly a group of 10 women was organized. On the eve of the new month of Iyar, at three o’clock in the morning, the women, together with forty children, made the five-minute drive into downtown Hebron, arriving behind the main entrance to Beit Hadassah. A ladder was erected, leading into Beit Hadassah’s back windows. Again, very quickly, and very quietly, the women and children climbed into the empty downstairs room, whose floor was thick with dust and dirt. It was only then that Miriam Levinger understood why her husband had presented her with two brooms before leaving her Kiryat Arba home.
As the men made their way back to Kiryat Arba the women cleared some room on the floor for the mattresses they brought with them. Soon, everyone was asleep.
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See pictures of the return to Hebron in 1979: http://www.hebron.org.il/beithadassah/RtrnBeitHadas.htm
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When they woke up the next morning, the children started singing, ‘v’Shavu banim l’gvulam’ - ‘the children have returned home.’ Surprised Israeli soldiers stationed on the roof came down to investigate and discovered the group. They had no idea what to do with them. Neither did anyone else, including the Israeli government, then led by Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Begin wasn’t really keen on having Jews again living in the heart of Hebron, but he was opposed to physically removing them from the site. So, after a short time a solution was found. Police and soldiers surrounded Beit Hadassah. No one new was allowed in, and anyone leaving would not be allowed to return. The intention was to starve the group out.
Menachem Begin was approached by Rav Levinger: “When Israel surrounded the Egyptian third army in Sinai, during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Egyptians were allowed food, water and medical supplies. If this was permitted to our enemy, who had just attacked us and killed our soldiers, the least you can do is allow the same to the women and children in Hebron.” And so it was. For close to a year.
One day a little boy in Beit Hadassah had a toothache and was sent to the dentist in Kiryat Arba. When he returned to Hebron, the Israeli soldier at the gate refused to let him back in. The little boy started crying, “I want my Ema (mommy).” Finally, only after an almost cabinet-level decision, the little boy was allowed back in.
Due to the lack of any real sanitary facilities, there was an outbreak of hepatitis. One of the women, upon entering Beit Hadassah, was pregnant. Hepatitis and pregnancies do not mix well together. When her friends told her she should leave Beit Hadassah rather than risk contracting the disease she replied, “If I can’t come back, I will not leave.”
As her due date approached, again the other women tried to convince her to leave for hospital to give birth. The answer: "If I cannot come back here with my baby I will not leave. Miriam Levinger is a nurse. She will assist me and everything will be OK.”
Pressure on the Israeli government was tremendous. Finally she received a written permit stating that she could return following the birth. After reading the permit, however, she refused to take it. “Why not?” asked the astonished messenger. “Because it is written here that I can come back, but it doesn’t say that I can bring my baby with me.”
After a second permit was issued she left Hebron for hospital in Jerusalem, gave birth to a little girl, named her Hadassah, and returned to Beit Hadassah in Hebron. (Later, the women and children were allowed to leave the building and return, but no one else was allowed in, excepting special occasions.)
These women and children lived this way until a terrorist attack in early May of 1980, when six Jews were shot to death on a Friday night across the street from Beit Hadassah. Only then did the Israeli government allow the men to join their families, and then officially sanctioned a permanent Jewish presence in Hebron. A few years later the government rebuilt Beit Hadassah, adding two floors onto the original building. Today Beit Hadassah houses ten families, the Hebron Heritage Museum, including the 1929 memorial room, archives, a library, and a volunteer’s apartment.
This is how Hebron’s Jewish community, an ancient community decimated by the murderous massacre incited by Haj Amin el-Husseini in 1929, was reestablished. These ten women and forty children, true modern-day pioneers, literally gave a year of their lives in order to bring about the renewal of The Jewish Community of Hebron. Their courage, faith and self sacrifice brought us back to Hebron. It started today, exactly twenty years ago. And we all owe them an eternal debt of gratitude and appreciation.
Different Kinds of HeroesMarch 19, 1999
Seven years ago, if I remember correctly it was January first, a young man with three children and a pregnant wife, Shella, was murdered near his Kfar Darome home in Gush Katif, Gazza. I remember Doron Shorshan from many years ago when he began studying at Machon Meir in Jerusalem - a yeshiva for "chozrim b'tshuva" - Jews returning to their religious roots. Doron was a teenager - he may still have been in high school. He was always smiling, always doing something, finding it very difficult to sit still. And everyone liked him.
Years later he married Shella and they set up their home in Kfar Darome, a small, isolated community in Gazza. Not too many families were able to settle there for lack of space and homes. But the young families who were fortunate enough to get a house, or in those days, a caravan or small prefab, lived the idealistic life of Israeli pioneers. Doron liked to work with his hands and to work the land. Together with Shella their family began to grow. AviChai, Tal and Hadar. And another child, on the way. A life of ideals on the Land - almost bliss.
Until that winter day when terrorists ambushed Doron on his way home, shooting and killing him as he was driving, not far from Kfar Darome.
Shella later gave birth to their fourth child and second son, who she named Yair-Doron. Yair means "will radiate" or "give forth light." The connotation is obvious.
Two years later - again, tragedy. Six year old Tal was suddenly stricken with meningitis. After a week in the hospital, she died. It was almost exactly two years to the day when her father was killed. In a children's book, recommended also to adults, Shella writes, "Tal missed her father," everyone said. "Now she is with him in heaven so that he won't be sad."
What does a woman do in such a situation? Shella Shorshan is a special human being, living in a special neighborhood. Kfar Darome is a very close-knit community. Unfortunately Shella is not the only 'war widow.' With support from her friends and family she became a symbol of courage. Over time she became a spokesperson for the Kfar Darome community and for all of Gush Katif. About a month ago, while spending a Shabbat at Kfar Darome with my family, someone told me, "Shella? Shella and Kfar Darome are synonymous. She is not a stationary symbol, rather Shella Shorshan became a full fledged leader, working and representing these brave souls, living in an area that might be described as 'close to the end of the world." The community is literally surrounded by thousands of Arabs from Gazza, Arabs who don't want them there and more then Hebron's Arabs want us here in Hebron.
But rather than surrender to the aspirations of her husband's murderers, Shella built a new life for herself and her children, a life centered not around herself, but around Kfar Darome and all of Gush Katif.
This coming Wednesday night Shella is taking a further step to rebuilding her life She is marrying a Jerusalem doctor, and will, with G-d's help, continue to raise a family - a family dedicated to Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael and Torat Yisrael.
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Four years ago, one weekday night, Nachum Hoss called his wife Avigial in Hebron and told her that soon he would be home. He was catching the next bus from Jerusalem and would arrive an hour later. An hour came and went, and suddenly rumors started flying. Something had happened - a bus had been shot at - people were hit - some were killed.
That night a Bat Mitzvah party was being celebrated in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. A family from outside of Hebron decided to celebrate their daughter's Bat Mitzvah in Hebron. One of the guests was a doctor. In the middle of the party he was requested to step outside. He was told that Avigial's husband Nachum had been killed in a terrorist attack outside of Hebron, one of the two people murdered. He accompanied some Hebron residents, friends of Avigial and Nachum, to break her the news. She already knew something was wrong, because Nachum should have been home a long time ago. As the group entered her small apartment, with tears in her eyes, she said, "you don't have to tell me - I already know."
Avigial Hoss graduated from the Kiryat Arba Ulpana high school for girls and then married Nachum. Nachum was a major activist and was known as Rav Moshe Levinger's 'right-hand man.' After the wedding they so wanted to live in Hebron that they agreed to move into a tiny apartment in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. Nachum worked in Jerusalem and Avigial, in a Hebron nursery school, as an assistant.
Following Nachum's murder Avigial stayed in Hebron, finished post-high school studies, and became a nursery school teacher. Not having any children of her own, Avigial became an 'Ema' - mother to dozens of Hebron children, filling them with love and happiness every day. I know how much the children love her - I see it in my four year old son, who is in Avigial's class - I see how, every morning, he can't wait to get to nursery school - to his friends, and to Avigial.
Earlier this week, one morning, a Hebron woman approached me with a special request. "We need you to design a wedding invitation, fast." When I asked why the hurry I was told, "Avigial just got engaged, and they are getting married next week, before Passover, and they want to send out invitations before the end of this week."
A week and a half ago, with many of us, Avigial stood by Nachum's grave, on the fourth anniversary of his murder. Next Thursday night we will all participate in Avigial and Yigal's simcha - their wedding, next to the walls of Ma'arat HaMachpela in Hebron.
These two women - Shella Shorshan and Avigial Hoss - are living examples of heroism- authentic heroism. They are heroes because, in spite of their tragic losses, they did not succumb to the terrorists who murdered their husbands. The terrorists who shot at Doron Shorshan and Nachum Hoss wanted not only to kill their victims, but also to destroy the fabric of all normal life, thereby causing families and friends to despair, to pick up and leave - be it from Hebron or Kfar Darome. These two women did, as have others like them, the opposite. They struggled on, overcoming the pain, overcoming the anguish, and continued forward, reestablishing lives of value, lives of purpose - selflessly giving to others, defeating the terrorist's goals.
Now, next week, these two women will begin new lives, with G-d's help lives of happiness, full family lives that they so richly deserve. Shella and Avigial are different kinds of heroes - because their heroism is a continuance of normalcy in a sea of seeming insanity. They have proven that, as hard as they will try, the terrorists cannot, and will not win.
To Shella and to Avigial - Mazal Tov - may you be blessed with health and happiness all the days of your lives, together with your old friends and new families - HaShem Yivarch etchen b'Shalom - May G-d bless you with true peace.
Surrender to TerrorMarch 9, 1999
A few months ago, after years of waiting, and following the brutal stabbing murder of 63 year old Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan, Hebron's Jewish Community received building permits allowing construction of a new apartment building - Beit Ha Shisha. This building is named after six men: Hanan Krauthammer, Gershon Klein, Ya'akov Zimmerman, Zvi Glatt, Shmuel Marmelstein, and Eli HaZe'ev, all of whom were killed in a terror attack in front of Beit Hadassah in the early spring of 1980. Despite continued requests, previous administrations refused to OK the construction. Until the murder of Rabbi Ra'anan late last summer.
As construction began The Jewish Community of Hebron discovered that the road in front of Beit Hadassah, which had been closed to all Arab traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian since the murder, was about to be reopened to Arab pedestrians.
This stretch of road, at most a hundred meters, literally touches apartment buildings Beit Hadassah and Beit Shneerson, a children's playground and a daycare - nursery school complex. In the past Arabs found their way into the courtyard and stole children's bicycles and other toys. One day a Hebron resident living in Beit Shneerson came home to find an Arab in his kitchen.
Intelligence reports constantly warn of Arab plans to harm Hebron's Jewish population. From this street, into a Jewish residence, is a matter or seconds. The likelihood of a hand grenade being tossed into a house is far from wild imagination. Unfortunately, it is too real a possibility. For these reasons the community objected to the street's reopening. Arabs were able to easily reach their destination by walking a few meters out the their way. They were delayed, perhaps, two or three minutes.
Our objections reached deaf ears. The street was reopened.
However, it was not chance coincidence that the road was reopened when work began on Beit HaShisha. Arab leaders in Hebron and in the Palestinian Authority, utilizing their connections with the US State Department, issued a warning to Israeli military leaders: Hebron's Arab population is liable to violently object to the new construction by the Jews in Hebron unless they are appropriately appeased. Steady US pressure on Netanyahu and then Defense Minister Mordechai, together with the Arab threats achieved the goal - the reopening of the street.
During the week following Rabbi Ra'anan's murder Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the Admot Ishai neighborhood, paying his condolences to the Rabbi's widow and family. Upon witnessing the housing conditions in the neighborhood he immediately promised government approval to rectify the deplorable situation. Seven families live in this neighborhood in the equivalent of mobile homes - caravans 45 square meters. One family has two caravans - 90 meters - because they have twelve children. This is the way people have had to live for the past fourteen years.
Before permanent housing can be constructed, archeological excavations are required in the area, due to the antiquity of the site. Some four thousand years ago Abraham and Sarah resided here, as did King David almost a thousand years later. In order to commence with the archeological digs two of the caravans must be removed. The families living in them are supposed to move into a 'double-decker' caravan, to be placed on top of two other remaining caravans. Those two new caravans were supposed to be moved into the neighborhood today. Sometime next week the other two caravans were to be removed.
Last week we learned that the road leading to the Tel Rumeida-Admot Ishaineighborhood, closed to Arab vehicular traffic for over eight months, wasto be reopened on the same day that the new caravans were to be broughtinto Hebron. It was closed when tourists from Ranana, celebrating their son's Bar Mitzvah, were shot at while walking down the road. The mother of the Bar Mitzvah boy, Esther Hizmi, was hit in the leg.
A couple of days ago we learned that, again, Arab threats were responsible for Israeli relinquishment. Again, they warned of massive riots in Hebron, should two new caravans be moved into Tel Rumeida. They promised to maintain quiet if….the road was reopened to Arab traffic.
This road, a narrow steep winding hill, is our only route into the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, without having to travel through the section of Hebron controlled by Arafat. Reopening it to Arab traffic will pose a grave threat to the Jews who daily walk and drive up and down this road. In the past a man was stabbed on this road. It has also been the site of firebomb and rock attacks.
Again, American pressure is being applied. Sources close to the community revealed that the State Department is again twisting the screws, demanding that Israel reopen the road, despite the dangers involved. And again, Israel acquiesced and the deal was made. When the caravans were to be brought into Hebron, the road would be reopened.
This morning Hebron's Jewish leadership notified the appropriate authorities of cancellation of the new caravans. We refuse to play into Arab-American hands, playing chit for chat, thereby allowing the Arabs to use threat of force to gain Israeli concessions, concessions which endanger our lives. We refuse to cooperate with cowards in the Israeli administration who are bowing down to Arab threats.
A few days ago I participated in a conference in Jerusalem sponsored by the Victims of Arab Terror (VAT), founded and led by Mrs. Shifra Hoffman. There I heard Mrs. Joyce Baum, mother of David, who would shortly have celebrated his 20th birthday had he not been murdered outside Beit El a few years ago. She told how she was almost killed by the same terrorist who murdered her son, due the failure Israeli and PA forces to apprehend him. I heard Mr. Nisim Gudai of Kiryat Arba describe how Arabs stabbed him in the back in Hebron, and how, miraculously, the knife did not hit any vital organs. I heard the sister of Esther Ochana, a woman soldier killed by a rock, speak of her family's experiences. I too spoke, of two nursery school teachers shot by terrorists in Hebron a few months ago, and of Hebron's Nachum Hoss and Yehuda Partush, killed exactly four years ago that day.
And I ask now, as I did then, why does Israel continue to submit to Arab threats and American pressure? Why should Israelis have to pay the price of Arab-American blackmail?
Earlier today I was visited by a representative of the American consulate in Jerusalem. When she asked me why we had cancelled the caravans, I answered quite simply: "We refuse to acquiesce to Arab terror!" If need be we will force the Israeli government to relearn what we all know and what, in the past, Israel practiced - the ABCs of independence and sovereignty: Do not surrender to threats - do not surrender to terror!
Saturday, February 27, 1999
Hebron Articles - Jan. - Feb., 1999
Hebron Articles-Jan-Feb., 1999
David Wilder
Measures of Strength
February 5, 1999
Two subjects have become major topics of the current elections Tel Rumeida and Bibi's new campaign slogan.
Tel Rumeida? Yes! Labor candidate Ehud Barak has turned Tel Rumeida into a campaign issue. In what way? For example, a few days ago on Tuesday, Feb. 2nd, as quoted in Ha'Artetz newspaper "We have clear red lines. Yitzhar and Tel Rumeida are one thing; But Alphei Menashe, Gush Etzion, Ariel, Nirit, the Jordan Valley settlements and many other places are part of the State of Israel in the permanent settlement as well."
In other words, Tel Rumeida is NOT part of the State of Israel, according to Barak.
What exactly is Tel Rumeida? This Hebron neighborhood is very special. The word Rumeida, in Arabic, has something to do with a fire that occurred well over 1,000 years ago and for some reason the name stuck. However, the real name of this site is not Tel Rumeida. Rather, it is Tel Hebron. For this is the site of the original Hebron - the home of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Lea.
According to archeologists, a huge, ancient wall found here originated during the days of Joshua.
Later, this site was the location of King David's first palace - the first capital of the Kingdom of Judea, where David went following the death of King Saul. Visitors can see here the Tomb of Jessie and Ruth - Jessie, King David's father, and Ruth, his great grandmother.
Other excavations have unearthed ruins from two thousand years ago, during the time of the Second Temple. Only a few months ago a superficial excavation discovered 40 clay jugs four thousand years old. Some of this pottery was intact, and some of the jugs contained jewelry inside them.
When I take tourists to visit this neighborhood I tell them, "You literally have 4,000 years of Jewish history here, under your feet. This is the roots of the Jewish People, the roots of monotheism. Our history began here. This is the original Hebron, the first Jewish city in Israel."
Tel Rumeida today is a small Jewish neighborhood. Small, not because this is the way we want it, but because we have denied the ability to build, or to bring in prefabricated structures. Seven families live today in this area, living in what we call 'caravans' or mobile homes. Each caravan is about 45 square meters in size. One family, who we frequently visit while touring, has two caravans - 90 square meters. The reason they recently celebrated the birth of their 12th child. So they need a little extra room. Another family in Tel Rumeida came from Russia, not too many years ago. The wife, Anna, is one of Israel's premiere musicians. Tel Rumeida is also home to Hebron director Rabbi Hillel Horowitz and his family. And of course, I must mention another family, a family which experienced tremendous tragedy a few months ago Rabbanit Chaya Ra'anan. Her husband, Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan, the sixty three year old grandson of Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, Israel's first Chief Rabbi, was brutally murdered by an Arab terrorist less than six months ago.
These are some of the seven families living today at the site of Israel's first Jewish city. This is the neighborhood of the 'extremists' which, according to Barak, is NOT a part of the State of Israel. This is a land area which, according to Barak, WILL BE GIVEN TO ARAFAT, as part of a final status settlement.
(A few weeks ago an Israeli archeologist who excavated at Tel Rumeida, and who is also a well-known activist of Shalom Achshav - Peace Now, in the Israeli left, told us, "This is the second most important archeological site in Israel, second only to Jerusalem." He added, "Unfortunately, it belongs to Arafat.")
This is where Barak draws the line.
The second topic I mentioned is Bibi's campaign slogan, which says Netanyahu A strong leader for a strong people. (Well, they got half of it right. We are a strong people. Whether or not Netanyahu is a strong leader is another story.)
Why is this a controversial subject? For some reason, people object to the use of the word 'strength'. It seems to have negative connotations. This, I personally find difficult to comprehend. Strength does not necessarily mean physical strength. What about moral and ethical strength, spiritual strength, or what might be called assertiveness - i.e. standing up for what you believe in?
What I find interesting is that the same people who negate Tel Rumeida also object to this campaign slogan. And the reason seems to be fairly obvious. They prefer weakness. They prefer mediocrity. They prefer a fuzzy and obscure identity. They cannot identify with Abraham or King David or Joshua, because these central figures in the history of our People were strong and assertive. They cannot associate with a people like the Maccabees, who revolted against the Greeks, or Bar-Kochva, who led the revolt against the Romans following the fall of the Second Temple. Both the Maccabees and Bar Kochva battled in ancient Hebron. For they represent the antithesis of 'good Jews'. They prefer Jews who kowtow to the demands of others, who prefer Washington and Geneva to Hebron and Yitzhar (a community in the Shomron). They prefer to erase our past, thereby stunting our future.
A people unwilling to honor its past, cannot honor its future. Of course we always have to look forward, but when we look at ourselves in the mirror of history, we are our past. If we despise our past, we despise our present. And in the future, we too will be disregarded. The measure of who we are - Israelis and Jews - this is our past and our strength. That is why, obviously, Barak rejects not only the 'strength' in the campaign slogan, but also the historic identity with Tel Rumeida.
We, to the contrary, have a different measure of strength, a strength which is inextricably bound up with Tel Rumeida - with Abraham and King David, with Joshua and the Maccabees. And with seven families who are keeping this ancient holy site accessible for all the Jewish people.
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(Note The present administration has recently granted permission to build at Tel Rumeida. Hopefully, following archeological excavations due to begin shortly, new houses will be built at this site and the population will be doubled.)
A Grain of Sand January 18, 1999
It was exactly 730 days ago, two years ago, when the State of Israel willingly
and intentionally abandoned 80% of Hebron to Arafat and the terrorists. It was
such a terrible Friday morning when the military commander of the Hebron
Brigade, Lt. Colonel Gadi, walked out of the Israeli military compound on a
hill overlooking much of the rest of the city, entered his jeep and drove a few
minutes 'over the border' into the "Israeli" side of the city.
It was not unexpected. The 'Hebron Accords' had been signed and then ratified
by the Israeli cabinet only days before. That agreement, coming on the heels of
the cursed Oslo accords, had almost fallen through. Here in Hebron, together
with Jews around Israel and throughout the world we had worked day and night
for months on end, attempting to prevent implementation of the decree. Cabinet
ministers and Knesset members visited Hebron in order to 'learn the subject'
from up close. As a matter of fact, on the very day that the accords were voted
on in the cabinet, Minister Natan Sharansky made a special trip to Hebron, to
once again see with his own two eyes, and hear from the Hebron leadership, the
situation which would be created as a result of the agreement. Hebron was not
new to Sharansky - he had been here before, for the same purpose. And he also
believed, as he had said here on a previous visit, that 'signed agreement's
must be honored but not at the expense of Jewish lives and security.'
Concluding his mission here, he returned to Jerusalem, where he expressed his
doubts and fears to his friend, the Prime Minister. Netanyahu allayed
Sharansky's qualms, assuring him that 'Hebron's Jewish Community would have
full security and not be in danger.' Later that day Sharansky voted in favor of
the Hebron Accords.
That same cabinet decision also guaranteed 'to substantiate" Hebron's Jewish
community. A half a year later the community received permits to begin
construction of a new - six family building in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood.
Following the murder of Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan, five months ago, Netanyahu agreed
to allow permanent housing at the Tel Rumeida - Tel Hebron neighborhood.
However this work cannot begin until archeological excavations are completed at
the site, excavations which have not yet begun. Last week, after another
shooting attack against Hebron nursery school teachers, construction finally
began on Beit HaShisha, for an additional 6 families. By the time the elections
roll around this government will have agreed to 'substantiate' Hebron's Jewish
community of 54 families with an additional 20 families, in Israel's most
ancient city.
This is the way it has been for the last two years, surrounded by hills filled
with armed terrorists who shoot at us, throw hand grenades, firebombs and
rocks. So, the question must again be asked How can we stay here?
I'd like to tell you about three people, three very different kinds of people
who, together with so many others, give us the strength to stay, despite all.
Groups continue to visit Hebron. Sometimes large, others smaller, but almost
every day, another group arrives. As a representative of the Hebron community,
I speak to many of these people, explaining the present situation and answering
questions. Yesterday one such group sat in the Avraham Avinu Shul, listening to
me describe how, for 700 years, Jews could not enter the 2nd most holiest site
to our People, Ma'arat HaMachpela - The Tombs of our Forefathers. Only since
our return in 1967 are we again allowed to pray at this sacred place. As I told
them that only because of our presence in Hebron is this site still accessible
to us, I noticed that one of the women in the group was wiping her eyes. I
wasn't saying anything out of the ordinary, but she continued to cry quietly
for about 20 minutes, until I had finished. I later found out that she had to
be convinced to visit Hebron, because originally she was afraid to come.
Afterwards, meeting the person who had convinced her to make the trip, with
tears rolling down her cheeks, and not being able to speak, she hugged her.
Last week we had a number of very distinguished guests. One of them, a
Christian, is an influential Congressman from New York, Mr. Michael Forbes. I
had the honor to spend some time conversing with the Congressman, and was
utterly amazed, not only by his comprehension of what is happening here, but
also by his emotional reaction and attachment to Hebron and its community.
While visiting the caravan house of a family with twelve children I could
literally see the light in his eyes, light of wonder and admiration. Upon
hearing that this neighborhood was the home of Abraham, and later, King David,
I could literally feel that his soul was filled with awe. Sitting with Mrs.
Chaya Ra'anan, widow of the murdered Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan, the hurt and pain in
his eyes was tangible.
Here is an American gentile politician, who not only has the time to
investigate parts of Israel which few actually get to see, but also exhibits a
true, unbreakable bond between himself and a small group of Jews living in one
of the most controversial locations in the Middle East, if not in the world. I
was truly impressed and touched by his genuine interest and desire, not only to
know more, but more importantly, to assist in any way possible.
The last visitor I'll tell you about is actually not one person, rather, they
are a couple Dr. Irving and Mrs. Cherna Moskowitz. Much ado was made
concerning their visit to Israel and their involvement in Israeli politics.
What is perhaps less well known is that on their final day in Israel, the
entire group, led by Dr. and Mrs. Moskowitz, charted four six-seater airplanes
and flew to Kiryat Shmona, on Israel's northern border. There, they met with a
woman who had lost twin fetus' due to a katusha missle attack a few weeks ago.
And later, when meeting with the city's mayor, Dr. and Mrs. Moskowitz presented
him with a check for $100,000, for the city of Kiryat Shmona.
The Moskowitz's can only be described as 'Tzadikei HaDor" - the righteous of
the generation. They don't talk - they do; they do what they believe in, be it
Hebron, Jerusalem or Kiryat Shmona. Standing at the entrance to the Avraham
Avinu neighborhood, surrounded by dancing children, the love and warmth
radiated by Dr. and Mrs. Moskowitz was palpable. Dr. Moskowitz took Hebron
children in his arms, dancing with them to the tune of Hebron-Meaz u'letamid -
HebronFrom then and forever. Later, while bidding them farewell, and thanking
them for all they have done, Dr. Moskowitz, with true sincerity and humility
replied, "I couldn't do it if you weren't here."
These are three, but only three examples, of the over 600,000 people who have
visited Hebron in the past 730 days. This is what gives us the strength to
continue, come what may. For in all actuality, our reality is not that of 730
days - it is a reality of almost 4,000 years - a reality not of Netanyahu and
Barak, but rather a reality the likes of Mike Forbes, the Moskowitz's and a
women weeping while hearing about the people of Hebron. Seven hundred and
thirty days out of four thousand years - right now it's not so easy, but in the
end it will be like a single grain of sand on the beach, a grain washed into
the ocean of our heritage and tradition, beginning here in Hebron.
Clucking AwayJanuary 8, 1999
This morning, on my way into a Kiryat Arba supermarket, I was greeted in a most unusual manner. Two men, speaking outside, saw me and started yelling at me: "You really f….. this one up good, didn't you Wilder!? Now, instead of Netanyahu, we are going to get Ehud Barak and Yossi Beilin."
I looked at them, somewhat surprised, and asked, "Me, I brought Netanyahu down?"
"Yeah, you and those others in Hebron and the leadership of the right - you always said, Bibi must fall. Now see what you've gotten us into."
So, what's the answer? A friend told me the following story:
A king's son once decided that he was a chicken. He took off his clothes, got down on his hands and knees under a table, and starting eating crumbs off the floor. The king brought all his doctors to try and convince his son to stop being a chicken. To no avail. Finally a famous doctor arrived from a far away country. He promised the king that he could cure his son. The king promised him rewards of gold and silver should he perform such a miracle. With that, the doctor removed his clothing, stooped down on his hands and knees under the table, with the king's son, and too, began eating crumbs. The king's son looked at his companion and asked him, "who are you?" "I too am a chicken," said the doctor, and for several days they ate together crumbs from the floor.
After some time the doctor suddenly put on his pants. "And what is this?" asked the king's son. "Oh, don't you know. There are chickens who wear pants." The king's son mimicked the doctor's actions. After a few more days the doctor put on his shirt, as did the king's son, and so it went until one day the doctor sat in a chair, saying that there are chickens who sit in chairs, and a few days later began eating with a fork and knife. So, in the end, the king's son remained a chicken, but he acted like a human being.
What is the moral of the story? A few years ago a man named Binyamin Netanyahu proclaimed, "I represent the Israeli right." A little while after being elected Prime Minister he shook hands with Arafat, saying, "the right too can shake hands with Arafat." Then he abandoned 80% of Hebron, saying, "the right can give away Eretz Yisrael too." Then he went to Wye continuing to say, "the right can be like the left, but still be the right." And there is no doubt that given the opportunity, under the circumstances, he would have continued implementing Wye right down to the last comma and period.
How can we be so sure where this government would go? A few nights ago on Israeli television's Channel 1 news, it was reported that secret negotiations are underway between Israel and Arafat concerning reopening of the Arab market outside the Avraham Avinu neighborhood and the total reopening of "Shuhada" - King David Street, leading from the Avraham Avinu neighborhood to Beit Hadassah. This, in order to receive assurances from Arafat that our Arab neighbors will not 'cause disturbances' as a result of the new construction at Beit Hadassah and Tel Rumeida.
In any other language, this is called a bribe. The Arabs say, "we won't break the law, riot, shoot, throw firebombs, or knife anyone because you are building. Just give us the marketplace and the street." This, coming after another terrorist attack in Hebron earlier this week, which left two women injured, one critically. And Netanyahu and his Defense Minster are willing to pay the bribe?!
This is the Netanyahu administration. This is the reason Binyamin Netanyahu had to fall.
No, Bibi Netanyahu - we will not follow your act - you do not really represent us. You are not a true lover of Eretz Yisrael - you have proven that you are not a genuine representative of the Israeli right. We will not follow you wherever you go.
So, where do we go now. There is an ideal, and then there is practicality. Ideally, the Prime Minister should not be Netanyahu. Practically, we may get him back. We may even have to vote for him, if not the first time around, then during the run-off election. We may hold our noses and try to keep from being sick when we cast our ballots, but there won't be any choice.
What will be the secret ingredient that may bring us victory? One word: unity. Whichever of the two major blocks, left or right, succeeds in unifying, they will win. If the Israeli right, today led by Benny Begin forms a block, including Moledet, the NRP and other rightwing factions, thereby receiving a large number of mandates in the next Knesset, they may very well determine the policy platform of the next government, regardless of who is elected Prime Minister.
So far it is a free-for-all. The left is divided. So is the right. Meridor, Shahak, Barak, all represent the same political ideology. But the right has yet to make an intelligent move to pull the forces together. Next week Dr. Irving Moskowitz, leading a large delegation including Dr. Joseph Frager, is arriving in Israel to study the situation and help pull the right together. (See Jerusalem Post article: http://www.hebron.org.il/moskowitz.htm) If Dr. Moskowitz and his delegation succeed in impressing the heads of the major political factions that they have no choice but to work together, there is a VERY GOOD chance that we will be victorious.
The truth is that we really don't want Barak, Beilin, or Shahak. However Bibi must know that if he wants to be a chicken, eating crumbs off the floor, he cannot disguise himself, claiming to be something else. If he wants to cluck around, that is his prerogative. But he cannot make believe that his clucks are actually intelligent speech and try to sway us to act accordingly. Arafat is Arafat, Eretz Yisrael is Eretz Yisrael, and Hebron is Hebron. Nobody, however hard they try, will ever be able to persuade us otherwise.
David Wilder
Measures of Strength
February 5, 1999
Two subjects have become major topics of the current elections Tel Rumeida and Bibi's new campaign slogan.
Tel Rumeida? Yes! Labor candidate Ehud Barak has turned Tel Rumeida into a campaign issue. In what way? For example, a few days ago on Tuesday, Feb. 2nd, as quoted in Ha'Artetz newspaper "We have clear red lines. Yitzhar and Tel Rumeida are one thing; But Alphei Menashe, Gush Etzion, Ariel, Nirit, the Jordan Valley settlements and many other places are part of the State of Israel in the permanent settlement as well."
In other words, Tel Rumeida is NOT part of the State of Israel, according to Barak.
What exactly is Tel Rumeida? This Hebron neighborhood is very special. The word Rumeida, in Arabic, has something to do with a fire that occurred well over 1,000 years ago and for some reason the name stuck. However, the real name of this site is not Tel Rumeida. Rather, it is Tel Hebron. For this is the site of the original Hebron - the home of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Lea.
According to archeologists, a huge, ancient wall found here originated during the days of Joshua.
Later, this site was the location of King David's first palace - the first capital of the Kingdom of Judea, where David went following the death of King Saul. Visitors can see here the Tomb of Jessie and Ruth - Jessie, King David's father, and Ruth, his great grandmother.
Other excavations have unearthed ruins from two thousand years ago, during the time of the Second Temple. Only a few months ago a superficial excavation discovered 40 clay jugs four thousand years old. Some of this pottery was intact, and some of the jugs contained jewelry inside them.
When I take tourists to visit this neighborhood I tell them, "You literally have 4,000 years of Jewish history here, under your feet. This is the roots of the Jewish People, the roots of monotheism. Our history began here. This is the original Hebron, the first Jewish city in Israel."
Tel Rumeida today is a small Jewish neighborhood. Small, not because this is the way we want it, but because we have denied the ability to build, or to bring in prefabricated structures. Seven families live today in this area, living in what we call 'caravans' or mobile homes. Each caravan is about 45 square meters in size. One family, who we frequently visit while touring, has two caravans - 90 square meters. The reason they recently celebrated the birth of their 12th child. So they need a little extra room. Another family in Tel Rumeida came from Russia, not too many years ago. The wife, Anna, is one of Israel's premiere musicians. Tel Rumeida is also home to Hebron director Rabbi Hillel Horowitz and his family. And of course, I must mention another family, a family which experienced tremendous tragedy a few months ago Rabbanit Chaya Ra'anan. Her husband, Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan, the sixty three year old grandson of Rabbi Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, Israel's first Chief Rabbi, was brutally murdered by an Arab terrorist less than six months ago.
These are some of the seven families living today at the site of Israel's first Jewish city. This is the neighborhood of the 'extremists' which, according to Barak, is NOT a part of the State of Israel. This is a land area which, according to Barak, WILL BE GIVEN TO ARAFAT, as part of a final status settlement.
(A few weeks ago an Israeli archeologist who excavated at Tel Rumeida, and who is also a well-known activist of Shalom Achshav - Peace Now, in the Israeli left, told us, "This is the second most important archeological site in Israel, second only to Jerusalem." He added, "Unfortunately, it belongs to Arafat.")
This is where Barak draws the line.
The second topic I mentioned is Bibi's campaign slogan, which says Netanyahu A strong leader for a strong people. (Well, they got half of it right. We are a strong people. Whether or not Netanyahu is a strong leader is another story.)
Why is this a controversial subject? For some reason, people object to the use of the word 'strength'. It seems to have negative connotations. This, I personally find difficult to comprehend. Strength does not necessarily mean physical strength. What about moral and ethical strength, spiritual strength, or what might be called assertiveness - i.e. standing up for what you believe in?
What I find interesting is that the same people who negate Tel Rumeida also object to this campaign slogan. And the reason seems to be fairly obvious. They prefer weakness. They prefer mediocrity. They prefer a fuzzy and obscure identity. They cannot identify with Abraham or King David or Joshua, because these central figures in the history of our People were strong and assertive. They cannot associate with a people like the Maccabees, who revolted against the Greeks, or Bar-Kochva, who led the revolt against the Romans following the fall of the Second Temple. Both the Maccabees and Bar Kochva battled in ancient Hebron. For they represent the antithesis of 'good Jews'. They prefer Jews who kowtow to the demands of others, who prefer Washington and Geneva to Hebron and Yitzhar (a community in the Shomron). They prefer to erase our past, thereby stunting our future.
A people unwilling to honor its past, cannot honor its future. Of course we always have to look forward, but when we look at ourselves in the mirror of history, we are our past. If we despise our past, we despise our present. And in the future, we too will be disregarded. The measure of who we are - Israelis and Jews - this is our past and our strength. That is why, obviously, Barak rejects not only the 'strength' in the campaign slogan, but also the historic identity with Tel Rumeida.
We, to the contrary, have a different measure of strength, a strength which is inextricably bound up with Tel Rumeida - with Abraham and King David, with Joshua and the Maccabees. And with seven families who are keeping this ancient holy site accessible for all the Jewish people.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Note The present administration has recently granted permission to build at Tel Rumeida. Hopefully, following archeological excavations due to begin shortly, new houses will be built at this site and the population will be doubled.)
A Grain of Sand January 18, 1999
It was exactly 730 days ago, two years ago, when the State of Israel willingly
and intentionally abandoned 80% of Hebron to Arafat and the terrorists. It was
such a terrible Friday morning when the military commander of the Hebron
Brigade, Lt. Colonel Gadi, walked out of the Israeli military compound on a
hill overlooking much of the rest of the city, entered his jeep and drove a few
minutes 'over the border' into the "Israeli" side of the city.
It was not unexpected. The 'Hebron Accords' had been signed and then ratified
by the Israeli cabinet only days before. That agreement, coming on the heels of
the cursed Oslo accords, had almost fallen through. Here in Hebron, together
with Jews around Israel and throughout the world we had worked day and night
for months on end, attempting to prevent implementation of the decree. Cabinet
ministers and Knesset members visited Hebron in order to 'learn the subject'
from up close. As a matter of fact, on the very day that the accords were voted
on in the cabinet, Minister Natan Sharansky made a special trip to Hebron, to
once again see with his own two eyes, and hear from the Hebron leadership, the
situation which would be created as a result of the agreement. Hebron was not
new to Sharansky - he had been here before, for the same purpose. And he also
believed, as he had said here on a previous visit, that 'signed agreement's
must be honored but not at the expense of Jewish lives and security.'
Concluding his mission here, he returned to Jerusalem, where he expressed his
doubts and fears to his friend, the Prime Minister. Netanyahu allayed
Sharansky's qualms, assuring him that 'Hebron's Jewish Community would have
full security and not be in danger.' Later that day Sharansky voted in favor of
the Hebron Accords.
That same cabinet decision also guaranteed 'to substantiate" Hebron's Jewish
community. A half a year later the community received permits to begin
construction of a new - six family building in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood.
Following the murder of Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan, five months ago, Netanyahu agreed
to allow permanent housing at the Tel Rumeida - Tel Hebron neighborhood.
However this work cannot begin until archeological excavations are completed at
the site, excavations which have not yet begun. Last week, after another
shooting attack against Hebron nursery school teachers, construction finally
began on Beit HaShisha, for an additional 6 families. By the time the elections
roll around this government will have agreed to 'substantiate' Hebron's Jewish
community of 54 families with an additional 20 families, in Israel's most
ancient city.
This is the way it has been for the last two years, surrounded by hills filled
with armed terrorists who shoot at us, throw hand grenades, firebombs and
rocks. So, the question must again be asked How can we stay here?
I'd like to tell you about three people, three very different kinds of people
who, together with so many others, give us the strength to stay, despite all.
Groups continue to visit Hebron. Sometimes large, others smaller, but almost
every day, another group arrives. As a representative of the Hebron community,
I speak to many of these people, explaining the present situation and answering
questions. Yesterday one such group sat in the Avraham Avinu Shul, listening to
me describe how, for 700 years, Jews could not enter the 2nd most holiest site
to our People, Ma'arat HaMachpela - The Tombs of our Forefathers. Only since
our return in 1967 are we again allowed to pray at this sacred place. As I told
them that only because of our presence in Hebron is this site still accessible
to us, I noticed that one of the women in the group was wiping her eyes. I
wasn't saying anything out of the ordinary, but she continued to cry quietly
for about 20 minutes, until I had finished. I later found out that she had to
be convinced to visit Hebron, because originally she was afraid to come.
Afterwards, meeting the person who had convinced her to make the trip, with
tears rolling down her cheeks, and not being able to speak, she hugged her.
Last week we had a number of very distinguished guests. One of them, a
Christian, is an influential Congressman from New York, Mr. Michael Forbes. I
had the honor to spend some time conversing with the Congressman, and was
utterly amazed, not only by his comprehension of what is happening here, but
also by his emotional reaction and attachment to Hebron and its community.
While visiting the caravan house of a family with twelve children I could
literally see the light in his eyes, light of wonder and admiration. Upon
hearing that this neighborhood was the home of Abraham, and later, King David,
I could literally feel that his soul was filled with awe. Sitting with Mrs.
Chaya Ra'anan, widow of the murdered Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan, the hurt and pain in
his eyes was tangible.
Here is an American gentile politician, who not only has the time to
investigate parts of Israel which few actually get to see, but also exhibits a
true, unbreakable bond between himself and a small group of Jews living in one
of the most controversial locations in the Middle East, if not in the world. I
was truly impressed and touched by his genuine interest and desire, not only to
know more, but more importantly, to assist in any way possible.
The last visitor I'll tell you about is actually not one person, rather, they
are a couple Dr. Irving and Mrs. Cherna Moskowitz. Much ado was made
concerning their visit to Israel and their involvement in Israeli politics.
What is perhaps less well known is that on their final day in Israel, the
entire group, led by Dr. and Mrs. Moskowitz, charted four six-seater airplanes
and flew to Kiryat Shmona, on Israel's northern border. There, they met with a
woman who had lost twin fetus' due to a katusha missle attack a few weeks ago.
And later, when meeting with the city's mayor, Dr. and Mrs. Moskowitz presented
him with a check for $100,000, for the city of Kiryat Shmona.
The Moskowitz's can only be described as 'Tzadikei HaDor" - the righteous of
the generation. They don't talk - they do; they do what they believe in, be it
Hebron, Jerusalem or Kiryat Shmona. Standing at the entrance to the Avraham
Avinu neighborhood, surrounded by dancing children, the love and warmth
radiated by Dr. and Mrs. Moskowitz was palpable. Dr. Moskowitz took Hebron
children in his arms, dancing with them to the tune of Hebron-Meaz u'letamid -
HebronFrom then and forever. Later, while bidding them farewell, and thanking
them for all they have done, Dr. Moskowitz, with true sincerity and humility
replied, "I couldn't do it if you weren't here."
These are three, but only three examples, of the over 600,000 people who have
visited Hebron in the past 730 days. This is what gives us the strength to
continue, come what may. For in all actuality, our reality is not that of 730
days - it is a reality of almost 4,000 years - a reality not of Netanyahu and
Barak, but rather a reality the likes of Mike Forbes, the Moskowitz's and a
women weeping while hearing about the people of Hebron. Seven hundred and
thirty days out of four thousand years - right now it's not so easy, but in the
end it will be like a single grain of sand on the beach, a grain washed into
the ocean of our heritage and tradition, beginning here in Hebron.
Clucking AwayJanuary 8, 1999
This morning, on my way into a Kiryat Arba supermarket, I was greeted in a most unusual manner. Two men, speaking outside, saw me and started yelling at me: "You really f….. this one up good, didn't you Wilder!? Now, instead of Netanyahu, we are going to get Ehud Barak and Yossi Beilin."
I looked at them, somewhat surprised, and asked, "Me, I brought Netanyahu down?"
"Yeah, you and those others in Hebron and the leadership of the right - you always said, Bibi must fall. Now see what you've gotten us into."
So, what's the answer? A friend told me the following story:
A king's son once decided that he was a chicken. He took off his clothes, got down on his hands and knees under a table, and starting eating crumbs off the floor. The king brought all his doctors to try and convince his son to stop being a chicken. To no avail. Finally a famous doctor arrived from a far away country. He promised the king that he could cure his son. The king promised him rewards of gold and silver should he perform such a miracle. With that, the doctor removed his clothing, stooped down on his hands and knees under the table, with the king's son, and too, began eating crumbs. The king's son looked at his companion and asked him, "who are you?" "I too am a chicken," said the doctor, and for several days they ate together crumbs from the floor.
After some time the doctor suddenly put on his pants. "And what is this?" asked the king's son. "Oh, don't you know. There are chickens who wear pants." The king's son mimicked the doctor's actions. After a few more days the doctor put on his shirt, as did the king's son, and so it went until one day the doctor sat in a chair, saying that there are chickens who sit in chairs, and a few days later began eating with a fork and knife. So, in the end, the king's son remained a chicken, but he acted like a human being.
What is the moral of the story? A few years ago a man named Binyamin Netanyahu proclaimed, "I represent the Israeli right." A little while after being elected Prime Minister he shook hands with Arafat, saying, "the right too can shake hands with Arafat." Then he abandoned 80% of Hebron, saying, "the right can give away Eretz Yisrael too." Then he went to Wye continuing to say, "the right can be like the left, but still be the right." And there is no doubt that given the opportunity, under the circumstances, he would have continued implementing Wye right down to the last comma and period.
How can we be so sure where this government would go? A few nights ago on Israeli television's Channel 1 news, it was reported that secret negotiations are underway between Israel and Arafat concerning reopening of the Arab market outside the Avraham Avinu neighborhood and the total reopening of "Shuhada" - King David Street, leading from the Avraham Avinu neighborhood to Beit Hadassah. This, in order to receive assurances from Arafat that our Arab neighbors will not 'cause disturbances' as a result of the new construction at Beit Hadassah and Tel Rumeida.
In any other language, this is called a bribe. The Arabs say, "we won't break the law, riot, shoot, throw firebombs, or knife anyone because you are building. Just give us the marketplace and the street." This, coming after another terrorist attack in Hebron earlier this week, which left two women injured, one critically. And Netanyahu and his Defense Minster are willing to pay the bribe?!
This is the Netanyahu administration. This is the reason Binyamin Netanyahu had to fall.
No, Bibi Netanyahu - we will not follow your act - you do not really represent us. You are not a true lover of Eretz Yisrael - you have proven that you are not a genuine representative of the Israeli right. We will not follow you wherever you go.
So, where do we go now. There is an ideal, and then there is practicality. Ideally, the Prime Minister should not be Netanyahu. Practically, we may get him back. We may even have to vote for him, if not the first time around, then during the run-off election. We may hold our noses and try to keep from being sick when we cast our ballots, but there won't be any choice.
What will be the secret ingredient that may bring us victory? One word: unity. Whichever of the two major blocks, left or right, succeeds in unifying, they will win. If the Israeli right, today led by Benny Begin forms a block, including Moledet, the NRP and other rightwing factions, thereby receiving a large number of mandates in the next Knesset, they may very well determine the policy platform of the next government, regardless of who is elected Prime Minister.
So far it is a free-for-all. The left is divided. So is the right. Meridor, Shahak, Barak, all represent the same political ideology. But the right has yet to make an intelligent move to pull the forces together. Next week Dr. Irving Moskowitz, leading a large delegation including Dr. Joseph Frager, is arriving in Israel to study the situation and help pull the right together. (See Jerusalem Post article: http://www.hebron.org.il/moskowitz.htm) If Dr. Moskowitz and his delegation succeed in impressing the heads of the major political factions that they have no choice but to work together, there is a VERY GOOD chance that we will be victorious.
The truth is that we really don't want Barak, Beilin, or Shahak. However Bibi must know that if he wants to be a chicken, eating crumbs off the floor, he cannot disguise himself, claiming to be something else. If he wants to cluck around, that is his prerogative. But he cannot make believe that his clucks are actually intelligent speech and try to sway us to act accordingly. Arafat is Arafat, Eretz Yisrael is Eretz Yisrael, and Hebron is Hebron. Nobody, however hard they try, will ever be able to persuade us otherwise.
Tuesday, October 27, 1998
Hebron Articles-Aug-Oct-1998.doc
Hebron Articles-Aug-Oct, 1998
David Wilder
Rotten Fish
October 25, 1998
"If Jews do not have a right to live in
"In addition, it is not difficult to anticipate that the palestinian organizations, after receiving all that they demand from Israel, will renew, with greater vigor, terror attacks against Jews, before they declare total war…The significance of ceding land to the PLO is transfer to terrorist forces and Islamic fundamentalists. As a continuation of the implementation of the Oslo Accords, this will cause
"Today's a day when Israel and our entire region are more secure…We are more secure today because, for the first time since the signing of the Oslo accords, we will see concrete and verifiable commitments carried out…Our Palestinian partners will join us in fighting terrorism. I want to thank Chairman Arafat. Mr. Chairman, your cooperation was invaluable."
So, which is correct?
The first two paragraphs are quoted from the introduction to "A Place Among the Nations" authored by Binyamin Netanyahu in 1995 (freely translated from the Hebrew edition, pages 17-18).
The third paragraph is quoted from Binyamin Netanyahu's speech in the White House, Friday October 23, 1998.
What is the major problem with the agreement signed a few days ago? Of course, the fact that
A close examination of the agreement reveals the following:
*Concerning the third abandonment, known as the 3rd further redeployment, of which Arafat is demanding another 40% and Israel has declared a willingness to part with only 1%: there will be a committee to address this question. The
*Concerning terror and violence. A work plan developed by the Palestinian side will be shared with the
*In addition to the bilateral Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation, a U.S.-Palestinian committee will meet biweekly to review the steps being taken to eliminate terrorist cells and the support structure that plans, finances, supplies and abets terror. In these meetings, the Palestinian side will inform the U.S…
* A U.S.-Palestinian committee will meet to review and evaluate information pertinent to the decisions on prosecution, punishment or other legal measures which affect the status of individuals suspected of abetting or perpetrating acts of violence or terror.
*In addition, the Palestinian side will establish and vigorously and continuously implement a systematic program for the collection and appropriate handling of all such illegal items in accordance with the prior agreements. The
*A U.S.-Palestinian-Israeli committee will be established to assist and enhance cooperation in preventing the smuggling or other unauthorized introduction of weapons or explosive materials into areas under Palestinian jurisdiction.
* A U.S.-Palestinian-Israeli committee will meet on a regular basis to monitor cases of possible incitement to violence or terror, and to make recommendations and reports on how to prevent such incitement. The Israeli-Palestinian and
*In addition to the bilateral Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation, a high-ranking U.S.-Palestinian-Israeli committee will meet as required and not less than biweekly to assess current threats…
*The Palestinian side will provide a list of its policemen to the Israeli side in conformity with the prior agreements.Should the Palestinian side request technical assistance, the U.S. has indicated its willingness to help meet these needs in cooperation with other donors.
*Concerning legal assistance in criminal matters, the requests for arrest and transfer of suspects and defendants: The U.S. has been requested by the sides to report on a regular basis on the steps being taken to respond to the above requests.
What exactly does
The implications of this agreement are far reaching.
1.
2. Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to a 'summit clause.' Should their occur major stumbling blocks between Arafat and
3. The
4. The
Is this a responsible decision of an independent state? Can
What can be done?
Last night hundreds of Jews congregated outside Ma'arat HaMachpela in
Those of you who are citizens of the
This morning a friend told me the following story:
A citizen of the kingdom broke the law and was taken before the King. The King, hearing the crime, offered the offender three choices: Eat a piece of rotten fish, receive 40 lashes, or be exiled. The prisoner thought for a few minutes. "Forty lashes is too much, and to be exiled, that is so harsh. So, I'll eat the rotten fish - no big deal."
He was given a plate of rotten fish and began to eat. After a few bites he was in such agony that he pushed it away and pleaded, "I agree to the 40 lashes." After five lashes he felt that he would die, and cried out, "No more - I will go into exile."
After leaving the kingdom, the he told his story to a wise man in a far off country. The wise man looked at him and said:
"So stupid you are. You ate the rotten fish, you received the lashes and now you are in exile. The king offered you one punishment and you brought upon yourself all three?"
Dominos
October 22, 1998
As of this writing, the negotiations at Wye are continuing, more or less as expected. This is a classic example of 'give and take.'
Why is Netanyahu caving in at Wye? What is he going to do when he gets back to
A very reliable source disclosed to me that Netanyahu has confided that 'without an agreement, I won't be reelected.' His reasoning is simple Following initial agreement to this 'further redeployment' which is nothing less than abandonment of an additional 27% of Eretz Yisrael, Netanyahu will have an easy time with the Israeli electorate. To those in favor of the accords, of centrist ideology, he will say, "I fulfilled our obligations. Arafat received
With the Israeli right, he also won't have a difficult time. The first round of elections will see several candidates for Prime Minister, including at least one representing the Israeli right. However, a Prime Minister cannot be elected without receiving 50% of the vote. A runoff is inevitable. Barring a miracle, the runoff will almost surely include Barak and Netanyahu. Netanyahu will then say to the right-wing electorate. 'You have two possibilities - nu, who are you going to vote for? Barak?'
All of this doesn't even take into account that Labor candidate Ehud Barak is not overly popular with anybody. In the end Netanyahu expects to be reelected with an overwhelming majority.
Why do we continue to firmly oppose this agreement? So many people have asked me why we can't accept this as the least of all evils. The answer is all too simple.
Earlier this week a terrorist by the name of Salem Rajib Sarsur threw some hand grenades into a crowd at the Beer Sheva Central Bus Station. Sixty seven people were wounded. Sarsur was apprehended. During his interrogation several very interesting facts were revealed.
On the night of August 20, Sarsur, armed with several firebombs took a little walk in
According to media reports, which have been confirmed, Israeli intelligence approached Sarsur prior to the murder, asking him to work for the Shabak. Sarsur refused.
On Yom Kippur, this same Sarsur, this time armed with hand grenades, and officially working for Hamas, took a walk from his home into an Arab cemetery, on the border between Arafat's
And so it was that Salem Sarsur managed to find himself in Beer Sheva, a few days ago, again with some more hand grenades.
Had Sarsur been looked for and apprehended following the Ra'anan murder, two other terrorist attacks and 75 injuries would have been avoided. Had he been searched out and caught after the Yom Kippur attack, the Beer Sheva attack would not have occurred.
This story does not begin or end with Salem Rajib Sarsur's murderous attacks and capture. He is only an example, an example of things to come, should the Wye-Why Accords be signed, sealed and implemented. But the story will not end at Wye, because Arafat wants, and expects to get, more. The same way that Sarsur continued to attack, as long as no one stood in his way, so it is with Arafat. And not only isn't anyone standing in Arafat's way. He is receiving assistance from not only
What we are witnessing is a chain of dominos, lined up in a row. The row isn't necessarily straight - there are winding bends along the way. But the result is the same once the first domino falls, the others aren't far behind. Sarsur's terrorist attacks in
Why Wye -
October 13, 1998
Yesterday afternoon two Jerusalem Braslaver Hassidim were immersing in a stream not far from
Netanyahu's reaction: This again goes to show how crucial it is that
This morning the Prime Minister, together with Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon flew to
According to the Arutz 7 internet news report, during yesterday's cabinet session Netanyahu reported the following breakdown of land to be abandoned to Arafat, in the event that an agreement should be reached:
"Prime Minister Netanyahu informed the Cabinet that 27.2% of Judea and
* 1% that will be transferred from Area C (total Israeli control) to Area A (total Palestinian control);
* 9% from Area C to Area B (Palestinian civilian control, Israeli security control);
* 3% from Area C to a special nature reserve status, under Israeli security control and where Palestinian construction will be forbidden;
* 14.2% that will go from Area B to Area A."
"In return,
In other words, 15% of Judea and
If there is any proof of Arafat's convictions, it is
The murder of Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan
A shooting attack in Kiryat Arba
A shooting attack on the road to Tel Rumeida
A hand grenade attack on Israeli soldiers on Yom Kippur
Two shooting attacks on Beit Hadassah
This, in addition to rocks, bottles and firebombs.
The last year and a half can only be defined as a qualified catastrophe.
According to former defense minister Moshe Arens, in an article published in the Jerusalem Post (October 9):
"Almost two years later, even the government that signed the agreement has to admit that it has turned out to be an abject failure.
For the Jewish community of
What will happen in
During Camp David II, Netanyahu is surrounding himself with a mixed lot: Yitzhak Mordechai may be equated with his
In truth, we can ask - Why Wye - why go to Wye at all? Why should Bibi go to Wye and help save Bill Clinton?
The Wye meeting may be a summit, a true high point, if Bibi comes home declaring that Oslo is all over, without shaking Arafat's hand, without signing away anymore of Eretz Yisrael. Should Netanyahu crumble to
Heads or Tails
October 2, 1998
Yesterday evening four members of
Early in the morning several
On this note,
Netanyahu was pounced upon. A finger pointed at him he was asked, "Do you know who is responsible for the terrorist attack here in
The questions continued. "What did you do three hours after a woman was shot at and hit in
"And what are you going to do now? Put Beit El, Ofrah and other communities in the same situation
"Where are the tanks, Mr. Prime Minister?"
Netanyahu was clearly uncomfortable, but didn't yet answer.
Rabbi Hillel Horowitz related the personal anxiety his wife has suffered over the past month. He told the PM how his wife heard the horrible screams originating from the Ra'anan home, when Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan was stabbed and killed by a terrorist. The Horowitz's caravan home is right next to the Ra'anan home. Last Monday his wife heard the gunshots fired at the Bar Mitzvah party walking down the road from Tel Rumeida. And then, on Yom Kippur, Naomi Horowitz was only meters from the hand grenade that exploded, blowing up a car on the side of the road. As she described it, "After the explosion I saw a ball of flame and shots rang out all around me. I thought I was in a war zone."
Netanyahu did reply, but it isn't quite clear exactly what he said. He promised building in
Netanyahu reiterated that
"Mr. Prime Minister - we have been attacked four times in the last five weeks. A murder, a shooting, hand grenades, rocks, - what are you going to do about it?"
Netanyahu talked for fifteen minutes, but didn't answer the question.
"Mr. Prime Minister, all well and good, but you didn't answer the question. What about our security in
Netanyahu talked some more.
"But Mr. Prime Minister, you still didn't answer the question….."
Did the meeting have any real results? Concrete results, no. Netanyahu didn't offer any viable solution to the mess he created when he signed and implemented the Hebron Accords. However, the PM did hear, straight from those whose lives are on the line, day and night, seven days a week, exactly what is going on in
Almost two weeks ago we all sat around our dining room tables and welcomed in the New Year. Following Kiddush and washing of our hands, a number of special blessing were recited, sort of as a sign for the New Year. One of those blessings we say is, "May it be Thy will, L-rd our G-d, that we will be like a head, and not like a tail."
Mr. Prime Minister - you cannot tell us any more tales. Everything is up front, all the cards are on the table. It is not just your office that is on the line, and it is not only our lives, the lives of 550 men, women and children, in
Mr. Prime Minister, enough stories, enough tales, - you must now make a choice. Are you, Binyamin Netanyahu, representing all of
Declaration of War
October 1, 1998
The Arabs have, officially, declared war on The Jewish Community of Hebron. This is, of course, not a secret. We have been talking about it for well over 10 years, since the outbreak of the Intifada. Then, we were ignored. Unfortunately, we are still being ignored.
One month ago an Arab terrorist climbed in through the bedroom window of Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood and murdered him. In the space of one week there have been two shooting attacks in the
How many of the perpetrators have been apprehended? Zero.
Why not? Very simply,
The Prime Minister, in a statement following yesterday's attack, blamed Arafat for not stopping terrorism. General Yitzhak Eitan, Commander of Forces in Judea and
Rubbish - Rubbish, and more Rubbish.
How can anyone in their right mind expect any of the Arab forces in
The Minister of Defense, Yitzhak Mordechai, is no less to blame than Netanyahu. He is a bone in our throats. He is, single handedly, preventing further building in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, in spite of promises made by the Prime Minister after Rabbi Ra'anan's murder. Mordechai is interested in one thing, and one thing only: Quiet. And it seems that that is of such paramount importance that it makes no difference if the 'quiet' is achieved at the cost of Jewish blood. Mordechai, as chief of the armed forces, has the ability and the responsibility to give the orders necessary to provide security in
What do we want?
Prime Minister Netanyahu promised, before the implementation of the Hebron Accords, to provide full security in
Before the accords were implemented, we pointed at the hill tops and the roofs of the Arab houses surrounding us and told the Prime Minister and members of his cabinet, "If you give this to them, we will be shot at and attacked." Again, we were ignored. The Prime Minister has yet to remember his promises. It is time for him to start to fulfill his pledges. Enough of abandoning
The Prime Minister must expand the borders of the H2- Israeli controlled part of
The Prime Minister must also make clear to the Defense Minister the facts of life: either he does his job, or he goes home! A defense minister who prefers 'quiet' to security is not only worthless, he is dangerous. Not only does he endanger the security of
Netanyahu must not attend a 2nd '
I am asked frequently what will happen 'after the next redeployment.' I hope it will never happen, of course. But, should Netanyahu actually go through with it, he must know that his premiership has ended. His government will fall and he will not be reelected, come what may.
The fact of the matter is this: True, the Arabs have declared war on
Returning
Erev Yom Kippur 5759
September 29, 1998
What is more appropriate to write about on the eve of the Day of Atonement than Tshuva - which literally means 'returning.' Of course there are many-faceted aspects of tshuva. Perhaps it begins with that of an individual, and his yearning to better his ways, while making up for the wrongs committed.
There is also the tshuva, or return, not of a private person, but that of a nation.
When pondering how to best depict these two processes I found an example which must be shared. The story is true - and I will use the Hebrew names of those involved, because just about everyone who knows them, knows them by their English names.
I met Akiva and Leah about two years ago, here in Hebron They had been approached by my colleague Judy Grossman, who asked them if they wanted to come and visit
The next day they met two friends, who told them, "Have you been to
On Monday night Akiva called Judy and asked her, "do you still have room for us on the tour you originally invited us to, tomorrow?" Judy was a little surprised, because she knew that they had visited
So, they came back again on Tuesday for another tour, and they came back for Shabbat, that same week. When Judy and I were in the
About six months ago Leah, who teaches young children in Hebrew in a day school, asked if she could come to
Leah and Akiva did not grow up 'religious.' Only after they were married, with children, did they 'discover' religious Judaism. Today Akiva is director of a major national Jewish organization, which is instrumental in keeping Jews Jewish.
This couple is, for me, an ideal model of tshuva, of returning, on all levels. They are Torah observant Jews, having made a decision that 'this is the way Jews should live' and serve as an example to hundreds, if not thousands of others. Their Shabbat table is regularly attended by many many people, some of whom barely know that they are Jewish.
But their tshuva is not only private. Their active involvement in Eretz Yisrael, and specifically in
Akiva and Leah still live in the
Akiva and Leah are two people - and they are special people. But they are also examples of thousands and thousands of others who help, each in his own way, to the return to
A New Year in
September 17, 1998
This New Year is going to be very special for me and my family. For the last
17 years we lived in Kiryat Arba. Moving to Kiryat Arba was one of the best
decisions my wife and I ever made. Arriving 2 weeks before the birth of our
second child, we never regretted bringing up our family in this wonderful
town, only five minutes from Ma'arat HaMachpela and the center of
spite of the negative image portrayed by the media, Kiryat Arba is a
fabulous place to raise children. The atmosphere is generally relaxed, the
educational facilities excellent, and the people second to none.
However, a few weeks ago, we decided to move. There was a vacancy in
One of the families, due to a job opportunity, had to leave. My wife and I
talked about possibly moving in. We discussed it for a while and hadn't yet
made up our minds. But then the unthinkable happened: an Arab terrorist
climbed into the bedroom window of Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan in Tel Rumeida and
murdered him. The day after his funeral I said to my wife, "That's it - we
have to move in, and the sooner the better." Actually I wanted to make the
move during the shiva, but for technical reasons that wasn't possible. But
soon after that we were setting up house in our new apartment in Beit
Hadassah.
A few of our friends looked at us as if we were crazy. A gentile
correspondent who interviewed me a few days ago commented, "either you are a
little crazy, or very, very spiritual."
Why make such a move? The answer is very simple. This is the only answer to
Arab terrorism. Their goal is to push us out of
Also, out of
means at their disposal, including political and psychological pressure,
violence, and even murder. In 1929 the massacre which left 67 dead led to
the swift removal of the surviving Jewish residents by the British. They
want us out again. So we have to do the opposite, which is, to move in. Of
course one family is not enough. We must bring in hundreds and thousands
more people to live in the City of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. And
eventually we will. At the moment we have a slight problem with space.
Unfortunately we haven't been able to build in years and all our apartments
are full. But soon this will change. Beit Nahum v'Yehuda will be finished
within a year. A new building, Beit HaShisha should also be ready for
occupancy during the next 12 months. And the Prime Minister himself promised
us real houses, to replace the caravans in the Admot Yishai-Tel Rumeida
neighborhood, including a doubling of the population there. With G-d's help
and a lot of hard work, we should soon see a real growth of
population.
So, for our family, it is this year in
memorializing the memory of Rabbi Ra'anan. This is the true Zionist solution
to Arab terrorism. And I have no doubt that living here, only minutes from
the 2nd holiest site to the Jewish people, is a truly spiritual experience.
I invite you to be my personal guest in
Yisrael. You too can be a part of the Zionist response to those who wish to
eradicate a Jewish presence in
On behalf of myself, Judy Grossman, Noam Arnon Rabbi Yitzhak Pechman, Dr.
Dov Stern, and the entire Jewish Community of Hebron, please accept our
blessings for a happy, healthy, sweet and truly peaceful New Year from
A Guiding Light - Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan ZT"L HY"D
August 24, 1998
Last Thursday was one of those days that will remain indelibly embedded
in my memory for as long as I remain in this world. The day started off
very early, for special reasons. Only ten days annually are all of the
halls inside Ma'arat HaMachpela open to Jewish visitors and worshippers.
This past Thursday was one of those days. The reason for the occasion: The
next Saturday and Sunday commenced the last month of the Jewish year, the
month during which we prepare for the High Holy Days, beginning with Rosh
HaShana in exactly one month, and climaxing with Yom Kippur, ten days
later.
This particular day had special significance for me. Usually it is
forbidden to bring a video camera inside Ma'arat HaMachpela, (for reasons
unknown to anyone). However, I had received a permit to bring in such a
camera for a few hours in order to film the beautiful, and usually closed
Isaac Hall, as well as the other memorial rooms, the Abraham and Jacob
Halls. After morning prayers, together with a friend, I videotaped a short
documentary in each of these locations, in preparation for a future
CD ROM about
Later in the morning a group of 35 American tourists toured with me
throughout the city. The weather was nice and the group (including some
very well behaved children) interested in learning about
quite a few hours together and by the time they left, I felt like I'd put
in a fairly full day. Little did I know...
At about 8:00 that night I received word that former Chief Rabbi, the
Rishon l'Tzion, Rav Ovadiah Yosef was coming to
in twenty years. Rav Ovadiah Yosef heads up the Shas political party, which
has not been known for its support of keeping Eretz Yisrael. Rav Ovadiah's
Knesset faction steadily voted for the
created any great love for him among many people. Yet, known as a great
Torah scholar, when he decided to finally return to the city of
the news about his impending visit spread rapidly. I made my way upstairs
into the Ma'ara with my digital camera, ready to record the visit for our
internet site viewers around the world.
The Rabbi was supposed to arrive at about 9:00. He arrived at about 10:30,
together with hundreds of his followers. They packed the Isaac Hall,
everyone crowding in to be as close as possible to the spiritual-political
leader. One of the Rabbi's party led the assemblage in several Psalms and
then, at about 11:00 the group prayed the traditional evening prayers,
recited nightly by observant Jews.
I had prayed earlier and stood by, watching everyone else. As the service
drew to a close I saw a friend of mine lean over to speak with the present
Chief Rabbi, Rav Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, who, in turn, spoke with Rav
Ovadiah. After a few moments Rav Ovadiah Yosef left the hall and Rav
Bakshi-Doron asked the others to repeat another Psalm, together with him. I
was already on my way out, hoping to get another picture of the Rabbi. But
then a friend of mine asked me if I'd heard anything about a stabbing in
Tel Rumeida. My response was negative, but my heart missed a beat. What was
he talking about? I quickly ran down the steps of the Ma'ara and called a
friend from my cell phone. "What happened?" He confirmed the rumor -
someone had been stabbed - come fast. The victim - Rabbi Shlomo Ra'anan.
"How is he," I asked and didn't get an answer. "Just come!"
I drove down the road a few minutes, until, when arriving at the Avraham
Avinu neighborhood an army roadblock wouldn't let me go any further. After
parking, I tried to walk down the street, but again soldiers attempted to
stop me. "Why - is this a closed military zone?! Show me the written
order." After a few moments some other people showed up, and together,
ignoring the soldier's demands, we walked on. I called a different friend.
"What happened?"
In a voice barely audible - "Rebbi Shlomo was stabbed."
"And how is he?"
"There wasn't anything I could do - he was stabbed in the heart -there was
a big hole in his chest - when I got there he still had a weak pulse, but
the room was on fire and we had to pull him out... he just died."
We walked on in stunned silence, refusing to believe what we'd just heard.
At the bottom of the steep hill, leading to the Tel Rumeida neighborhood,
again soldiers tried to block our way. However, their was no stopping us.
We ran around them and continued up the road. A few minutes later we
arrived, and perhaps wished we hadn't.
"What happened?"
"An Arab terrorist climbed in through the Ra'anan's bedroom window. Rebbi
Shlomo was getting ready to go to sleep. The Arab stabbed him three times
and then ran into the living room, where his wife, Haya, was sitting. When
the terrorist tried to attack her, Rebbi Shlomo stumbled out of his room
and attempted to pull the terrorist away. The terrorist again stabbed the
Rabbi, this time in the heart. He collapsed in his wife's arms. The
terrorist then fled back into the bedroom and hurled a firebomb into the
living room before leaving the house as he had entered, via the bedroom
window."
Neighbors, hearing agonizing screams from the normally quiet Ra'anan home,
ran to their aid. Seeing Haya Ra'anan, a nurse by profession, trying to
resuscitate her dying husband, they also suddenly noticed the smoke and
flames. One person quickly pulled the Rabbi outside and someone else
extinguished the flames. A neighborhood paramedic continued to treat Rabbi
Shlomo Ra'anan, but it was too late. There was nothing left to be done. At
63 years of age, the six year resident of Tel Rumeida, father of two boys
and one girl, grandfather, husband, brother, uncle, grandson and nephew of
the spiritual leaders of the modern Zionist movement, was dead, another
victim of Arab terror in
What can one do after such an awful act of terror? The
long demanded of the present administration fulfillment of promises of
expansion and development in
decision confirming the Hebron Accords in January 1997 guaranteed
reinforcement of
contains enough Jewish-owned land to construct 70 new housing units. What
would be more appropriate than immediate building permits, allowing us to
turn the tables on the terrorists whose sole objective is to eradicate the
city's Jewish community. They are trying to destroy us - we will react by
bringing in more and more people, building more and more houses. Rabbi
Shlomo Ra'anan cannot be brought back, but we can see to it that his life
and death, were not in vain.
This is one answer, but not the only one. There are two answers. The first,
and more important reaction must be this government's immediate end to
negotiations with Arafat, which will almost inevitably lead to continued
abandonment of land areas in Eretz Yisrael. The present proposal under
consideration will bring about abandonment of 728,000 dunam of land - which
is Tel Aviv 13 times over. This land will be used for a number of purposes:
Preparation of the next terrorist attack, and the one after that; and as a
place of refuge for the perpetrators, following their murderous assaults.
It is quite possible that 5 minutes after killing Rabbi Ra'anan, the
villain sat, calm and relaxed, sipping a cup of coffee, knowing that his
home, in the H1- Arafat controlled section of
Israeli army.
These are the only answers: 1) An immediate end to abandonment of Eretz
Yisrael and no more concessions to Arafat and 2) building, building and
more Jewish building, making sure that the Arabs understand that killing
men, women, and/or children will only strengthen our resolve.
WE WILL NOT RUN AWAY, WE WILL NOT BE SCARED AWAY. WE WILL CONTINUE IN THE
PATH OF RABBI SHLOMO RA'ANAN, WHO WHEN HE CAME TO LIVE IN
TO LIVE IN 'THE MOST DIFFICULT NEIGHBORHOOD,' WHO, WHEN ASKED WHERE HE
LIVED, ANSWERED, 'IN A PALACE' WHO WAS LOVED AND RESPECTED BY ONE AND
ALL, JEW AND ARAB ALIKE.
WE WILL FOLLOW THE PATH OF RABBI SHLOMO RA'ANAN'S GRANDFATHER, RAV AVRAHAM
YITZHAK HACOHEN KOOK, AND HIS UNCLE, RAV ZVI YEHUDA HACOHEN KOOK, WHO WERE
THE GUIDING LIGHTS OF RELIGIOUS ZIONISM AND OUR RETURN TO ERETZ YISRAEL.
RABBI SHLOMO RA'ANAN'S BODY MAY HAVE BEEN CUT APART BUT HIS SPIRIT LIVES
ON. HIS SPIRIT, HIS BEING, WILL REMAIN A GUIDING LIGHT TO US FOREVER, HERE
IN HEBRON.
*************
------------------------------------------
Ya'akov's Son
August 17,1998
A week and a half ago two young men from the Shomron community Yitzhar were
killed by Arab terrorists. Harel ben Nunn, 18 years old, specialized in
working the land. He cleared out an entire hillside for use by the Yitzhar
community residents. Twenty-four year old Shlomo Leibman also dedicated his
life to Am Yisrael. He spent almost all his waking hours at Kever Yosef -
the Tomb of Joseph, presently the home of Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai, a Yeshiva
led by Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg.
Shlomo Liebman HY"D was not only dedicated to Kever Yosef in Shechem. He was
a native of Hebron. His family lived in Hebron for many years before moving
to Jerusalem. He was born here, in the city of the Patriarchs and
Matriarchs. One of his brothers holds a security-related position in Hebron
and lives in Kiryat Arba. The very moment he was murdered, Shlomo was
speaking to a friend who lives in a community close to Hebron. They were
discussing different possibilities to bring groups of visitors to Kever
Yosef during the summer vacation. In the middle of the conversation the
friend heard gunshots and then an Arab saying, "Look, the cellphone is
open.' The phone was suddenly disconnected.
Almost two years ago Kever Yosef in Shechem was brutally desecrated. During
the "Succot War" when Arafat's soldiers opened fire on Israeli military
personnel, six young soldiers were killed inside the Kever Yosef Compound.
Some of the men bled to death because the compound was surrounded by Arabs
and there wasn't anyone to treat their wounds. The compound itself was
burned: the huge library of holy books was destroyed and the tomb itself was
left in ruins. Unfortunately little has been done to rectify this profanity.
In spite of the fact that according to the "Oslo Piece Accords" this holy
site is under Israeli control, the Arabs have much to say about what goes on
there. In order to reach Kever Yosef, inside the city of Shechem, visitors
must travel through Arafat-land, under total Arab control. Many times the
Arabs refuse to allow access to the site, or limit the number of people
allowed to visit. Access was permissible only during the day. At night
everyone had to leave.
Following the murder at Yitzhar the Israeli army allowed members of the
Yeshiva to remain in the Kever Yosef compound 24 hours a day. Following the
weeklong mourning period, the men requested permission to be allowed to
remain in the compound all day and all night. The army agreed. Last Thursday
evening Arafat's police-soldiers demanded that the men leave the site during
night hours. The army refused the demand. So the Arabs put the compound
under siege. For some time the men inside were denied food and water.
However finally this was allowed in. There are Israeli soldiers inside the
compound, as is usual, but more reinforcements are not allowed. The Arabs
are demanding that the 30 civilians inside (28 men and one married couple)
leave, and not be allowed to stay there at night. The Israeli government,
presently represented in Shechem by the new Commander of the Central
Region, General Moshe (Bugi) Ya'alon is refusing to give in. It seems that
they finally realize the importance of Kever Yosef in Shechem to the Jewish
people.
A short time ago I spoke with Rabbi Yitzhak Arad, the director of Gal-Einai
Yeshiva institutions (Shechem, Yericho, Hebron - http://www.inner.org). He
has been inside the Kever Yosef Compound since the end of last week. He told
me that spirits are high and that they all hope that their present goal will
be accomplished - that being, a commitment from the Israeli government
allowing Jewish presence in the Yeshiva at all hours of the day and night.
He reiterated that fact that the Arabs continue to violate the "Oslo
Accords" setting conditions for Jewish visitors inside the Kever Yosef
compound, limiting the types of equipment brought in (they refused to allow
in loudspeakers), and were even denying those already inside the right to
leave! He added that at the moment the Arabs would be very glad to have them
leave, but then they would probably try to prevent access by anyone else to
the site. He asked that supporters send faxes and letters to the Prime
Minister (Tel: 972-2-6705555 - Fax: 972-2-6512631 and the Minister of
Defense (Tel: 972-3-5692010/6975750 - Fax: 972-3-6916940), asking them to
remain strong and not acquiesce to Arab demands that Jews not be allowed to
dwell at this holy site during night hours. It is also of utmost importance
that this site be renovated, for its desecrated state can only be described
as an abomination.
Yosef, Ya'akov's son, was also a resident of Hebron. He is an eternal
link between Hebron and Shechem, two holy cities in the Land of Israel. Just
as we cannot abandon our Patriarchs and Matriarchs, neither can we abandon
their offspring. We must not abandon Yosef, or those who are dedicating
their lives in his memory. We call upon the Israeli government to rebuild
Kever Yosef in Shechem and to populate it 24 hours a day. Nothing could
better commemorate the memory of Shlomo Leibman HY"D, who gave his life for
Yosef's tomb in Shechem.
Child Inquisition
August 4, 1998
A week ago two 15 year old Kiryat Arba boys were arrested, taken to prison,
and from then on, held incommunicado. Until this afternoon no one was
allowed to speak to them. Except their inquisitors. This afternoon their
attorney was given some time to converse with them in court. However their
parents were forbidden to speak to them.
Last night, immediately following the conclusion of the Tisha b'Av fast two
more boys from Kiryat Arba were incarcerated, under the same conditions as
the first two.
Kol Yisrael - The Voice of Israel radio at 12:00 tonight, headlined the
"continued investigation of the new 'underground' in Kiryat Arba."
According to the report, "after a week of intensive investigation, one of
the boys admitted to setting fire to three Arab cars in Hebron." One of the
four was released and placed under house arrest for 48 hours. One of the
other two was remanded in custody for 24 hours and another for 48 hours.
The judge reprimanded the Israeli intelligence inquisitors for neglecting
to check out an alibi of one of the boys, an alibi which it seems, checked
out.
So, there we have it. The Israel news media has officially proclaimed the
existence of a new Kiryat Arba underground movement. One of the boys,
following a week of inquisition finally fell apart, broke down, and
'confessed.' The good guys have, once again, conquered the forces of evil
stemming from the terrorist compound known as Kiryat Arba. The forces of
evil being 15 and 16 year old youth.
This new inquisition is being carried out by the "Shabak" - Sherutei
Bitachon Klalli - General Security Services. The Shabak, presently headed
by Ami Ayalon, is usually responsible for preventing terrorist attacks
against Jews and trying to catch the would-be murderers before the act.
However, since Israel has, by abandoning so much of Eretz Yisrael to the
terrorists themselves, thereby creating cities of refuge, totally
inaccessable to Israeli intelligence services, it seems that these men are
bored, and have nothing better to do than weed out 15 year old Jewish
terrorists.
But, there is one fact that must be made clear. Ami Ayalon, Chief of the
Shabak, is responsible to one person, and only one person. That person is
the Prime Minister of Israel, Benyamin Netanyahu. Ayalon could not hold
these 15 year olds captive in his cells of Inquisition for a week without
Netanyahu's full knowledge and, explicit approval. The Chief Inquisitor is
not Ami Ayalon. It is Benyamin Netanyahu.
I have no idea whether or not these boys actually perpetrated any of the
crimes they are suspected of having committed. I do not, for one minute,
believe, as I've been told by others, 'where there is smoke there must be
fire.' The Israel Shabak, with all the credit it deserves for past
successes, has also been proven to be corrupt and in some cases, even
criminal. Minister of Defense Yitzhak Mordechai was framed for murder by
the Shabak well over a decade ago. Had the truth not come to light, the
Defense Minister might still be rotting in a military jail, having been
sentenced to life imprisonment. Israel radio's revelations of a major
'confession' can not be taken at face value. Most adults would not be able
to withstand the procedures utilized by the Shabak to induce confessions.
Not to speak of 15 or 16 year old youth.
What I do know is that the unfathomable brutality applied by Jewish
security forces against Jewish children in the State of Israel cannot be
described as criminal, because criminal is too gentle a term. It is nothing
less than an Inquisition. A week of such inquisition is pure,
unadulterated torture. And the primary torturer is none other than a 'right
wing' Prime Minister, elected by the Israeli right to mend the torturous
ways of his two predecessors.
Earlier today Israel radio commentator Moshe Negbi, a hard hard left wing
legal analyst, condemned these tactics, calling them a violation of basic
human rights, unheard of in a democratic state. He went on to say that such
treatment in unthinkable when applied to anyone, but how much more so when
activated against children.
The Kiryat Arba municipality sent a letter to all residents of the
community, asking them to contact MKs who are actively involved in
protecting children's rights. They are: Rubi Rivlin - 050-233818, Maksim
Levi - 08-9234924, Shaul Amor-06-6547165, Mudi Zandberg-04-8373531, Yitzhak
Cohen-07-6738063, Avraham Hirshzon-03-6429193, Zev Baum-07-6815335, Haim
Dayan-06-6545465, Pini Badash-07-6469394, Shmaryahu ben Zur-09-7712470,
Avner Hai Shaiki-03-6426660 and Yael Dayan-03-5272611.
If you call any of these people from outside Israel, dial first 972 and
leave off the first zero. Also, don't pay any attention to the time
difference (7 hours ahead of NY). Wake them up. Ask them why they have been
sleeping all week long, when kids have been held in terrorist cells like
Arabs who kill Jewish children. Ask them why these kids haven't been able
to meet with a lawyer or their parents for a week. Ask them why Arab
murderers roam free while Jewish youth are held captive like terrorists.
But, in my opinion, the person who should be bothered the most isn't on the
list. He is the only one who has the power to OK such a child inquisition.
That is the Prime Minister himself. Fax him and address the letter to Mr
Inquisitor. Fax: 972-2-651-2631 or call Tel: 972-2-670-5555. Tell him what
you think about those who torture Jewish children.
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