Blood-shed or Compromise: Which is preferable?

Blood-shed or Compromise: Which is preferable

April 3, 2006

Two months ago, on February first, over 1,600 police participated in destroying the Jewish community of Amona, on the outskirts of Ofra, in the Benjamin region of Israel. As a result of massive police brutality, over three hundred and fifty people needed medical care and/or hospitalization.

Several days prior to this, it seemed almost inevitable that a similar confrontation was going to precede Amona. Hebron leaders had been warned: if you do not immediately abandon the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood, outside the Avraham Avinu neighborhood in Hebron, the troops will arrive and start with you. Amona will be second. Hebron will be first.

Hebron leaders participated in an emergency meeting with several senior military officers, including Brigadier General Yair Golan. Golan is the ranking officer in charge of Judea and Samaria. During a very tense meeting, Golan laid the groundwork for a compromise solution. There were a number of details involved, but the primary offer consisted of: the nine families living in the former 'Arab market,' as well as the Torah study hall established in memory of the murdered infant Shalhevet Pass, would 'voluntarily' leave their homes within 48 hours, and all their belongings would be removed from the homes by the end of the week. In return, the defense establishment, in conjunction with the Attorney General's office, would void any possible remaining legal status Hebron's Arab municipality might still maintain at the site, and following the conclusion of that procedure, lease the structures to Hebron's Jewish community.

Despite heavy doubts and misgivings, Hebron's leaders, following a lengthy consultation, decided to accept the offer. Two more meetings were conducted, first with residents living in the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood, and then with a forum of other Hebron residents. At the conclusion of that gathering it was decided to call an emergency 'town-meeting' of all Hebron residents, that very night. At about two o'clock in the morning Hebron residents met in the Avraham Avinu synagogue to discuss the proposed offer and make a decision: accept or reject it. Following two hours of intense discussion a vote was taken and a majority of those present decided to take a chance and accept the compromise agreement.

It wasn't easy to implement a 'self-expulsion' from the homes in the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood. The scenes of 1929, the scenes from Yamit, the scenes from the more recent expulsions from Gush Katif and the northern Shomron, all played before our eyes. Would we be desecrating little Shalhevet's memory by abandoning the homes and neighborhood; after all, it was initiated in her memory, following her murder, five years ago? Yet, despite the question marks, qualms and reservations, it was done. The neighborhood was left empty; all the families moved elsewhere, some living in very difficult conditions, and the houses locked. Hebron's Jewish community implemented its side of the deal. Now it was the other side's turn.

Even prior to the 'deal,' the defense department had already begun the process of voiding any possible Arab claims to the former 'market.' The defense department notified the Supreme Court of this plan and added its intention to 'weigh leasing the structures to Hebron's Jewish community.' The actual legal process by which the Hebron Arab municipality was notified of the intentions to void any possible legal rights to the site actually began prior to the agreement reached between the community and the state. This process was approved by none other than Attorney General Menachem Mazuz himself!

Mazuz's declaration that the agreement reached between the Hebron community and the state is null and void is ludicrous:

1. Mazuz himself participated in authoring the response to the Supreme Court from December 2005, which, as stated above, already agreed in principal to lease the structures to the Hebron Jewish Community. (The courts already accepted the fact that the land on which the buildings sit is Jewish-owned and legally belongs to the Hebron Jewish Community.)
2. Mazuz was directly responsible for the brutal Amona expulsion/destruction because, in his opinion, 'no viable agreement' between the sides was possible. In the case of Hebron, an agreement was not only possible; it was achieved and implemented ( by one side). Why then would he, after the fact, reject such an agreement, which explicitly prevented the scenes from Amona in Hebron?
3. Defense Minister Shaul Mufaz himself said on Israeli radio, "The wholesale market in Hebron is on Jewish land and the building, belongs to the Hebron municipality. Therefore, we told them, if they voluntarily evacuate it, in the future, legally, according to the recommendations of the attorney general, they will be able to return…"
4. Minister of Internal Security, Gideon Ezra said, "Our experience and our success in Hebron to reach a solution, and as a result, violence was prevented, and I am happy about that."
5. The intermediate report of the Knesset parliamentary committee of inquiry into the events at Amona: "The compromise reached a short time before [Amona] concerning the eviction of Jews from the wholesale market in Hebron, implicitly supports the idea that the two sides, the government and the settlers, acted in good faith with the intentions of reaching an agreement acceptable to both sides."

The question must be asked: Does the attorney general of the state of Israel (as well as, perhaps others in the administration) have a veiled interest in preferring blood-shed to negotiated agreements with Jews living in Judea and Samaria? Does he prefer policemen on foot and on horseback beating Jewish youth, as opposed to compromise settlements, which avert such situations?

And of course, the final question to be pondered: What is the significance of today's nullification of the agreement reached, in the context of Olmert's planned expulsions (G-d forbid) from large segments of Judea and Samaria? Is this a hint of things to come, - 'beat them, trample them, expel them, perhaps even kill them' – anything goes – the means justify the ends – the end being…., just what?

Hebron's Jewish community rejects Mazuz's chutzpah – the attorney general of any so-called democratic state is supposed to represent the pinnacle of justice. Mazuz's attempted nullification of the agreement reached between the community and the state is the opposite of justice; it is inequity at its best, it breeds distrust, and creates a situation whereby promise, trust, and agreements belong to the genre of science fiction .

We suggest that Mazuz rethink his response concerning the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood in Hebron and immediately implement the agreement reached, and spare himself, and the rest of Israel, continuing nightmares as witnessed at Amona.

Law-and-order or politics?

Law-and-order or politics?

On Jan. 19, Minister Tzippy Livni, quoted in Ha'aratz newspaper 'warned that "the conflict between settlers and the government is a struggle for supremacy."' Acting Prime minister Ehud Olmert "declared war on law-breaking settlers in the West Bank… and described illegal acts by settlers as "the undermining of the rule of law."'

What is the cause of such blatant demagoguery?

Hebron's Jewish community has come under fierce attack due to disturbances in the city a week ago. How did Hebron's leadership relate this turbulence and the youth involved? Quite simply, these youth are neither hoodlums or hooligans. Rather, they are some of the most ideologically motivated people in Israel today. These kids are true lovers of their land, of Eretz Yisrael. They are still crying the pain of expulsion from Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. Their hearts are still bleeding the wounds of our land being abandoned to our enemies. They hurt the hurt of thousands of homeless Jews, who committed no crime but to live in Gush Katif.
These youth want to prevent more expulsions, here in Hebron, in Amona, and in other places throughout Judea and Samaria. Enough is enough! No more expulsions, no more homeless, no more abandoned Jewish property. Eretz Yisrael belongs to Am Yisrael, the Jewish people.
And what about the excessiveness, the seeming violence? Sixteen year-olds don’t react the same way as fifty year olds. Sometimes the reactions are exaggerated, but then again, remember what they are struggling for. Even the military commander of Hebron, Col. Motti Baruch lost control and loaded his weapon in front of a group of unarmed youth. Can teenagers be held more responsible than a Colonel in the IDF?

Is ideological motivation a "struggle for supremecy?" Clearly, all honest people must be able to live with themselves, with their actions and their conscience. True Jewish ideology has it roots in an eternal Torah, which has existed, not for fifty years, but for thousands of years. This Torah, as David Ben Gurion told the Peel Commission, is the justification for our national existence in Eretz Yisrael.

Religiously observant Jews have no problem obeying the law of the land, as long as that law does not force them to overtly transgress their beliefs. Should the Knesset pass a law demanding that one meal a day must include pig meat, or that Shabbat must be desecrated be each and every Israeli citizen, of course it would not be heeded. Eretz Yisrael is no different. Chopping up our land, or demanding that it be abandoned is certainly no less serious than eating treif meat. Why is one publicly acceptable and the other decried?

The present conflict has nothing to do with law and order, or governmental sovereignty. Rather, it is entirely political. An unwritten law of Israeli society states that preceding elections, or during the rule of a transitional government, major national actions and decisions are postponed.
For example, despite Shimon Peres's signing of the Hebron Accords in 1996, he refrained from implementing them due to upcoming elections. In January, 2001 then attorney general Eliyakim Rubenstein, in a publicly scolded Prime Minister Ehud Barak as a result of his Camp David negotiations with Bill Clinton, prior to an Israeli election. He wrote, "An election-eve agreement with the Palestinians should be such that it does not raise even the suspicion that it was subject to time-related considerations - namely, election considerations. Thus, great care and constant awareness of these suspicions is required, and even more so in the case of a minority government whose prime minister has resigned."
Presently, Attorney General Manny Mazuz has ordered the justice minister to refrain from convening a special panel to appoint supreme court judges, due to the upcoming election. He has even gone so far as to disallow new appointees to the Kiryat Ono religious council, because of the impending election.

Hebron leadership has been in constant communication with officials in various government offices in an attempt to reach a suitable agreement, satisfactory to all involved. The defense minister, Shaul Mufaz and very senior officers in the IDF are clearly in favor of a negotiated settlement, as opposed to a forced expulsion. The government has already expressed a willingness to rent the structures in question to Hebron Jewish residents. This being the case, we can only ask, why the hurry!? Why not allow the process to be completed, without eviction scenes on Israeli and world television. And should, G-d forbid, the attempts to reach an agreement fail, the from the government's view, an opportunity to evict will still remain a viable option.

In January, 2003, then Jerusalem Mayor Olmert issued a 166 page book, together with Dore Gold called, "Illegal Construction in Jerusalem," which enumerates over 6,000 examples of illegal Arab building in the capital. The conclusion declares, "illegal construction has reached epidemic proportions." Yet, an overwhelming majority of those illegal structures are still standing. Why then is there such an urgency to forcibly remove nine families in Hebron and destroy nine buildings in Amona, when so many other illegal structures are being overlooked?

The answer, it seems, is that Acting Prime Minister Olmert has undertaken to use Hebron and Amona as a means to politically prove his worth: 'I too know how to throw Jews out of their homes, whatever the cost.' Police Chief Moshe Karadi already hinted that use of ammunition is not out of the question. So the real question is: are we dealing with the rule of law-and-order, or an attempt to usurp political power for political purposes?

Sodom and Gomorrah

Sodom and Gomorrah

January 24, 2006

In 1983 Deli Landau, then 19 years old, left London to live in Israel. A few years later she married Menachem, and for over twenty years the couple has lived in Hebron. Menachem is the principal of the Kiryat Arba Religious Junior High School for boys. Deli, in her words, specializes in mops and diapers. She is also a professional medic who frequently journeys in Hebron's ambulance to Jerusalem, accompanying, among others, women on their way to give birth. She also cares very much for where she lives, for her land and for her people. Not a bashful woman, Deli makes her opinion known, not only with words, but also with actions.

Last week, on her way into Kiryat Arba from Hebron, was stopped at the gate by a police officer, who asked her if she was from Hebron. When she responded positively, he demanded to see her ID card. Her response: "if you only demand IDs of Hebron residents, your motives are political." With that she put her foot on the gas and drove into Kiryat Arba. Moments later a police van pulled up behind her and, speaking through a loud speaker, yelled at her to stop. She suddenly heard the policeman screaming that she had tried to run him down. An officer, peering into her car, demanded that several others hand over their Israeli IDs. When they refused, they were arrested. Deli was ordered to follow the police to the local police headquarters. There she was charged with attacking a police officer, (as opposed to attempting to run him down).

However, the primary charge against Deli Landau revolves around the issuance of expulsion orders to Hebron residents of the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood a couple of weeks ago. Two uniformed officers of the Israeli "Civil Administration" arrived in the neighborhood at about 10:00 in the morning, accompanied by dozens of police, the riot squad, soldiers, and journalists. When the expulsion forces met, face to face with Hebron residents and supporters, a volcano erupted.

During the ensuing fracas, Deli, whose apartment borders the homes of the endangered Mitzpe Shalhevet apartments, stood on a porch and poured a pitcher of water onto people standing under her, in the road. Her goal was several police, but her aim was off, and the water splashed a few yeshiva students who got in the way.

As a result of her attempt to waste water on Israeli expulsion forces, Deli was charged with attacking police officers and rioting.

Last week, following her arrest, Deli and her 15 month old son spent the night at the Neve Tirza woman's prison. The next day, during a court hearing, the judge agreed to allow her to spend Shabbat at her parent's home in Jerusalem, under house arrest, until a second hearing. The prosecutor's office was demanding that she be remanded in prison until conclusion of all proceedings against her.

This morning, at the Jerusalem Shalom Court, judge Ilta Ziskind rendered the following decision:
Deli must remain in house arrest at her parent's home in Jerusalem, until conclusion of expulsion from the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood.
Following conclusion of the expulsion, the police will be notified and Deli will be allowed to return to her home in Hebron.
Deli is forbidden from being anywhere else in Judea and Samaria for a year.
She must deposit 5,000 shekels cash and sign a bail bond for another 20,000 shekels, which will be collected should she violate the court decision, or not appear at trial.

During the hearing, the 'honorable judge' lectured Deli: 'As the mother of eleven children, you should be more responsible and refrain from rioting and attacking police. Your children are liable to learn from you actions, and this is one of the reasons you must not be allowed home, to prevent your children from learning from your deeds.'

What can we determine from this court decision?
1. The judge has already decided that there will be an expulsion in Hebron.
(I asked Deli what will happen if, for some reason, the 'expulsion' is delayed or postponed. Her response: "Wow – I'll really be stuck."
2. Judges know better than mothers how to educate their children
3. Israeli courts may punish citizens, despite the fact that they haven't been tried or convicted. (Exile from all of Judea and Samaria for a year!) (I asked Deli if she was allowed to enter Kiryat Arba, to go to the doctor, post office, grocery store, etc. She didn't know).
4. Most importantly: pouring water on a policeman is a horrific crime, to be equated with 'physically attacking police.' (It is not clear which is to be considered more horrendous – throwing an egg on a policeman, or pouring water on him.)

Deli isn't the first person to be so oppressed by Israeli justice. A 15 year old Hebron youth was 'distanced from Hebron (where his family lives) for two months. He is under 'yeshiva arrest,' i.e., he cannot leave the yeshiva where he studies, except for Shabbat, when he is allowed home.

Why? What did he do? The police have a photograph of a male with his face covered by a stocking hat, whose jacket is similar to the Hebron boy's jacket. So, of course, that is proof enough to determine final identification and justify preemptive punishment and exile from his home.

Other examples: A 15 year old girl, with no criminal record, was charged with rioting, disturbing a policeman who was fulfilling his duty, and entering a 'closed military zone' because she attempted to leave Kiryat Arba to Hebron, despite a military order declaring the area a 'closed military zone.' She was not charged with any violent activity, but the prosecution demanded that she be held in prison until conclusion of all proceedings against her. The court ruled that she be held in house arrest until conclusion of the expulsion from Mitzpe Shalhevet. Only then will she be allowed to return to her studies at the Kiryat Arba religious girls High School.

A 15 year old girl, without any past criminal record, was arrested because of 'unbecoming behavior' (chuztpa). She resisted arrest and scratched an army officer. The same officer provided 'an eyewitness account' that he had seen her rioting several days earlier. As a result of this single witness, the judge ordered that the girl be held until conclusion of all proceedings against her. She is incarcerated in the Russian compound in Jerusalem, in very harsh conditions.

A 16 year old boy, from a family of terror victims, was arrested when a policeman argued that he could identify him as having 'pushed police' with his head covered by a stocking hat. As a result of this testimony, the boy has been in jail for over a week and the prosecution is demanding that he be remanded until conclusion of all proceedings against him.

Attorney Naftali Wertzberger noted the following trends presently utilized by the Israeli prosecution and courts:
Demands to imprison until conclusion of proceedings, even when dealing with minors, breast-feeding mothers, and people without any criminal record.
Usage of 'house-arrest' punishment on minors, causing them to miss school 'until conclusion of the expulsion from the 'shuk' in Hebron.'
Very frequent visits by police to 'check' those under house arrest – up to 5 to 6 times a day.
Demands to deposit 5,000 shekels cash to the court.

In addition, it has been learned that the director of special tasks in the prosecutor's office, Attorney Shi Nitzan, is taking a personal interest in the present cases, is following them and has issued instructions forbidding police prosecutors from reaching any kind of agreement or compromise with the 'suspects.' Any such agreement must have his personal stamp of approval.

Tomorrow Deli Landau's attorney will file an appeal with the Jerusalem municipal appeals court. However, no one has any illusions as to the outcome of the case. It is quite clear that prosecutor's office and the courts have joined together, not to seek justice, but rather to seek repression of basic human rights, punishing prior to trial and conviction, while oppressing Israelis attempting to protest a most dastardly crime: eviction and expulsion from Jewish homes, presently in Hebron, and likely also in Amona and other communities throughout Judea and Samaria, following in the footsteps of Gush Katif and the northern Shomron.

We are living a replay of Sodom and Gomorrah, when justice and hospitality were an anathema and evil was the name of the game.

And we all know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Long Live the Youth of Israel

Long Live the Youth of Israel! January 16, 2006The Jewish Community of Hebron has come under invasion by the Israeli police and other security forces. This morning, for the 2nd time in two days, dozens and dozens of police, border police and riot squad members invaded the Avraham Avinu neighborhood in Hebron.The background: History - (See http://www.hebron.com/articles/murderedtwice.htm)At the present: Two weeks ago an expulsion order ultimatum was issued: Be out of the homes in the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood voluntarily by the 15th of January, or face forced expulsion, no later than the 15th of February. Hebron families refused to even consider evicting themselves from their homes.
Last week several hundred youth from all over Israel started coming into Hebron in order to show support and provide assistance to the community and the families threatened by expulsion. Being aware that the 15th of January was quickly approaching, and without any idea as to when the expulsion might be implemented, the Hebron community welcomed the youth with open arms. All help would be needed if the forces moved in. It is expected that thousands of police, soldiers and other special security forces will participate in the expulsion attempt, should it actually occur (G-d forbid.)
On Shabbat, the 14th of January, tensions ran high. The next day, Sunday, was the deadline. That next night could be D-Day. During the day several clashes were reported, between Israelis and Hebron Arabs, who started pelting people with rocks, and between Israelis and some of the security forces. During this incident an Israeli officer was hit and slightly wounded by a rock thrown by an Arab. This despite reports in the Israeli media that a Jew intentionally hit the officer with the rock. A weekly Shabbat tour of the Kasba was canceled at the last minute, with over 100 people waiting to participate. Some people started runing through the Kasba in reaction to the cancellation and this caused a brief confrontation with some of the security forces.
Saturday night: Some kids start a fire in an abandoned store. Hebron youth put the fire out.
Sunday: January 15 – tension filled the air. Would nine families find themselves without homes the next day. Late Sunday morning: a group of youth, walking through Hebron, passing Beit Hadassah in the direction of the Tel Rumeida neighborhood find the road blocked by Israeli soldiers, who refuse to let them pass. Among the security forces: Hebron military commander, Col. Motti Baruch. A discussion quickly becomes heated, voices are raised, push comes to shove. The kids want to know: why can't they keep walking? The pushing and shoving between the two sides gets rough. And then, suddenly, Col. Motti Baruch loads his M-16 rifle, in the direction of the youth. All hell breaks loose.   Hebron leaders arrive at the scene and separate the two sides, pushing the youth away from the soldiers. Hebron police arrive and close off the street in both directions, declaring the gathering of youth 'illegal,' and threaten to start arresting people. The kids disappear and after a while the police leave. But the tension is so high you can cut it with a knife.
Sunday afternoon: Word filters out – the troops are on their way. A group of over 100 security forces, accompanied by horse-bound police march from Ma'arat HaMachpela to the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. Marching in, they immediately take to the roofs of adjacent buildings and take down make-shift tents pitched in the neighborhood. They start chasing after some of the kids, snatching them, here and there. Several are arrested and dragged away. After a little while the action stops but the troops remain. It turns into a stand-off: the troops watching the kids on rooftops and the kids staring at the police. Every once in a while an egg lands close to one of the police. When some of the youth threaten to throw rocks, Hebron leaders call on them to stop. That's the way things remain for a few hours, until the police leave.
During the night: again, tense, but quiet.
Monday morning: January 16: calm and quiet blanket the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, site of the previous day's action. Some of the youth express a desire to head home.   Then, suddenly, late in the morning, again, word gets out: they're on their way again. The troops, the water cannon, the horses! This time over 150 people invade the neighborhood, making their way quickly into the courtyard. Riot squad members, running, break into the Beitar Guest House, and climb up to the roof. Other police line the walls of the neighborhood. Still others climb up other stairs, stationing themselves on people's porches and roofs. A chain of police line up on stairs leading to the Avraham Avinu synagogue and Beit Nachum v'Yehuda, preventing people from reaching them. After a short time the small neighborhood is full of uniformed invaders, who, after having taken up positions, do nothing else. Why have they arrived? One of the commanders tells his troops: "we are here to show 'strength.'" When Noam Arnon asks an officer, 'what are you doing here – everything is quiet and under control?" he is ignored. When he demands to see a search warrant from police chief Ali Zammir, allowing him to break into the Beitar Guest House, which is private property, Zammir's response: "if you have a complaint, put it in writing and send it to me."  The police break the locks on door's leading to building rooftops in order to take up positions. Who will pay for the damage? The police don't care.
For hours the police stand at their positions, doing nothing. Several arrests are reported, including that of a 12 year old girl who is dragged into a police van screaming for someone to stay with her, to no avail.
Finally, after hours of a second day of standoff, the security forces leave the neighborhood. Many riot squad members go down the road to Beit Hadassah and there too, stand outside, in a display of 'strength.' Eventually they too, leave.
It is clear that the primary reason for the day's police show is overtly provocative: The police, arriving en masse, hope to 'be attacked' by the 'violent hoodlums' thereby providing an excuse to beat and arrest them. However, the kids are too smart to fall into the trap. The police experience only cold and boredom.
Early Evening: Most of the youth have decided to leave. The expulsion is still pending. According to sources within the government, it will not be implemented for at least a couple of more weeks. The kids can take a break and come back again in a week or so, if they are still needed.
Many journalists asked: how can you put up with such 'violent hooligan's,' in their words. The answer is very simple. These youth are neither hoodlums or hooligans. Rather, they are some of the most ideologically motivated people in Israel today. These kids are true lovers of their land, of Eretz Yisrael.  These youngsters are still crying the pain of expulsion from Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. Their hearts are still bleeding the wounds of our land being abandoned to our enemies. They hurt the hurt of thousands of homeless Jews, who committed no crime but to live in Gush Katif.
These youth want to prevent more expulsions, here in Hebron, and in Amona, and in other places throughout Judea and Samaria. Enough is enough! No more expulsions, no more homeless, no more abandoned Jewish property. Eretz Yisrael belongs to Am Yisrael, the Jewish people and no one, but no one, has the right to evict and expel Jews from their land.
And what about the excessiveness, the seeming violence?   Sixteen year-olds don’t react the same way as fifty year olds. Sometimes the reactions are exaggerated, but then again, remember what they are fighting for. In contrast, how many youth have been stabbed at Israeli nightclubs, due to 'love' or drugs or alcohol, or all three of the above? Dozens and dozens. Almost every weekend, another act of real violence, due to… a desire for what? For the good of our land, of our people, of our Torah?  When was the last time 'the troops were sent in' to prevent another stabbing, another murder? How many 'troops have been called in' to stop another terror attack, leaving more orphans and widows? How many troops are called up to prevent another Kasam missile from falling in Sderot? Our youth, having witnessed people singing and dancing, hugging and kissing their expellers this summer in Gush Katif scream out: "NO MORE! We will not sing and dance with people who want to throw us out of our homes, off our land. They are the real criminals, not us!" And how right they are!
We should be proud that we have such youth, whose motivation stems, not from personal desire or gain, but from a true love and yearning for their land, a G-d given gift to our people.
Long live the youth of Israel!

V'Shavu Banim l'Gvulam

V'Shavu Banim l'Gvulam
by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron
November 24, 2005

 This morning, while eating breakfast, my eye caught an article in a local paper. Submitted by Kiryat Arba resident Yeshovev Friedberg, it relates a true story which I don't recall having heard before. By the time I'd finished reading, it had caught not only my eye, but also my heart. I like to relate it to you.

This coming Shabbat, as we read "Parshat Chaye Sarah,", reading how Abraham purchased a small cave and the field around, here in Hebron, almost 4,000 years ago, you might want to keep this story in mind. Thank G-d, we have been privileged to fulfill the prophecy: V'Shavu Banim l'Gvulam.

Dr. Max Nordau, one of the founders of the World Zionist Organization, was named at birth Meir-Simcha. However, he was known as Max, a children's doctor in Paris. The following story was told by Avraham Shmuel Yehuda, a Jerusalem Orientalist professor, in his book, "Ezer HaRav," describing how Nordau became interested in Zionism.

On the second night of First Zionist Congress in Basel, Nordau spoke in German, giving a long speech. He mentioned several times, as a motto, three words from Jeremiah, in Hebrew, "v"Shavu Banim l'Gvulam," – "Our Children Have Returned to their Borders." When asked by a young representative at the congress how he found this verse, and especially in Hebrew,  for this did not fit Nordau's educational background, Nordau replied: "I know these words from the person to whom I am obliged all my Judaism and Zionism. A person whose name I don't even know. A person who was, in essence, only a little boy of eight or ten. And this is what happened:

 "I have a children's clinic in Paris. A woman, an immigrant from Poland, her hair covered with a scarf, came in with a pale boy, 8 or 10, sick for three weeks. Someone recommended that she bring him to me. I took out a form for a new patient and tried to speak to him in our local language, but he could hardly understand French. I asked his mother, who was also very poor at French, and she said, 'no he doesn't go to a regular school, he goes to a "Heder," a Jewish religious school.'

 I scolded her harshly. 'This only causes anti-Semitism. We have opened the door for you, the gates to the country, to refugees from Poland. Why doesn't your child learn the national language here?'

 She apologized and said that he is still young and that her husband is from the 'old generation,' but that he will grow and study in the 'gymnasium' (modern school), and will learn the language.

 In anger I asked the child, 'in Heder, what did you learn?' His eyes lit up, and in Yiddish, which I understood because of my German, told me what he had last studied in Heder.

 "Ya'akov," he said, "was dying and he invited Yosef and commanded him, swearing him, pleaded before him, please, don't bury me in Egypt. There is Ma'arat HaMachpela, Avraham, Yitzhak, Ya'akov, Sarah, Rivka, and there I buried Lea. Take me from Egypt and bury me with them. And when I came from Padan , Rachel died in Eretz Canaan, on the way to Efrat, and I buried her there, on the way, in Beit Lechem.

 "Why, in the middle of Ya'akov's request, does he tell the story of Kever Rachel?" "Rashi says," – and this is all the child talks about, 8 or 10 years old, speaking about the 'Sages' – that Ya'akov felt a necessity to apologize to Yosef and say, I bother you like this, to take me from Egypt to Hebron, and I, mysef, didn’t bother to take your mother Rachel. And despite that I was very close. Next to Beit Lechem, Even into the city I didn't take her, I buried her on the way.

  But I'm not guilty and didn't act wrongly. G-d wanted it this way. He knew: the murderer Nebuchadnezzar would, in the future, exile the sons of Rachel, her sons, during the first destruction, and then she would leave her grave and weep and wail and her voice would be heard: Rachel weeps for her children. But the L-rd responds to her: "Stop your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, because there is a reward for you actions, and a hope for the future, and the children will return to their borders – v'Shavu Banim l'Gvulam."

 "And I," says Dr. Max Nordau, "I didn't know what to do with myself. I turned to the window so that the mother and child wouldn't see the tears rolling down my cheeks, and I said to myself, 'Max, aren't you ashamed of yourself? You are an educated man, known as an intellectual, with a Doctor's degree, but you don't know anything about the history of your people. >From all of the holy scriptures, nothing? And here, this sick child, weak, an immigrant, a refugee. And he speaks of Ya'akov and Yosef and Jeremiah, and Rachel, as if it was yesterday, it all lives in front of his eyes?'"

 "I wiped the tears from my cheeks and turned to them and said, in my heart, 'a people, with children like this, that actually live their past, they will have a sparkling future."

 "In the weekend newspaper I saw an advertisement, "Whoever believes that the fate of the Jewish people is important to them, please call to help find an answer. Dr. Theodore Hertzl." I called immediately.

 When we founded the Zionist Congress, at the first one, when I was honored to speak and give a speech, the figure of that little boy, whose name I don't even remember, stood in front of my eyes. But those words I will never forget, because they are the foundation of Zionism, they are the pillars of Judaism, V'Shavu Banim l'Gvulam – and the children will return to their borders."

 

      

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Chaye Sarah Dvar Torah.doc

Ma'arat HaMachpela: The Roots of the Jewish People

by David Wilder

The Jewish Community of Hebron

Erev Parshat Chaye Sarah

 

The Torah teaches us that Avraham, sitting outside his tent following his brit milah, seeing three men approaching, ran to fix them a meal. When he entered the sheep pen to prepare fresh meat, a calf ran away. As Avraham chased the calf, the animal suddenly disappeared. Continuing to search, Avraham saw a cave in the distance and approached, thinking that perhaps the calf had run inside. Arriving at the cave and peering in, Avraham saw a bright light glowing, from deep within. Entering to investigate, walking deeper and deeper into the cave, Avraham discovered the tombs of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman. He also smelled fragrances from the Garden of Eden.

 

How did Adam and Eve arrive at this site? It is written that following their exile from the Garden of Eden they wished to return, but they had no idea where it was. They searched and searched until they reached a point where they could smell the exquisite fragrances of that unique place. There, the first man began digging and dug a cave within a cave, until a voice from the heavens forbade him to dig further. There he buried his wife Eve, and later he too was interred there (Zohar).

 

Realizing the sanctity of the site, Avraham left the cave, desiring to purchase it. According to the Midrash (Pirkei d’Rebbi Eliezer) he approached the Jebusites and requested to purchase from them the cave. (The Midrash specifies that the Jebusites and the Hittities were both from the same tribe, Paleshet.) They answered Avraham, “We know that your future offspring will try to conquer our home city (Jerusalem). If you agree to prevent them from conquering Jerusalem, we will sell you the cave.”

 

Avraham agreed and signed a contract which was hung on statues outside the gates of Jerusalem. There are commentators who hold that Joshua did not conquer Jerusalem when he entered Israel, due to Avraham’s agreement. Centuries later, King David purchased Temple Mount from the Jebusites only after he destroyed these statues.

 

Did Avraham really agree to relinquish Jerusalem for Hebron? No. Avraham realized that in order to attain the sanctity of Jerusalem, it was necessary to begin at the foundations of civilization, at the point which joins this world to another world, to the Garden of Eden. Starting here, at the cave, the foundations of the world, they could then progress slowly, until finally reaching the holiness of Jerusalem. This is similar the “Jacob’s ladder,” of which it is written that the top of the ladder reached the heavens but the legs of the ladder were firmly entrenched on the ground.

 

Where is a connection between Jerusalem and Hebron, site of these caves, discovered by Avraham, called Ma’arat HaMachpela? The Talmud says, in the tractate Yoma, that every day, before beginning work in the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple, the priests would look out and ask, has the sun yet risen in the east, even as far as Hebron? If the answer was positive, work would commence. If not, if it was still dark in Hebron, the priests in Jerusalem would have to wait.

 

Very likely the merit by which Avraham earned discovery of Ma’arat HaMachpela is due to his desire and willingness to fulfill the positive precept of ‘’hachnasat orchim,” hosting guests,, despite the very hot weather and the pain he experienced three days after his Brit Milah. This reflects Avraham’s primary trait, that of ‘chesed’ or total, unrelenting loving-kindness.

 

Where did Avraham learn the trait of chesed? It would seem, from HaShem, from G-d Himself. In our prayers, which we repeat three times daily, we say, “the great, strong, awesome G-d, the supreme G-d.” What would we expect to follow? Perhaps, the G-d who created heavens and earth, or who created man?  No. We continue, “[G-d] who practices fine chesed and remembers the chesed of the Forefathers. This is what Avraham learned from HaShem. And this is the pillar of Ma’arat HaMachpela – chesed.

 

This is Avraham’s primary trait, that of chesed, as it is written, ‘He bestowed chesed to Avraham.’ Why especially to Avraham? It is written, “A world of chesed will be created.” In other words, creation of the world was dependant on total chesed, without any restrictions. Later, rules were established and the chesed was limited, borders were implemented. (So it is that Yitzhak’s trait is ‘gevurah,’ which represents the ability to live with restrictions, an enclosing, an implementation of constraints, and the opposite of chesed.)

 

Why was Avraham’s trait chesed? His existence in the world and his revelation of one G-d was as the re-creation of the world anew, the seeds of the birth of Am Yisrael, a time necessitating total chesed, as was during the time of Adam and Eve. And so it was that Avraham was merited to be the first person to discover their final resting place, the entrance to the Garden of Eden.

 

There are different levels of revelation and of recognizing HaShem. There is a superficial recognition but also a deeper appreciation.

 

In Israel there is Jerusalem and Hebron – Beit HaMikdash and Ma’arat HaMachpela. Beit HaMikdash, the Temple, is open to all, high upon a hill. Ma’arat HaMachpela is a cave, hidden from all eyes, inner. Beit HaMikdash extends outward. Ma’arat HaMachpela extends inward. One, to the heavens, and one to the depths of the earth. One bursts out and the other, directed towards our roots.

 

Of course, each site has levels within levels. Beit HaMikdash has a section called Kodesh, Holy and a more restricted area called Kodesh HaKodeshim, the Holy of Holies. Ma’arat HaMachpela has two caves, an outer cave and an inner cave.

 

Why then is the supreme holiness in Jerusalem and not in Hebron? This is the way of the world: “In the beginning G-d created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was filled with tohu v’vohu (confusion). The Torah continues with incidents ‘on earth,’ that which is revealed. The heavens remain ‘hidden’ and untouched.

 

With that it should be noted that the final goal, the full redemption, is return to the era of the Garden of Eden before man’s original sin.

 

All may view that which is revealed but revelation of the hidden is dependant on G-d, on His chesed, His willingness to allow entrance into ‘the arena of the hidden’  In other words, Avraham’s discovery of Ma’arat HaMachpela is an example of  how chesed begets chesed (i.e., an example of ‘mida k’neged mida’ – an attribute begets an atttibute).

 

We know of four couples buried at Ma’arat HaMachpela: Adam and Eve, Avraham and Sarah, Yitzhak and Rivka, Ya’akov and Lea.

 

However, it is written that there are actually five couples buried at Ma’arat HaMachpela, three ‘revealed’ and two ‘hidden.’ The ‘revealed’ three are the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The ‘hidden’ are Adam and Eve and Moshe (Moses) and Tzipporah (attributed to Sefer HaTemunah in the name of R’ Nechunia HaKana and R’ Yishmael Kohen Gadol).

 

What is Moshe’s connection to Ma’arat HaMachpela? The Torah writes that Moshe was very humble; he was most humble of all men. Humility is a trait reflecting selflessness and concealment. Moshe brought Torah to the people of Israel and received no reward. He was as a slave and suffered, despite his efforts on behalf of the Israelites. This reflects the trait of chesed. What person would be more suitable to unify with his roots than Moshe?

 

In the Torah it is written (in Hebrew) Ma’arat Sde HaMachpela (the cave in the field of Machpela.) The initials of these three words, (in Hebrew) Mem, Shin and Hay, combine to spell Moshe.

 

Jerusalem and Hebron blend and unify. Torah –the rules, the boundaries - the tablets of the Ten Commandments, are found in Jerusalem. (Gevurah - The trait of Yitzhak;  Akedat Yitzhak occured on Har HaMoria, site of Beit HaMikdash.) The chesed, the full loving-kindness without restriction, the trait of Avraham, is in Hebron. The lights of Hebron and the lights of Jerusalem merge to create a unity of spirituality which imbues the Jewish people (Ya’akov-Yisrael – the unity of Chesed and Gevurah), the revealed and the hidden, this is the secret of Ma’arat HaMachpela, a unity which cannot be, and never will be, ‘disengaged.’

 

With blessings from Hebron.

 

The case for Mitzpe Shalhevet

DAVID WILDER , THE JERUSALEM POST

Nov. 16, 2005

During the past several weeks, over 100 members of the Likud Central Committee have come to Hebron to see, feel and experience the first Jewish city in the Land of Israel. They've come mostly to view Jewish property that is inaccessible to Hebron's Jewish community.

The story properly begins in 1807 when Haim Bajaio purchased, on behalf of the Hebron Jewish community, a five-dunam plot of land adjacent to the centuries-old Jewish Quarter, for 1,200 grushim. The deal was witnessed and signed by no fewer than 22 Hebron Arab notables. This property served Hebron's Jews and later accommodated the home and synagogue of its chief rabbi, Eliahu Manni.

Following the Jordanian occupation of Hebron in 1948, the entire Jewish Quarter - founded by Spanish-Jewish exiles in 1540 - was razed to the ground. Among the structures destroyed was the ancient Avraham Avinu Synagogue. In the early 1960s, an Arab fruit and vegetable market was constructed on the property bought by the Hebron community in 1807.

Following the liberation of Hebron during the 1967 Six Day War, these structures continued to function, having been rented to the Hebron Arab municipality by the Israeli government. The property contracts for these buildings expired in the 1990s, and the site was gradually closed over a period of several years, due to security concerns. The market was finally shut down following an attempted terrorist attack: Arabs placed a booby-trapped teddy bear in a plastic bag in the market near the entrance to the Jewish neighborhood, hoping a Jewish child, finding it, would play with it and be killed in the ensuing explosion.

Despite numerous requests by our community to rent the structures, the site has been left vacant.

On March 26, 2001, at the beginning of the Oslo War an Arab sniper shot and killed 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass. Following the murder, Hebron children began utilizing the abandoned Arab shuk as a place to play and take cover during shooting attacks from the overlooking Abu Sneneh Hills. Over a period of time, the Hebron community invested tens of thousands of dollars to convert the former fruit and vegetable stalls into livable apartments. Presently, the former market, renamed the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood, houses Hebron families and a Torah study hall opened in Shalhevet's memory.

Mitzpe Shalhevet is presently on the brink of obliteration, not by Arabs, but by the government.

FOUR YEARS ago, in response to an Arab demand to reopen the market, the Attorney-General's office notified the Supreme Court that: (1) the Arabs no longer had any legal rights to the market and (2) that Israeli "trespassers" would be evicted from the site.

The Supreme Court, however, never ruled that the former market's Jewish population should be expelled from their homes.

The reason behind the attorney-general's decision is summed up in his own words: "The criminal must not be rewarded."

The criminal, in this case, is not defined as the Arabs who murdered 67 Jews, destroyed the Jewish Quarter, shot at Hebron Jews from the surrounding hills and killed Shalhevet Pass. Rather, the criminal is defined as Hebron's Jews, who had "usurped" the vacant buildings belonging to the State of Israel.

Following issuance of an eviction order, Hebron's Jewish community appealed to the courts, claiming private Jewish ownership of the property. An appeals committee of three judges ruled 2-1 that the land did legally belong to a private Jewish organization, but that the buildings legally fell within the jurisdiction of the Israeli government. Concurrently, two of the three judges ruled that the optimal solution to the problem was to lease the structures to Hebron's Jewish community.

The defense minister delayed executing the eviction order for over two years, due to security issues and other concerns. However, recently, following the successful expulsion of 10,000 Jews from Gush Katif and northern Samaria, the Attorney-General's Office has exerted tremendous pressure on Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to execute the eviction orders and remove Hebron's families from the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood.

Mofaz may be under the mistaken impression that the Supreme Court ruled that the structures must be evacuated. This is, as previously noted, not true. To the contrary, the easiest and most just solution, as recommended by the judges, is to lease the buildings to Hebron's Jewish community.

On the Shabbat of November 26, thousands of Jews are expected to arrive in Hebron to celebrate the annual Torah reading of Hayei Sarah commemorating Abraham's purchase of Ma'arat Hamachpela, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, some 4,000 years ago.

There could be no better way to affirm a permanent, eternal Jewish presence in Hebron than to officially proclaim the reclamation and rededication of Mitzpe Shalhevet. No doubt Abraham and Sarah would smile down upon us from the heavens above.

The writer is the spokesman of the Jewish Community of Hebron. This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1132053868218&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Copyright 1995-2005 The Jerusalem Post - http://www.jpost.com/