The people of Israel have been wounded both physically and spiritually. They want to cry out in pain, but the cry comes out in a bewildered whisper. They travel from funeral to funeral to honor those Jews evicted from their final resting place. They wander from hotel to hotel to aid the Jews evicted from their homes into an uncertain future by an indifferent and callous government. They shake their heads trying to determine what went wrong and how we could have done things differently.



They begin the very dangerous process, so common to mourners, of self-blame. This process has begun to include blame directed at any group or individual who had the courage to attempt to show leadership during these tumultuous times.



Our greatest desire was to see the expulsion plan disrupted. We did not merit seeing that happen. Our greatest passion was to watch the divine plan of redemption continue to unfold. That passion, on the other hand, has not been blunted .That vision continues to unfold, albeit at a different pace than we would have desired.



Good people who have been committed to the struggle for the Land of Israel have come forward with blistering attacks against the Judea, Samaria and Gaza Council, and against the general rabbinic leadership. Much more could have been done, they claim, to thwart the designs of Ariel Sharon.



Long time activist, Daniella Weiss said, "It was possible. It was, I would even say, easily possible, if the country had been brought to a halt, such that no single person would be able to continue to sit and drink coffee at a cafe, knowing that they would not be able to go home and arrive at the time they intended to get there, and that tomorrow, they might not be able to get to work."



Nadia Matar , also a long-time activist, said, "The insistence that 'the state and the army are above all' - even when the state and army are committing a crime against humanity - is what enabled the crime to take place."



The consensus amongst all those people is that the Judea, Samaria and Gaza leadership and the rabbis were too concerned about alienating the Israeli public; that they were not truly interested in directly confronting the army and the state.



These long-time activists are right in their assessments of the considerations that directed the Judea, Samaria and Gaza leadership and the rabbis. Yet, as a long-time and low-level activist, I humbly would like to add that I thank G-d every day that these were, in fact, the considerations of that leadership.



I was part of the thousands of Israelis that stood at street corners, organized buses to Gush Katif and Samaria, petitioned and prayed, and crawled through the dusty fields of the south trying to penetrate the Kissufim crossing. Throughout all that time, I felt led by a passionate cry by one of the leading activists of Gush Katif: "In struggling to stop the disengagement from the land of Israel," he said, "make sure that we don't disengage from the people of Israel."



Sharon's strategy was predicated on the understanding that the struggle would be violent and ugly. He needed to show young soldiers confronting the ugly settler in bloody battles .Such a metaphor was critical for his program's success. That insidious part of his program, at least, did not materialize. The image of the "ugly settler" died in the ruins of Gush Katif.



Disrupting the life of entire state can be one of the most powerful and eloquent forms of democratic expressions. The disruption of regular day-to-day routine, to ensure that more harmful disruption does not occur, is exactly the tool used by the civil rights movement, the Soviet Jewry movement and all human rights groups.



Yet, such a tool is only effective if the media and public consensus stands behind you. If the public perception is that the struggle is about ideals and vision, then victory is assured. If, on the other hand, the purpose of the struggle has failed to enter the hearts and souls of the nation, then all such activity will prove to be self-destructive. The public will see the struggle as a political putsch, and not as a value-driven attempt to ensure the physical and spiritual survival of a people.



We must remember that for people of this land, many of them men of little faith, the state of Israel and the army are viewed as being almost holy. Though the state and the army are not inherently holy in our eyes, we are clearly confident that they are the critical vehicles of ultimate Holiness. That is what we have taught our children and that is what we have all grown up on. The army and the state are not our enemies. Sharon and his cadre of self-serving politicians are the bearers of a policy that is our enemy.



That difference must not be blurred. If it is, then our struggle will be doomed. Just as importantly, these G-d given vehicles of a self-governing state and a people's army will be put in danger, as well. We must return these vehicles towards their original purpose. That must become part of the struggle.



The critics are right when they declare that, when the expulsion began, the people of Israel connected to the vision of the Land of Israel were beset by shock and bewilderment. Part of the leadership demanded a rush towards the Gush, while others demanded to stop the nation in the streets and the highways. Most of our people wandered around confused and stunned. How could something so irrational and cruel truly be happening? What about the tears, the prayers and the demonstrations? What about all the miracles experienced in Gush Katif?



It is still too early to really be completely comforted by the thought that prayers do not evaporate into thin air and that the gates of tears are never closed. It is too soon to be reminded that no vision ends, even though dark clouds attempt to obscure it. It is time to care for the victims of Sharon's short-sighted and self-serving policies. It is time to ensure that the once-flourishing communities of faith in Gaza be reestablished in Netivot, Yad Binyamin and Bet Meir.



It is also time to gather the strength and awesome power we discovered in Kfar Maimon, Ofakim and the fields around Kissufim and direct it towards our ultimate goal - the hearts and souls of our fellow Jews.



It is our hope and desire that a unified leadership will develop out of these ruins. My sense is that this leadership will probably not come from the well-meaning ranks of the Judea, Samaria and Gaza Council or from the camp of the critics. Both camps have been selfless and passionate, but seem to have reached the limits of their abilities. A new leadership, forged in the searing experience of this expulsion, and bolstered by the spiritual faith and vision that carried them singing out of the ruins, will probably be formed.



The rest of Am Yisrael waits - some of them unknowingly - battered, but confident. They wait saddened, but are yet ready to walk further on to their appointed destiny.