The leader of a religious community must be its rabbi, and so it was in Gush Katif. Rabbi Yigal Kamineztky was our leader. As we lived in fear through years of Arab bombardment, as we worked to rescind the edict of our expulsion, as we sat hopeless in our tiny hotel rooms, as we pick up the threads of our life here in this refugee camp, we had a constant: the voice and courage of our rabbi. To retain our faith in the Almighty, to hold on to our community, we needed the heart, the voice, the spirit of our rabbi. As it was, so it is today.



Yom Kippur 2006: We came together to pray in our pre-fab synagogue. Our holy Ark, the wall hangings, the pews looked familiar, having been rescued from the N'vei Dekalim synagogue before it was desecrated and burnt to the ground. But more important was the voice of Rabbi Yigal as it filled the makeshift shul. In moments, we were transported back to the grandeur that was.



All joined the rabbi as he sang our familiar Yom Kippur melodies. The men danced and clapped their hands. We smiled and cried as our cherished songs reverberated through the simple pre-fab. The dome of our synagogue was gone, but the community was alive again. Rabbi Yigal made us transcend our anguish, and our songs and hearts went out to God.



Our tiny pre-fab community center, the palest reflection of the grand structure we had in N'vei Dekalim, is working and thriving. Members of Moshav Nitzan, on whose watermelon and tomato fields our refugee camp was built, come to our community center to participate in our resurrected music programs, workshops for children and lectures for adults. The Nitzan men pray in our synagogues and attend Torah classes in our budding yeshiva.



Our young people, our greatest concern, are busy in the B'nei Akiva and Ariel youth movements. Our stores are reopening in refurbished shipping containers. A truck outfitted by the Chabad movement serves as a dental clinic.



The mikvah [ritual bath] has added ornaments to beautify a drab building. Our weekly newsletter gives us news from our scattered communities and updates on coming events.



The katif.net web site in Hebrew and English, still maintained by Motti Sender, keeps us updated daily on our endless struggle with the government.



Job-Katif, established by Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Rimon, has helped bring employment, retraining and funds for business ventures to the people of Gush Katif.



And the Committee for Gush Katif continues to struggle with the government to bring about legislation to award our families and farmers due compensation and land on which to build permanent homes.



The needs are still great, but the vitality that once characterized Gush Katif is to be seen once again.



The community sings. We go forward, are pushed backward, and go forward again. Our rabbi and community leaders are with us. We face our new year with hope.