One Can't Know, Till They've Been There

Maybe it was because I was standing on the mountain top.  Maybe it was the addition of the quiet, with just the wind blowing and a soft flapping of tattered Israeli flags waving in the background that struck me .  But the scars were there, and they were not healing. Amona.  I went to Amona today.

I don't know. It is so surreal. I SAW it on the news, I SAW it on YouTube, I SAW it in photographs, but it pales in comparison to real life.   I wasn't planning on going to Amona today.  You see, my daughter was taking a course in Ofra, for her national service that she will be volunteering for the next year or two.  I went with one of my other kids and my niece to visit her in Ofra, and get some pizza.  Ofra is about a 30 minute drive north of Jerusalem.  While we were there, we still had some time before her next class started.  I saw Amona up on the neighboring hill, high, high up. I had this hunger to go and see it.  You see, I wasn't there when my son and other  brave 'orange youth' were, trying to stop the bulldozing down of 9 Jewish houses.  They say that Olmert wanted to make his mark, to show that he was strong and tough like Ariel Sharon.  So he was uncompromising, and demanded that these Jewish homes, on a bare hill top uninhabited for 2,000 years, until these last few years, be mowed down.  The police came by the hundreds, swarming in.  They came down in full battle gear with fierce brutality on our kids, adults, and even Members of Knesset. They bashed heads open with clubs, trampling some with their mighty horses. See this video: Amona Doc.

Well, these are the photos that i took while up there today.

The entrance to Amona.  A boulder with the Hebrew letters in black.  A bus stop is nearby, showing that the main bus comapny Egged recognizes this place and gives service to it.

What surprised me is the fact that there was so much life up there.  When you first drive in, it is just FILLED with trailer homes and families.  That surprised me, as I didn't expect all the 'life' there, after the demolition.  These families are true pioneers, and what I love about them, is that they have VISION, they see the future, and they are tough enough to withstand the present. 

Standing up on the top of the mountain of Amona, I showed my kids how important it was that we have this area.  A 360 degree periphery of the surrounding area is seen from there.  The communtiy of Ofra, the Tel Aviv area, and all of the surrounding Jewish communities.  If the arabs sat up here, it could be a launching pad for terrorists to aim rockets down on our homes, schools and roads, where families are traveling. 

Above Photo: Temporary caravans (trailer homes) of Amona's residents.

The community of Ofra with hundreds of families, schools, high schools and roads.  All targets and within shooting and rocket range.

Graffiti which states, "I came to this land to build" and "Olmert is following (or continues) Sharon".

What is important to notice in this photo above, which is not seen well, unfortunately, is the upper right homes on the neighboring mountain.  Those are Arab homes. I thought to myself, the Arabs, --they can build, and live there.  But not the Jews. 

What is important here, is that the Jews had almost all the permits and legal work finished on their homes they built in Amona.  They only did not receive the final signature from the defense minister.  A signature.  ...A lousy signature.

These homes (above) were the new (9) homes built by the 'Orange People' - residents of Amona.  They had the permits...  the electric company came and supplied lines, and other infrastructure was put in.  They say that Peace Now made trouble, and now -- there is no more. Who funds Peace Now? Is it from FOREIGN outside groups? If so, is this not infiltration and sabotage into Israel domestic matters by the enemies of the Land of  Israel?

 Driving along the road, the destruction is seen.

I wasn't prepared for it.  Yes, I saw it on the news.  Yes, my son described it to me.  Yes, I saw it in photos, and on youtube.  ...One can't know, till they've been there. I got out of my car.  I couldn't help it, I started to curse.  I admit it.  It just came out...  "Da--n Olmert!  Da--n, da--n, da--n".  I was overtaken by the devastation.  And you know what?  You reading this piece will probably say, "Seen it before Tamar, what's the big deal?"  But I am telling you, a picture, no picture does it justice.  You had to be there, see, absorb.  It was finally absorbed!

This happened less than 2 years ago.  But the scars are still fresh. What surprised me, is the spirit of these people.  After the tragedy, after the beatings, after the destruction, an Israeli flag was perched on a pole onto every mound of where a house stood, now stuck in the wreckage.  

What stubbornly in-love people these are. The wind has weathered the flags, some now just a hint of the proud blue and white, sheared from the wind.

One after another, home after home. Destruction.  The mark of Olmert, one of his legacies. Yet, each mound holds a tattered flag of Israel.  These people have the strength, and VISION.

...and a next generation.

I Cried in Room # 617

It was a poem someone had written. Someone who was living in my hotel room before I got there. Someone who for eight months was crammed into this room with his family, bewildered, hurt and forgotten by his countrymen. Someone had written a poem, a poem of pain and anguish, ...and I happened to find it.

( In honor of the 2 year anniversary of the expulsion from Gush Kaitf, I am re-posting this piece I wrote that happened a little over a year ago)

It was supposed to be a happy occasion. We were celebrating my son's Bar Mitzvah that fell in the week of Passover, and since we knew we wouldn't be able to host all the extended family in my house for a Passover Seder and a Bar Mitzvah Sabbath, we came to the conclusion that we would find an affordable hotel that would be able to sleep and feed the family here in Israel, and those coming from abroad.

We arrived at a Jerusalem hotel, where I got the keys to room 617. After glancing around the room, I sent my kids and family down to the dining area where they had a light meal offered before the Passover Seder. I stayed behind to unpack their holiday clothes and to make up the beds for the children.

I liked having some quiet after the brief chaos. We were eight people crammed into two small hotel rooms with an adjoining door. There was lots of luggage and little space to spread out. Two of my kids would have to sleep on the floor, I decided. I took up the two cushions from the couch bed that was in our room and decided to make it a mattress. Then, leaning over to pull out the couch-bed, I spotted a folded piece of paper between the mattress and the metal support springs.

Unfolding it, I found it was actually two pages stapled together and typewritten in Hebrew. I began to read it.

"Kinah" (Lamentation) was the title. No author's name. After the first three lines, I took some weak steps backwards, fell onto the main bed of the room and started to cry.

It was a poem someone had written. Someone who was living in my hotel room before I got there. Someone who for eight months was crammed into this room with his family, bewildered, hurt and forgotten by his countrymen. Someone had written a poem, a poem of pain and anguish, ...and I happened to find it. 

Was it left for me, the 'next occupant', purposely? Or was it forgotten in the rush to evacuate the hotel to let new guests take over even this temporary abode for Passover?

I had heard that many of the families ensconced in these Jerusalem area hotels for an "indefinite time" were now being forced to move again to make room for Passover and Easter guests.

 

"Oh my gosh, this room belonged to a family from Gush Katif!" I was shaking.

What follows is a loose translation of the Hebrew text:

Kinah

On the Expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif,

The Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria,

I will lament every year with a broken and bitter heart.

How is it possible that a Jewish prime minister - Ariel Sharon - can give away a land brimming with wisdom and talent to Arabs, oppressors of Israel, as a gift and present?

How is it possible that he cheated his voters by expressing his love saying, "In my days, you will sit safely on your land," and then betrayed our trust, saying, "To them it belongs (the Arabs) ? not to you"?

How is it possible that people were sent to build, work and settle, affirm by self-sacrifice the building of the land, and now they were betrayed and disinherited, their land handed to Ishmaelites?

How is it possible that he made covenants with murderers

and gave the land of G-d with no recompense, to rapists, and then he reproached and blasphemed, saying, there is no G-d in the land, Who judges.

How is it possible that he attempted to cover his and his sons' crimes with much cunning, and shed shame on those goodly ones who toil over Torah, the people of the land? They will concentrate on the Disengagement, and his sons' guilt will be lost in oblivion and turmoil.

How is it possible that the heads of parliament gave a majority to the decision - a parliament that was chosen by the nation.... to end the quiet dwelling of the old, and the playing of the children from their streets.... to expel them, shame them, and give what belongs to them, to a bloodthirsty nation?

How is it possible that he scorned the laws of the Torah, he and his company of friends, and he despised the lovely land and legislated laws of his own desire?

How is it possible that police, soldiers and judges all stood by his side and participated in the joys of all his evil deeds and did not say, "Enough. Our will is an evil one."?

How is it possible that they announced to pioneering Jews settling the land: 'Enough! Stop! You have already sat many years in your settlements and now we will give this land to your enemies - your oppressors.'

How is it possible that Israel, a holy nation, cried out in tears to undo and revoke the decree of insolents and criminals and G-d concealed His face and left His land to traitors?

How is it possible that we stood in prayer and supplication and poured out our hearts; perhaps G-d will spare His nation and remove the decree of an evil government and the nation of G-d will lament, for the land was given to the hand of the vain and evil?

How is it possible that Jews were forcibly expelled from their homes, tossed onto buses... men, women and their children, and no mercy was shown for their property and their hard work?

How is it possible that they enacted a violent order... police and soldiers, to remove their brothers - the sons of Israel - from their homes? O Land, don't cover their crimes until sins cease.

How is it possible that they destroyed, out of hatred, houses, synagogues and schools full of Torah, and mercilessly threw people out onto the streets?

How is it possible that without any explanation or reason they destroyed factories, greenhouses and every growing field and gave their places to savages and the dishonest?

How is it possible that he raised his hand upon synagogues and yeshivas, and put an end to houses of study and the chatter of infants, while saying, 'Thus the world's nations will love us more'?

How is it possible that he invaded graves and extracted bones

of holy ones killed by bullets, fire and stones and he did not feel he would be hit by a curse - shchik atzamot - where his bones are pulverized, ground and pounded?

How is it possible that they gloated in the shadow of our sorrow, all his companions and lovers, saying, "G-d left the land, the house is empty of its Lord. Va-avdah b'hafkaira nicha leya [in Aramaic: Every man should do as he sees fit]"?

He who has mercy on the poor, (please) have mercy on the afflicted and return them to their legacy, for in You they trust. And bring closer the Redemption, for Israel shall be redeemed by G-d for eternity.

Who were these people who lived in room 617 for eight months? How many children did they have? What were their jobs before they were sacrificed by the politicians who came to power? Were they happy to leave the hotel for a 'caravilla' (trailer home), or were they victimized once again, but this time, too tired and too broken to fight? Did they leave this poem purposely for the next occupant of the room to find, which happened to be me, or was it left behind by accident? Why didn't the maid find it (everything was cleaned well before Passover, even the carpets were recently shampooed, I could feel the dampness in the rugs with my feet)?

Did G-d want me to find this, to share this cry with others?

Yes, I cried in room 617. I wonder how much crying there was in this room the last eight months before I got there.

Since the expulsion, I have prayed every morning that HaShem should bless our brothers and sisters from Gush Katif and the northern Samaria region with even more wonderful and happier lives than before, and that things should start improving immediately for them.

Crying is good. It's not a solution, although it's a good start to bring us to action. On behalf of our brothers and sisters who were wrenched from their homes, lives and communities, please, let us all do a special act of kindness in their merit: pray for their well-being in your prayers every day until they are settled; make a donation directly to these families to help them rebuild their lives (please email me at the link in the right hand column above) visit them, write them or make a 'twin city' with them to show that you care; make a firm commitment to act in the future to prevent anything like this from happening again.

May any future crying in room 617 be from cries of joy from new occupants who have come to visit Israel to herald the Moshiach and help bring the redemption that G-d has promised us all. And may we start positive actions now to ensure it comes speedily, in our days. Amen.

Postscript

The mystery has been solved! The family in room 617 has been found. They were from N'vei Dekalim and they include 11 children. Hear this dramatic interview with the mother of this family here.
 

Starting a New Jewish Holiday of Love

It started with two women. They were settlers in the Land of Israel.   

The news was bad. Jews were dying, being blown up in busses, in cafes, and shot on the road like ducks in a shooting gallery. People were being murdered and maimed almost everyday.  Prime Minister Ehud Barak was leading the country at that time and he had just come out with a whopper of an announcement that he was going to split Jerusalem, and hand over Har Habayit (The Temple Mount) where our Holy temple stood, as well as give over our homes in YESHA to arch terrorist Yasser Arafat (yimach shmo - may his name be erased) in order to establish a Palestinian State.  "How can this be?" the women said.
 
The two women then sat together in concentration.  They thought back to another time when the Jewish people were suffering many tragedies in Israel.  They remembered 2,000 years ago when our ancestors were attacked by the Roman army.  Jews were dying in the streets, slaughtered, our land was taken over and the survivors were taken as slaves into Exile.  It was a great tragedy and there was much suffering amongst the Jewish People.  We have learned that this happened to us because of the most serious sin of  sinat chinam - causeless hatred.  The two women looked at our society today and saw that we were in the SAME situation. There were suspicions and fights between the Secular vs. the Religious, the Left Wing vs. the Right wing, the Ashkenaz vs. the Sephard, and perhaps most surprising of all, the Religious vs. other Religious!  These women saw that after 2,000 years, Am Yisrael (the Nation of Israel) has made no tikkun (repair or fixing) for it's sin of sinat chinam, and they started a movement to try and 'fix' this and help merit G-d's love and protection.
After all, there are holidays like Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Cancer Awareness day, Diabetes Awareness, -why not a Jewish Unity / Ahavat Yisrael Day?

 
The two women (both mothers with children in school) decided to make an 'Ahavat Yisrael Day'. A day where people can concentrate on what unifies the Jewish People instead of what divides us.  A day where we learn to appreciate each other and our unique ways of contributing to our nation.  But how to do it?  They couldn't just advertise and HOPE people would show up to a celebration. They knew that was not the route to go.  And so they decided to approach the principal of their children?s elementary school. Here, they thought, was only one person they had to convince, but who could bring  hundreds of students and parents to an assembly.  BINGO!
 
I was fortunate and attended the celebration of Ahavat Yisrael Day and I will describe to you the beautiful and holy feeling of tikkun (repair work) we did that day.
 
All the school (and parents who were able to) came and gathered in the auditorium.  The Rabbi prepared a d'var Torah (words from the Torah) and spoke about causeless hatred and causeless love for one's fellow.  Afterwards, the two women got up and spoke about ahavat yisrael in their community, speaking directly to the children and giving them examples of how they themselves might be harboring prejudices of other Jews who live in a  nearby community, who have a different rabbi they go by, and have different customs.  They asked the children if they indeed recognized that though it is nice to talk about practicing ahavat yisrael, that they themselves in reality also may be harboring suspicions and hatred against their Jewish neighbors and so violating this important mitzvah (commandment).  Many children shook their heads in agreement that they recognized this prejudice in themselves and wanted to do a tikkun, a 'fixing'?. 


Afterwards, each of the 1^st - 6^th grades each got up and performed in front of the school, something on the topic of Ahavat Yisrael.  The first grade sang a song, while another younger grade did a type of circle dance, and the older grades put on skits showing how each individual Jew is important in the make up of our nation.  The secular may work for humanistic causes, serve in the army and do ground work, while the national religious community settle the land, farm, and excel in patriotism and mitzvoth,  and the Haredi population take a firm hold on Torah study, modesty and Kiruv ( bringing Jews back to Torah observance). -- Of course, there is overlapping of these talents in all three societies, and the children were just generalizing, (the Israeli army consists of secular, national religious and Haredim) but it proved the point that each community had its strengths and contributed in their own way.
 
After the assembly, the children and parents were led outside to the school's courtyard and each child was given a helium balloon which they would launch into the air all at the same time.  A laminated card was attached to a string on each balloon which stated: 

 
Shalom, we are kids from the school (one of the) settlement schools, and we are doing a project on Ahavat Yisrael and Achdut Ha'am (National Unity). We are asking that whoever finds this balloon, that they please help us with our goal of spreading good deeds and fellowship between the Nation of Israel.  As part of our project, we are asking you to either give charity, help an elderly person, or even just look at people differently and start giving them the benefit of the doubt, and do this for people you would normally NOT do it for because you wither do not have much contact with them or you may have categorized them as people from a community that you do not appreciate. Then, after doing this good deed, we ask you to please contact us (at a given telephone number) and tell us:
a)      where you  found the balloon, and
b)      tell us what good deed you did.
 
The note was then signed in the name of all the children from the school.
 
The 2 women and the principal of the school hoped to be able to later report back to the classes what the results were of this project. Now, Israel also has Arab villages which are near Jewish communities and everyone was wondering the wind would carry the balloons to the Jews it was intended to reach.

As the children excitedly held onto their balloons, the smiling Rabbi led a brief prayer asking G-d to please accept our efforts to spread random acts of loving kindness, and our  attempt to do a tikkun for the 'causeless hatred' which still lingers today.  Then, all together we  LAUNCHED the Ahavat Yisrael Balloons into the sky! Thankfully, the wind carried the balloons not towards Ramallah, but up high into the sky towards Jerusalem. (Short note - the army was notified that we were going to launch balloons so they shouldn't think it was some terror plot by terrorists trying to send something into Israeli population centers. <grin>)
The balloon launch was a beautiful site and a holy undertaking to do a tikkun, hopefully involving Jews from all over the country. 
 
 

After the ceremony, the 5^th and 6^th  grade classes all sat down at their desks and wrote a letter to Israel?s Minister of Education, (at that time it was Limor Livnat).  They asked her ? each in their own words and handwriting, to please institute an official day on the calendar for an Ahavat Yisrael Day.  A day where just like when we have Memorial Day or Holocaust Day, and schools change their schedules and invite guest speakers to share their stories, that schools also have speakers from all sectors of society enter classrooms all over the country and speak about what we have in common and how each can contribute in their own way to the Nation of Israel.  After all, there are holidays like Mothers Day, Fathers Day,  Cancer Awareness day, Diabetes Awareness, -why not a Jewish Unity / Ahavat Yisrael Day?  The letters from the children were then sent off with photos from the Ahavat Yisrael Day, in a large manila envelope to the Minister.
 
And what was the result of the Ahavat Yisrael/balloon project?  If this were a Hollywood movie, we would have had upbeat background music with scenes of people finding balloons all over Israel.  - Places like Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberias, Beer Sheva, etc. etc. The background music would continue as we saw people from all over do a good deed, and then having the school office receive hundreds of calls.  But this is not a Hollywood movie.  In fact, the school did not receive one phone call from anyone. How is it possible that hundreds of balloons rose up to the sky and not one was reported to be found (except a couple that got caught in the telephone and electricity lines on the settlement itself).  Could it be that as the balloons rose into the sky carried off by our prayers and the wind, that they all went straight up to G-d?
I like to think so. 
I like to think that G-d cherished this ahavat Yisrael effort so much, that He kept the balloons in some special place in Heaven.
 

*** Want to start an Ahavat Yisrael Day in your community? Email Tamar and she will send you free of charge, the simple steps to take to make this happen in your community anywhere in the world.  To email, see the upper right hand column of this page.