Volunteers helped built sukkahs in the new Migron in Samaria on Thursday. Migron, located in the Benyamin region of Samaria, was forcibly evicted on September 2 and then demolished. New caravan style trailer homes were built by the government in a nearby location to serve as temporary homes until a new, permanent Migron can be built.
Josh Hasten, host of Israel National Radio's Reality Bytes podcast, was one of the organizers of the sukkah building event. He stated on his podcast that some of the trailer homes are still in the process of having electricity, water and telephone lines installed.
To listen to the latest episode of Reality Bytes with Josh Hasten click here.
The holiday of Sukkot begins the evening of Sunday September 30th. The custom of building a sukkah, or temporary tent-like hut is to remember the exodus from Egypt and the sukkahs that the Jewish people lived in during the 40 years of wandering in the desert before returning to the Land of Israel.
The volunteers came from Ra'anana, Modi'in, Gush Etzion and other locations. Hasten said, "I apprecite these volunteers who took the day off to not only physically help build the sukkahs, but also to spread cheer during the 'zman simchateinu', the time of joy."
Hasten previously participated in delivering food packages and children's toys during the first Shabbat in the new location. He has encouraged listeners on his podcast to participate. He says future events are planned for the coming winter.
"The caravans are very cold and previous residents have warned that they leak in the rain," he said. He added that many of the caravans are recycled from the Disengagement from Gush Katif and still have street names and addresses from Ein Tzurim and other places to which former Gush Katif residents were relocated.
"The real heroes are the residents of Migron," Hasten stated. "Despite it all, they still have smiles on their faces. They were cheering us up as much as we were cheering them."
The Reality Bytes podcast is hosted by public relations expert Josh Hasten. It airs live every Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00 am - 12:00 noon Israel time on Arutz Sheva - Israel National Radio. For mp3 archives click here.
For past articles on Migron click here:
* Fifty Families Uprooted: the Day's Photos
* Expellees’ Appeal: Save the Synagogue
All photos by Josh Hasten.