Rabbi Nissim Mizrachi will be appointed next Thursday as the rabbi of Be'er Ganim, a town established for former residents of Gush Katif.
Tzfat Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu and dean of Mercaz Harav Yeshiva Rabbi Yaakov Shapira will participate in the ceremony.
Rabbi Mizrachi accompanied the residents of Gush Katif after they were expelled from their homes in Gaza during the 2005 Disengagement and during the years they were forced to live in caravans in the town of Nitzan.
Pinchas Hadar, the Gabbai of the Gan Or synagogue in Be'er Ganim, spoke with Arutz Sheva about the community's excitement over the appointment of its new rabbi, and of Rabbi Mizrachi's special personality. Be'er Ganim is actually an acronym for the evacuated settlements in Gush Katif, including Bedolah, Eli Sinai, Rafiah Yam, Gan Or and others. This is a new settlement located between Ashkelon and Ashdod, and it has several enclosures."
"Every settlement from Gush Katif received a special site in Be'er Ganim," explained Hadar. "Rabbi Nissim Mizrahi was there before the large evacuation of Gan Or, and he has been with us for decades, including the 12 years we lived in the Nitzan caravans. He helped us during the most difficult times, in the times of grief and pain from the expulsion."
Hadar told of how Rabbi Mizrahi, who arrived at Gan Or as a young rabbi, soon became like a father and a mother for the deportees. "We were in Gush Katif for 18 years, a small and supportive community. He had previously studied at the Kerem in Yavneh and the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva. In Gush Katif, he made sure to continue to build the community from a Torah perspective - and then came the expulsion."
"Our mental state was not good. The rabbi accompanied us during the time we [were forced to stay] in hotels. and then when we were forced into caravans, when he moved from synagogue to synagogue to strengthen the people. It was a difficult time. People were suffering. Some did not work, and families found themselves facing difficulties in all levels - both economic and within the families. They had to be referred for all sorts of treatments and consultations.
"The rabbi also visited people at home in order to help them with the children so that they could get through this period, and thank G-d he did this very well. We all feel a special connection to the rabbi. We in this community feel a real joy at this coronation. Until today he has served voluntarily. Now it will be official.
"Today, most of the people have moved into their permanent homes, thank G-d. There are still a number of people left in the caravans, but there is no doubt that today we are all [in a better state mentally[ and there is a happier atmosphere," Hadar said.