Moti Sender was a long-time resident of Ganei Tal in Katif who now lives with his neighbors in Yad Binyamin while their permanent community in Chafetz Chaim is being planned. (Unfortunately, plans for such are only in their most preliminary stages.) Sender is the founder and editor of the popular Katif.net website, via which he keeps former Katif-residents informed of information relevant to them and where they keep in touch with one another.
In one of his most recent articles, Sender writes wistfully of various Gush Katif artifacts that have made their way, more than a year after the expulsion, to various places around the country.
For instance, Ganei Tal families on a recent trip to the Galilee, discovered a bus that belonged to their very own Gaza Coast Regional Council. Still with its original labeling, the bus now travels regularly around the Galilee.
The synagogue of Gan-Or, another destroyed community of Gush Katif - just two kilometers south of N'vei Dekalim - is remembered in various ways. Its benches, some of them still with the names of the original Gush Katif worshipers, now adorn a new synagogue recently built in Kfar Maimon. The gift of the benches was made by general consensus of the former residents - unlike in the case of the Holy Ark. The latter was originally donated by a certain family of Gan-Or, which wished to have it placed in Yeshivat Torat HaChaim. (The yeshiva, originally located in N'vei Dekalim, now resides in Yad Binyamin.) After the Ark was rebuilt in its new location, however, some Gan-Or members raised objections - and the sides agreed to bring the issue to a Din Torah (arbitration based on Jewish Law). The decision was to dismantle the Ark and save it for a purpose more widely agreed upon, and it was promptly implemented.
In a safari called Land of the Deer, in Gush Etzion, a young visitor received what she called a "sad but moving" reminder of life in her former home in Gush Etzion. "Already in the parking lot," she wrote, "a familiar bridge caught my eye. Once inside, I began to see familiar-looking signs. I asked one of the workers where the signs came from, and she said that they in fact came from the Katifari zoo - as did some of the animals... For me personally, it was both sad and moving."
The Katifari zoo was one of the largest-area zoos in Israel, housing hundreds of animals representing dozens of species and breeds. The Israel Nature and Parks Protection helped find new locations for the animals when the date of the expulsion neared.
Sender concludes, "These are just some examples of precious items and artifacts belonging to us and our friends that have been sighted around the country... After the fact, some people say that there were many instances in which good people managed to save much equipment and transfer it to trustworthy hands - saving it from being left in the area to be looted and destroyed."
Some former residents complain, however, that items such as school computers were given to other local councils, "while our own children are not subsidized properly by the state."
Another sums up differently:
"Enough already, it's sickening - hotels, caravilas, eligibility committees; we got the point, and that is that no one cares about us. The time has come to start organizing for our return home! Will we be able to build permanent homes right away? (The infrastructures are already there.) What to do with the ruins of the old houses? Will communities be merged? Will we rebuilt the Mor Overpass again? Will we have the thanksgiving ceremony at the Lake? Nu, when will these questions become realistic already..."
In one of his most recent articles, Sender writes wistfully of various Gush Katif artifacts that have made their way, more than a year after the expulsion, to various places around the country.
For instance, Ganei Tal families on a recent trip to the Galilee, discovered a bus that belonged to their very own Gaza Coast Regional Council. Still with its original labeling, the bus now travels regularly around the Galilee.
The synagogue of Gan-Or, another destroyed community of Gush Katif - just two kilometers south of N'vei Dekalim - is remembered in various ways. Its benches, some of them still with the names of the original Gush Katif worshipers, now adorn a new synagogue recently built in Kfar Maimon. The gift of the benches was made by general consensus of the former residents - unlike in the case of the Holy Ark. The latter was originally donated by a certain family of Gan-Or, which wished to have it placed in Yeshivat Torat HaChaim. (The yeshiva, originally located in N'vei Dekalim, now resides in Yad Binyamin.) After the Ark was rebuilt in its new location, however, some Gan-Or members raised objections - and the sides agreed to bring the issue to a Din Torah (arbitration based on Jewish Law). The decision was to dismantle the Ark and save it for a purpose more widely agreed upon, and it was promptly implemented.
In a safari called Land of the Deer, in Gush Etzion, a young visitor received what she called a "sad but moving" reminder of life in her former home in Gush Etzion. "Already in the parking lot," she wrote, "a familiar bridge caught my eye. Once inside, I began to see familiar-looking signs. I asked one of the workers where the signs came from, and she said that they in fact came from the Katifari zoo - as did some of the animals... For me personally, it was both sad and moving."
The Katifari zoo was one of the largest-area zoos in Israel, housing hundreds of animals representing dozens of species and breeds. The Israel Nature and Parks Protection helped find new locations for the animals when the date of the expulsion neared.
Sender concludes, "These are just some examples of precious items and artifacts belonging to us and our friends that have been sighted around the country... After the fact, some people say that there were many instances in which good people managed to save much equipment and transfer it to trustworthy hands - saving it from being left in the area to be looted and destroyed."
Some former residents complain, however, that items such as school computers were given to other local councils, "while our own children are not subsidized properly by the state."
Another sums up differently:
"Enough already, it's sickening - hotels, caravilas, eligibility committees; we got the point, and that is that no one cares about us. The time has come to start organizing for our return home! Will we be able to build permanent homes right away? (The infrastructures are already there.) What to do with the ruins of the old houses? Will communities be merged? Will we rebuilt the Mor Overpass again? Will we have the thanksgiving ceremony at the Lake? Nu, when will these questions become realistic already..."