"We have our parcels of land", my neighbors announced. "Why didn't we see you at the lottery?"
The lottery for land parcels in Nitzan, in an area just up the road from our refugee camp,

...to live in the rolling hills of Lachish...

was held last week. Each participating family received a number in the lottery, and groups of four could choose sites close together. Friends will continue to live together as neighbors, as they had in Gush Katif.
The site has been cleared, infrastructure has been installed, and soon building companies will be chosen to begin construction. Some families will build their homes together as a bloc. Others will build individually. No one style has been decided upon, but my guess is that the majority will want to reconstruct their N'vei Dekalim homes: white houses with red-tiled roofs.
A sense of purpose has permeated the refugee camp. Frustration and anger exist, as well. Veteran Gush Katif residents who had lived in private rental homes have no rights to a land parcel. Divorced couples are entitled to a single land parcel and are told to 'battle it out' for control. Many families are still paying mortgages on their destroyed Gush Katif homes and almost all are using monies for everyday living that were supposed to have been put aside for building a home.
My husband and I were not at the lottery. We had decided not to join our neighbors in building in Nitzan, but to go to the Lachish area with families from the Ein Tzurim refugee camp. Our friends here have come by to ask why we aren't joining them. Our decision to live in the rolling hills of Lachish is based on geography, geology, ecology and, above all, a sense of national mission such as we felt in Gush Katif.
Because of our decision, there is a deep sense of being left out. Our friends here already have their land and can picture their actual homes in the new site. We just have our architectural map of Givat Hazan in Lachish. The government has still to give final approval.
I work on the planning committee of the Lachish project, so I feel the excitement that comes with helping in the building of a new community, rather than just my own home. Yet, we feel unsettled.
Last Friday, the Lachish building committee wisely sent us flowers for Shabbat, with a note attached reminding us not to despair, but to remember our dreams. After Shabbat, a joyous melavemalkah was held in Nitzan for those of us planning to build in Lachish. Our rabbi, our lawyer, and our Lachish organizer, Motti Shomron, spoke.


I asked three questions: Will I have enough money to build? Will the government allow us to remain in our caravillas in Nitzan after the other residents have moved to their permanent homes? Do we have a date for the building of infrastructure? I was reassured on all points, and thanked our Ein Tzurim friends for sending the flowers and understanding our discomfort at being different and out-of-step with our neighbors

In time, we will all have our homes.

staying in the Nitzan area.
I particularly feel empathy for those of our N'vei Dekalim neighbors who have already moved to the Lachish area. These families are the vanguard of the N'vei Dekalim-Lachish project. When they visit, they tell us how lonely they are. It took great courage to live apart from their friends and neighbors.
 
In time, we will all have our homes, and those who live in the new Nitzan on the Mediterranean will visit those of us in the rolling hills of Lachish. Together, we will make the country blossom. But, G-d willing, given the chance, we are all determined to return to Gush Katif.