At yesterday\'s funeral of Danny Yehuda of Chomesh, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, the rabbi of the neighboring community of Brachah, eulogized him:
\"When one of us becomes holy, we too, all of his friends living here, also become holy. This is how we are. We came to fulfill the dream of the generations and to settle our Holy Land. If we have to live, we will live. and if we have to die, we will die, and after us, our friends will continue on, to \'capture the mountain...\' You wanted to live as a simple man, who loves his nation and homeland, as a simple man who wants to read the Torah according to the ancient, holy, Yemenite tradition, and who wanted to lead his children along that path - but in the Heavens it was decided differently for you, that you would become holy... Maybe for the government you are a simple settler, but in truth you are holy...\" Education Minister Limor Livnat said, \"Danny, stand in front of the Master of the Universe, and pray for your wife Sigalit, and children Shalev, Shuval, and Yogev, and your mother, ask for mercy, and ask also that we should have the brains, and the strength, and the national fortitude to win this accursed war.\" Angry yells were heard from the participants as Livnat made this last point.
Ettie Rosenblatt, a long-time resident of Chomesh, told Arutz-7 today that the army has now agreed to deploy a military jeep for the exclusive service of the town\'s residents - including escorting motorists who wish to be escorted along the roads. \"Chomesh was started almost 21 years ago as a Nachal outpost,\" she recounted. \"We have gone through some rough times over the years, and now have 50 families. Most of them are here for ideological reasons, but there are also some who, in their great sins [sarcastically], sought quality of life - which we actually don\'t have much of of late… For instance, our children can no longer study in the school in nearby Shaked, because the road has been closed by the army, but rather in Alfei Menashe, much further away. This has become a problem in itself...\"
When asked about those who may be thinking of leaving Chomesh, she said, \"I cannot and will not judge anyone; I do not have the moral right. In addition, some people have objective difficulties, such as unemployment caused by the situation. I know, from the stories my parents always told, that there are always some who are stronger and some who are weaker; that\'s the way it is. I will try to convince them, but nothing more... [As for myself], I can just quote my husband: We\'re not leaving; we will be buried here. I grew up before 1967 on what was then a border town, in circumstances similar to these. I believe in the importance of living here. I think it\'s time for the citizens of Israel to listen more closely to Arafat and his cronies, who say that Yesha is just the beginning. They work with the salami method, slice by slice - they will next plan to demand the right of return [for the refugees of 1948], and from there they will want Tel Aviv, Netanya, and wherever else...\"
\"When one of us becomes holy, we too, all of his friends living here, also become holy. This is how we are. We came to fulfill the dream of the generations and to settle our Holy Land. If we have to live, we will live. and if we have to die, we will die, and after us, our friends will continue on, to \'capture the mountain...\' You wanted to live as a simple man, who loves his nation and homeland, as a simple man who wants to read the Torah according to the ancient, holy, Yemenite tradition, and who wanted to lead his children along that path - but in the Heavens it was decided differently for you, that you would become holy... Maybe for the government you are a simple settler, but in truth you are holy...\" Education Minister Limor Livnat said, \"Danny, stand in front of the Master of the Universe, and pray for your wife Sigalit, and children Shalev, Shuval, and Yogev, and your mother, ask for mercy, and ask also that we should have the brains, and the strength, and the national fortitude to win this accursed war.\" Angry yells were heard from the participants as Livnat made this last point.
Ettie Rosenblatt, a long-time resident of Chomesh, told Arutz-7 today that the army has now agreed to deploy a military jeep for the exclusive service of the town\'s residents - including escorting motorists who wish to be escorted along the roads. \"Chomesh was started almost 21 years ago as a Nachal outpost,\" she recounted. \"We have gone through some rough times over the years, and now have 50 families. Most of them are here for ideological reasons, but there are also some who, in their great sins [sarcastically], sought quality of life - which we actually don\'t have much of of late… For instance, our children can no longer study in the school in nearby Shaked, because the road has been closed by the army, but rather in Alfei Menashe, much further away. This has become a problem in itself...\"
When asked about those who may be thinking of leaving Chomesh, she said, \"I cannot and will not judge anyone; I do not have the moral right. In addition, some people have objective difficulties, such as unemployment caused by the situation. I know, from the stories my parents always told, that there are always some who are stronger and some who are weaker; that\'s the way it is. I will try to convince them, but nothing more... [As for myself], I can just quote my husband: We\'re not leaving; we will be buried here. I grew up before 1967 on what was then a border town, in circumstances similar to these. I believe in the importance of living here. I think it\'s time for the citizens of Israel to listen more closely to Arafat and his cronies, who say that Yesha is just the beginning. They work with the salami method, slice by slice - they will next plan to demand the right of return [for the refugees of 1948], and from there they will want Tel Aviv, Netanya, and wherever else...\"