An artists\' village in the Northern Samaria region, surrounded on two sides by PLO-controlled territory, is about to experience a major population growth: Sa-Nur, now home to only eight people, will soon incorporate a yeshiva and possibly many new families into its landscape. Semyon Rabenko, security officer of Sa-Nur, told Arutz-7 today that before the outbreak of the current warfare, the \"lively settlement\" boasted tens of members, most of whom were artists. However, he said, personal hardship and a \"feeling of siege\" caused almost all of them to move to more convenient locales. \"There is no public transportation,\" he said, \"and in fact, there is nothing here at all!\"
The tide may be changing, though. Rabbi Uriel Gurfinkel of Kedumim told Arutz-7 today of a new initiative to start a yeshiva in Sa-Nur, with the hope of bringing new life. \"As part of our Chabad House activities,\" he said, \"we were involved in making food deliveries to settlements in the area, including Sa-Nur. When we saw the situation there, we turned to the Secretary of the town, and he suggested that we open a yeshiva there and make it the focus of our Beit Chabad activities. We talked about it, and with support from many sources, both inside and outside Chabad-Lubavitch, we decided to go for it.\" The yeshiva, to be opened on the first of Elul [the beginning of the academic-yeshiva year; this year it falls on August 20], will have approximately 12-15 students. More far-reaching plans include bringing families from throughout the country to live in the settlement. In the words of Rabbi Gurfinkel, \"The place deserves to be a yishuv [community], not just a yeshiva.\"
Rabenko and the other residents of Sa-Nur are \"very happy about the idea, and we are trying to support the yeshiva students as much as we can... We have high hopes for the new project.\" The remaining residents of the artists\' village and the rabbis and students of the yeshiva have \"already established a positive chemistry,\" said Rabenko. Rabbi Gurfinkel, for his part, said that Chabad, Sa-Nur and everyone involved in the renewal project have common goals: \"To make the yeshiva a success and the village bloom, and to ensure that the Northern Shomron will remain settled, and that those who left will return.\"
On a related note, population growth in Yesha is once again taking wing. Some 50 families are scheduled to move in this summer to Eli, deep inside Shomron, and five families have signed up to move into N\'vei Dekalim in Gaza. The first residents of the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa will move in this coming October. The neighborhood was the target of demonstrations when construction began there during the Netanyahu administration. The initial decision to construct the Har Homa community, on land expropriated primarily from Jewish landowners, was taken in 1996 by the government of Shimon Peres.
The tide may be changing, though. Rabbi Uriel Gurfinkel of Kedumim told Arutz-7 today of a new initiative to start a yeshiva in Sa-Nur, with the hope of bringing new life. \"As part of our Chabad House activities,\" he said, \"we were involved in making food deliveries to settlements in the area, including Sa-Nur. When we saw the situation there, we turned to the Secretary of the town, and he suggested that we open a yeshiva there and make it the focus of our Beit Chabad activities. We talked about it, and with support from many sources, both inside and outside Chabad-Lubavitch, we decided to go for it.\" The yeshiva, to be opened on the first of Elul [the beginning of the academic-yeshiva year; this year it falls on August 20], will have approximately 12-15 students. More far-reaching plans include bringing families from throughout the country to live in the settlement. In the words of Rabbi Gurfinkel, \"The place deserves to be a yishuv [community], not just a yeshiva.\"
Rabenko and the other residents of Sa-Nur are \"very happy about the idea, and we are trying to support the yeshiva students as much as we can... We have high hopes for the new project.\" The remaining residents of the artists\' village and the rabbis and students of the yeshiva have \"already established a positive chemistry,\" said Rabenko. Rabbi Gurfinkel, for his part, said that Chabad, Sa-Nur and everyone involved in the renewal project have common goals: \"To make the yeshiva a success and the village bloom, and to ensure that the Northern Shomron will remain settled, and that those who left will return.\"
On a related note, population growth in Yesha is once again taking wing. Some 50 families are scheduled to move in this summer to Eli, deep inside Shomron, and five families have signed up to move into N\'vei Dekalim in Gaza. The first residents of the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa will move in this coming October. The neighborhood was the target of demonstrations when construction began there during the Netanyahu administration. The initial decision to construct the Har Homa community, on land expropriated primarily from Jewish landowners, was taken in 1996 by the government of Shimon Peres.