Judea Magazine, No. 3.1
Hebron Etzion
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JUDEA ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE Vol.3, No.1 Shvat-Adar I 5755/Jan-Feb 1995
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Contents: EXTRAORDINARY SOULS
* A Special Place in Heaven
* First Stop the Killing
* The Jerusalem Seven
* The Strength to Live in Jerusalem
* A Jewish Heroine: Sarah Nachshon Returns to Hebron
* Robin Higgins Moves to Israel
* The Only Zionist Radio Station
* Will Israel Still be a Jewish State?
* To Build a Town
* Reality Testing: Near-Lynching in Ramallah
* "Peace" on the Road to Efrat
* My Heart Bleeds
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A SPECIAL PLACE IN HEAVEN
Twenty-year old Ofra Felix was known for her smile, good-hearted
nature, and joy of life. She was a college student at Hebrew University
where she learned communications and dreamed of becoming a journalist.
Ofra was murdered by gunfire from a passing Arab car on her way home from
Jerusalem to Alon Moreh in Samaria in early January 1995.
Her father, Rabbi Menachem Felix, is one of the founders of Gush
Emunim, the movement for Jewish settlement in the complete Land of
Israel. Menachem Felix believes that his daughter is not dead, that she
lives now in another world where everything is fine.
"According to Jewish law, my Ofra has a special status. She joins
the long list of holy beings who lost their lives because of their
Jewishness. Who can compare to her? No one can. We grieve that she is
no longer with us. The pain remains in our heart, the emptyness, but it
is good for her where she is now," he says. "A special place is reserved
for such souls."
(From Yosi Walter, _Maariv_ Shabbat, 13 Jan 95)
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FIRST STOP THE KILLING
When America started talking peace with North Vietnam near the end
of America's last major war, first the sides agreed on a cease-fire and
then got into other details. There is no cease-fire in Israel, no matter
how often we hear the word "peace." Ofra Felix was one of the more than
120 Jewish civilians murdered by Arab terrorists since the so-called
Palestinian-Israeli "peace" agreement. It is simply grotesque to call it
peace when we who live here go through tragedy after tragedy on our
evening news, and turn on the radio every morning to hear where the
latest attack occurred.
We were promised peace -- an end to attacks on Jews just because we
are Jews. This is not a question of political parties or left and right.
A government is responsible for protecting its citizens.
The Israeli soldiers serving on the borders of the Gaza District,
now that Israel has withdrawn, have been ordered to guard with a bullet
in the chamber of their weapons, the kind of order the army gives only to
soldiers in Lebanon. A joke making the rounds in the Jewish villages of
Gush Katif near Gaza goes: Husband to Wife: "Is someone knocking at the
door?" Wife to Husband: "No, they're just shooting from Khan Yunis."
We know that many readers hear a different story, but we live right
here and we want you to know how it looks from here. The media are
filled with the endless demands of the Arabs. But the first thing is to
stop the killing of Jews. Then we can talk about peace. -- M.A.
*************************************************************************
THE JERUSALEM SEVEN
Seven Women in Green were arrested on 22 January 1995 during a
demonstration against the Rabin government -- Nadia, Ruth, Claire,
Hadassah, Nechama, Yael and Rachel (in the order of their arrests). All
they wanted to do was bang their pots and pans in front of the prime
minister's office to wake up the government. But the Israeli police were
ordered to prevent that and they declared our demonstration illegal
(which of course it wasn't -- police rules are arbitrary).
We were brought in for questioning and eventually booked at the
Russian Compound, Jerusalem's local jail, located in a building complex
built by the Russian empire in the 19th century. There we languished for
about nine hours until we were eventually released into the Jerusalem
night -- probably to make room for a new batch of demonstrators
protesting after the latest massacre of 19 young Israeli soldiers near
Netanya.
One of us did not end up in a jail cell. Hadassah Weisbrot, a 73-
year-old woman, slight of build but mighty of spirit, put up such a fuss
that the police let her go after questioning. "I've faced death from
cancer three times in my life and you are not going to defeat me," she
yelled. That afternoon Hadassah was scheduled to guide an American
general and his entourage around Yad v'Shem, the national Holocaust
memorial, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz, and come hell or high water she was determined to be there.
This tiny woman defeated the Israeli police -- they released her.
Hadassah had been honored only days before by the Mayor and City of
Jerusalem for 30 years of volunteer service in the cancer ward of a
Jerusalem hospital.
That's what's happening here -- the government is releasing
terrorists so that they can kill more Jews and at the same time arresting
the Women in Green for daring to bang their pots and pans in front of
Yitzhak Rabin's office. But with women like Hadassah Weisbrot on our
side, "Watch out, Yitzchak!" -- Y.A.
*************************************************************************
THE STRENGTH TO LIVE IN JERUSALEM
Fifty-five Jewish families currently live in what is known as the
Moslem Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to Tehilla Rapps,
spokesperson for Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva, "The four quarters of the Old
City were renamed by the British in 1936. Most people, when they hear
the terms 'Moslem, Christian, Armenian and Jewish' Quarters, immediately
think that the Old City is divided into four equal parts. But if you
look at the maps from the 1800s you see there were in fact mixed quarters
-- everyone lived together. In what is now known as the Moslem Quarter
there were once over 1,000 Jewish families and 20 synagogues."
Most people fled during the brutal riots between 1936 and 1939 when
the mufti of Jerusalem promised Adolf Hitler that the Arabs would impose
the "final solution" in the city's streets. The British told the Jews
they could no longer protect them in the mixed areas, and they were
ghettoized into one area and a wall was built around what is now known as
the Jewish Quarter.
"When Jerusalem was eventually recaptured in 1967, families slowly
began returning to the areas they had originally fled -- the Moslem
Quarter." "After 1967 the Israeli government decided to renovate the
Jewish Quarter in its most narrow sense," adds Yossi Baumol, executive
director of Ateret Cohanim. "They chose to define the areas as they were
in 1948, but it was really only a small token of restitution -- compared
to what had existed prior to 1920 before the first outbreaks of Arab
rioting."
"We feel that the Jewish heritage and birthright in other parts of
Jerusalem should be reclaimed by the State of Israel. Our ideal is to
bring a critical mass of Jews back to this area and make it part of
Israel again."
One such family living out this ideal is the Cohens. In fact, Yossi
and his wife Raya, along with their two young daughters Yiska and Noah,
were the first family who returned to the Moslem Quarter 16 years ago.
"In 1978 when we first moved here, there were only a few yeshiva students
studying, but no Jewish families living here," states Yossi. "In the
beginning it was a very simple, natural thing to do. We were taken on a
tour of the area, and we saw that all the houses were Jewish, they still
had _mezuzot_ on the doors, but they were inhabited by Arabs."
Yossi claims there were no real problems in the area until the onset
of the intifada. "We honestly had no idea back in 1978 how complicated
the situation would become. Once the intifada began and the Arabs
started throwing stones at us, we really couldn't understand why because
we didn't decide to live here in order to provoke them."
"If you have places where there are Jews, that's where the borders
are made. Hebron and Bethlehem are places where Jews still go through.
An army outpost doesn't create a real presence. Living here will help
decide how or if Jerusalem will be divided." This, apparently, is what
gives the Cohens and the 54 other families in the neighborhood the
strength to live in an Arab-dominated area.
"My intuition is very strong. I believe things will work out here.
If you want to call that _emunah_ (faith), then call it that. But if you
don't have that, you have nothing. This _emunah_ shows you are healthy
within your soul, you're not just being pulled along by the flow of
things around you."
"Look, I'm not some kind of mystic with my head in the clouds,"
Yossi continues. "My faith is in this world and I really believe we
shouldn't fight with our neighbors. I believe in patience rather than
punishment. It's very difficult for an 18-year-old Arab boy to balance
his nationalistic feelings with more rational thoughts. It's much more
important to educate rather than punish him. On the other hand, if they
throw Molotov cocktails, then I'll defend myself. But basically we have
no problems with our neighbors. Of course we talk a lot around here
about the issue of Jerusalem. Without any shame I say to them Jerusalem
is for the Jews."
(From Kelly Hartog, _In Jerusalem_, 2 Dec 94)
*************************************************************************
A Jewish Heroine
SARAH NACHSHON RETURNS TO HEBRON
Baruch and Sarah Nachshon were among the first Jews to return to
Hebron over 20 years ago. Today Baruch is an internationally-known
artist, and the story of Sarah's strength and courage is inscribed in the
annals of Jewish history.
Baruch and Sarah have many children, but in the early days of their
move to Hebron one young child died. The family wished to bury the child
in the ancient Jewish cemetery in the city, but the Israeli authorities
forbade it. Then Sarah picked up her child and walked to the ancient
cemetery, saying, "Who will stop a Jewish mother from burying her child?"
And so the ancient cemetery in the traditional Jewish holy city of Hebron
was restored to the Jews.
(From Adir Zik, Arutz 7 Radio, 13 Jan 95)
*************************************************************************
ROBIN HIGGINS MOVES TO ISRAEL
Lt. Col. Robin Higgins, winner of 5 citations and medals, is the
spokesperson for the U.S. Marines at the Pentagon. She is also the widow
of Colonel Rich Higgins, the American commander of UN forces in Lebanon
murdered by Hizbullah terrorists in 1990. Next year she is retiring
after 20 years in the Marines and is moving to Israel.
Robin is Jewish, from the Bronx in New York. She decided that she
wanted a more exciting life than being a high school English teacher in
Long Island, and joined the Marines. After completing officer's
training, she met Rich at Marine headquarters in Quantico, Va. They
married and continued their separate careers, with Robin being posted to
Okinawa while Rich was in South Carolina, but eventually they were
together in Washington.
"Rich was always interested in the Middle East and Israel," Robin
explains. "His curiousity about Israel stemmed from his interest in
military history. After we met his interest increased. He found
spellbinding the battlefield in the Middle East and the return of the
Jews to their homeland, and in a certain sense he was a Zionist."
"In December 1987 I came to Nahariya in Israel to be together with
him for our anniversary. Our time there was wonderful, for me it was the
fulfillment of a dream. I felt at home. For someone like me, who
learned to live as a minority in a totally Christian environment -- in
the Marines there are only 7 Jewish female officers and very few Jewish
male officers -- the feeling that everyone you meet is Jewish, that you
are part of the dominant majority, was special. One morning Rich looked
at me, understood how fulfilled I felt, and told me that he wanted us to
retire in Israel."
After six weeks together in Israel Robin returned to Washington,
having seen her husband for what was to be the last time. Rich Higgins
was kidnapped in February 1988 and murdered after two years in captivity.
"For a long time I felt closer to Tami Arad [wife of Israeli airman
Ron Arad, still held in Arab captivity] than to wives of the other
American hostages, perhaps because both our husbands were sent out in the
service of their countries. We met when she visited Washington to work
for her husband's release. I was ready to do everything to help her,
support her, and aid in Ron's return. I know what it is to live with the
uncertainty, what it is to be alone, the emptiness that is created. I
pray for the day that Ron returns from captivity and they can be together
again."
Next year Robin can retire or sign on for another period of service
with the rank of colonel. She has already decided. She will move to
Israel and begin a second career, a new challenge in the place she last
saw Rich. "He's buried in America, but I feel his spirit is in Israel.
I want to be there. The Zionist enterprise is so moving and I want to be
part of it, at least for a while. To try to fit in. I love the country,
the land, the people, the feeling of being there. I'm already excited."
(From Avinoam Bar-Yosef, _Maariv_ Shabbat, 23 Dec 94)
*************************************************************************
The True "Voice of Israel"
THE ONLY ZIONIST RADIO STATION
Arutz 7 is the only real Zionist radio station left in Israel. I
often turn to Arutz 7 for comfort and strength in these very trying and
dangerous times for the Jewish people. Mostly I listen to the news
bulletins and the Israeli folkdance music, but recently I tuned in and
found a program devoted solely to helping the homeless of Israel,
especially now in these winter months.
For an hour people could call in and ask for help or offer
assistance to those in need. Both private individuals and institutions
called in to Arutz 7. One family needed someone to help with their five
children and they were willing to offer room and board as well as a small
salary to a homeless woman for this work. An ultra-Orthodox institution
was offering shelter and food. Another institution was offering not only
warmth and food, but also the opportunity to study Judaism. One women
called in to report a homeless women in her hometown. Someone else
called in to say that even though she was not calling about the homeless,
she hoped someone could donate a washing machine to a family of nine who
did not have one. The moderator of the program recalled that a previous
program which dealt with such problems resulted in more offers of washing
machines than takers, and that he would call back the listener after the
program.
Mostly I have been grateful to Arutz 7 because of its political
viewpoint, but now I have another reason -- for reminding us of our
responsibility to help those who are less fortunate, even when we
ourselves are feeling stressed out. After all, doing _mitzvot_ (of which
charity is a major one) is what being Jewish is all about. -- Y.A.
*************************************************************************
WILL ISRAEL STILL BE A JEWISH STATE?
Daniel J. Elazar
Most of the Jewish public in Israel and abroad probably have not
changed much in their basic attitudes, but in Israel there has been a sea
change, a great change in that segment of the political elite that is
presently governing the state. Many of these changes are just as
surprising to many members of the Jewish public in the diaspora as they
are to the Jewish public in Israel.
From as early as the 1960s, whoever was watching could see that
things were developing in the direction of transforming Israel from a
Jewish state to a state of the Jews, that is, a "normal" state,
identified with contemporary world culture, that happens to have a Jewish
majority. Now the division between those who want Israel to be a Jewish
state in some culturally meaningful way (not necessarily defined on
religious grounds) and those who want Israel to fulfill the promise of
that wing of the Zionist movement that saw having a state as the key to
normalization of the Jewish people, that is to say, that would enable us
to become "like all the nations," is emerging as a struggle.
At one time Jews in the diaspora saw Israel, at the very least, as
unequivocally a place whose Jewish majority wanted to have a Jewish
state. Now the demand for "normalization" has become clearly enunciated
by voices reported regularly, arguing that normalization is what Israelis
want and that Jews who want otherwise -þ in Israel or the diaspora -þ
should get off their backs about all the rest of it.
Many Jews who are not connected with Jewish life in any particular
way suddenly find that they are not so different (if they even think
about it) from what a lot of people are demanding in Israel itself, in
the holy of holies, as it were.
The present Israel-diaspora relationship was formed after the Six-
Day War in 1967. In 1967 suddenly there were truly historic places to
visit, the cradle of Jewish religious civilization was in our hands and
open to us. Beyond that, there was a feeling that there was a whole new
frontier out there and that we could work together in various ways to
build that frontier, to settle it. Some people really wanted to go out
and settle that frontier. Most did not, of course, not in Israel and not
in the diaspora, but they were happy to follow the progress of settlement
of an expanded Israel in any case. They were certainly happy to be able
to visit the Old City of Jerusalem.
The aftermath of the Six-Day War transformed the diaspora image of a
small, beleaguered Israel, a refugee place, into a strong place, an
expansive place, a growing place. That changed the image and made Israel
something even more people wanted to work for. Nothing succeeds like
success. It was an expansive spirit which was easily visible in the
reopening of Israel's land frontier. Most of the diaspora had not been
all that interested in Zionism because Zionism was for refugees. After
the Six-Day War, suddenly the resettlement of these territories was
exciting.
A movement from ideological to territorial democracy has happened in
every other new society that was founded in the modern world. The first
generation was imbued, to a greater or lesser extent, with ideological
fervor and sought to establish new settlements so as to build up a better
society, by their lights. People born after that first generation do not
have that fervor. They are not self-selected. The original settlers in
all of these countries chose to come. There were those who chose to risk
the swamps and the malaria because they wanted to build a new way of
life. Some of their children grew up imbued with their ideology, but few
indeed could have developed the same spirit of dedication that came out
of the self-selection of the first generation.
The people in Israel today are, for the most part, those who were
born here, and increasingly will be, whose ties to the country do not
stem from an ideological commitment but because this is their home, the
land they are from. As such, their interests develop differently from
the interests of the people who share an ideological fervor.
There is no question that Israel always has had a strong and very
articulate secular minority. The secular population in Israel reached 35
percent at its highest point in 1947-48. Today their number is down to
around 20 percent, according to the surveys. But in present Israeli
society they dominate the mass media almost as they please. Their
equivalents dominate the mass media in every other country of the world
too. Would anyone even know that church membership in the United States
has been rising regularly for the last twenty years if they looked only
at the American media? Would we know about the religious revivals that
are taking place in China? Today one hears more secular ideas from the
secularists in Israel than was probably heard when there were nearly
twice as many people of that persuasion.
Even more Israelis now fit into a category whereby they are not
exactly secular but have been infected with a kind of hedonistic
individualism. What they are concerned about are all those things which
have been called "the good life" in the United States, an attitude that
has come to Israel. That kind of view of what it means to be Jewish,
like the feeling a Frenchman has for France þ- a matter of course rather
than a matter of vision þ- is death for the Jewish people. Peoples like
the Americans and the Jews have to have a vision that mobilizes them,
otherwise they become something else -þ like all the nations -þ and their
malaise, when they have one, is usually because the vision that mobilized
them no longer does.
Secular Israelis often do not remain Israelis for more than a very
short time. Why? Because there are better places to be to pursue one's
personal interests if one really has no reason to be in Israel.
Two basic alignments are going to come into being in the new Jewish
world. There are going to be those who want to see a Jewish future and
there are going to be those who are happy that Jews can live any which
way they want and see no particular need to have any kind of Jewish
future. There will be those who see as important and who want to be part
of what in North America is called Jewish continuity, who at the same
time want Israel to be some kind of a Jewish commonwealth, that is to
say, a state whose norms and purposes are Jewish, as well as those for
whom all these matters are really incidental.
(Excerpted with permission from _Jerusalem Letter/Viewpoints_ No.
303, "Tremors in Israel-Diaspora Relations," 16 October 1994. Daniel J.
Elazar is President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.)
*************************************************************************
Not a Computer Game, But the Real Thing
TO BUILD A TOWN
Ten years ago, after we looked all over Israel for a good place to
settle, we joined up with what were then 60 families, one-third from
English-speaking countries, who were building new homes and new lives in
Tekoa. Tekoa is a suburb of Jerusalem. We see the city's lights every
evening and its taller buildings by day. Today Tekoa has grown to nearly
200 families.
Tekoa is the kind of place where our first grader can get on her
bicycle and ride over to afternoon ballet class without us worrying about
traffic or anti-social types lurking in the shadows. Our little hilltop
town has its own community center which lets our children pursue a wide
range of special interests. There are offerings for nature walks, choir,
organ, flute (recorder), drawing, calligraphy, chilren's theater,
folkdancing, karate, self-defense, electronics, Bible studies, and bar
mitzvah preparation. This is in addition to our own elementary school
(100+ children), kindergarten and nursery.
Tekoa is a mixed religious/non-religious community and those into
religious studies do not lack for classes or study partners. It's just a
normal little town with its own health clinic and minimarket, basketball
court, dreams of a swimming pool, with vineyards, orchards, and flocks,
and the wild landscape of the Judean Desert at our doorstep.
Having built such a wonderful, thriving community, it is our fate
today to be fighting a decree of exile -- of transfer. The current
government of Israel seems willing to accept the ultimate destruction of
this and every other Jewish community in Judea. Prime Minister Rabin
refuses to say that even the Etzion Bloc would be retained by Israel in
any final settlement with the Arabs.
It's up to us to hold out. What we lack in numbers we will have to
make up for in courage, for our way is true to our Jewish heritage and
that gives us the belief that we are right in what we are doing -- living
right here, building lives of quality, restoring Jewish life in Judea. --
M.A.
*************************************************************************
Little Known Facts: Number of children who played Little League baseball
in Israel in 1994 - 1,200.
*************************************************************************
Reality Testing:
NEAR-LYNCHING IN RAMALLAH
The scene of the bleeding Israeli army reservist, who had lost his
way while driving through the Arab town of Ramallah in Samaria, was
highlighted on television and in newspapers throughout the world in mid-
December 1994. The soldier did not even touch the gun he had with him
for self-defense because he was in total shock that over a year after the
historic Arafat-Rabin handshake, for which they received the Nobel Peace
Price, an Arab mob would rise as one at the sight of a stray, lone Jew
and try to kill him with every blunt and sharp object at hand -- this in
Ramallah, home to many of the Palestinian Arab intelligentsia, just north
of Jerusalem.
The deep and seething hatred of Jews among neighboring Arabs is a
major current in the daily reality that all Jews throughout Israel must
contend with. We should not be surprised when this hatred manifests
itself, nor pretend that a peace process is the same as true peace. --
M.A.
*************************************************************************
"PEACE" ON THE ROAD TO EFRAT
Tony Pick
I feel compelled to express the outrage, anger and fear I felt
during my recent drive to Efrat in Gush Etzion on Friday, December 30,
1994.
I became stuck in a "traffic" jam near the entrance to the Arab
village of El-Khader during a demonstration by Peace Now against the
recent construction in Efrat. The fear of being stoned, knifed and
lynched by hordes of rampaging Arabs was real. One block smashed into my
car and several rocks were flying in all directions.
While this was happening, the army and Border Police were seemingly
in total disarray, having no discernible tactics other than trying to
avoid the rocks. The situation was totally out of control and extremely
dangerous. This lack of concern for the safety of citizens made me very
angry.
Even worse than this were my feelings of utmost outrage over the
Peace Now and Women in Black demonstrators on the side with olive
branches in their hands -- passively encouraging and condoning the
violence.
(Letter to the Editor, _Jerusalem Post_, 6 Jan 95)
*************************************************************************
MY HEART BLEEDS
Levy Cohen
The other day I was at home in Jerusalem relaxing with my family
when suddenly several Palestinian freedom fighters broke down our door
and demanded that we immediately vacate the premises, declaring they were
"liberating occupied territory."
I asked the fellows to sit down and discuss what seemed to be their
perfectly reasonable demands over some coffee and cake. After all, as
civilized humanitarians we should be able to negotiate legitimate gripes
with our fellow persons. Otherwise, what claims do we have as inheritors
of the universal principles of Judaism that transcend archaic
identifications with racist notions like a "chosen people?" Indeed, I
felt privileged to bend over backwards to make my guests feel comfortable
in what I had previously mistakenly believed to be my home.
My new friends seemed in no mood to talk, which I fully understood
was the result of decades of oppression and humiliation by the likes of
Gush Emunim and other revisionist nationalist thugs who believe they have
God in their pockets. I tried to explain that I've always been an active
supporter for every oppressed group everywhere, no matter what means they
use in their struggle or how far they will go to achieve their aims.
I rationalized that the concept of "property" is just a legal
fiction, and certainly I would be proud to take part in the rebirth of
the Palestinian nation. I then pointed my guests towards my Orthodox
neighbors down the block and suggested that perhaps their home might be
liberated before mine. After all, they genuinely believe they have a God-
given right to this land, and besides, they also have two sets of dishes.
My guests, however, politely refused my offer with the thoughtful
observation that my neighbors might put up some resistance to being
thrown out of their home.
Anyway, my family gathered a few possessions and, as we made our way
out the door, I blessed my guests' struggle for national self-
determination and stated that Jerusalem is big enough for all of us to
share. One of them reacted by swating a fly he must have seen on my cheek
and making some loud speculations about my sister and what he assumed she
did for a living. This was uninformed on his part, being that I don't
even have a sister.
Today we understand that our former home is now the neighborhood
headquarters of the PLO Fatah Hawk faction, and that they use it as a
local command post for actions to support the peace process. This at
least makes us feel we've done our small part to advance the universal
quest for human rights.
Our new home is a tent that we're camping in across from the Prime
Minister's residence. At night we hold serene vigils and have no plans to
move until Mr. Rabin does something to alleviate the plight of helpless
Palestinian refugees.
(From _In Jerusalem_, 25 Feb 94)
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JUDEA Magazine is an academic-oriented bi-monthly electronic
magazine produced and transmitted from Judea, Israel.
*************************************************************************
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