Judea Magazine, No. 6.3
Hebron Etzion
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"Rebuilding Jewish Life in Judea, Israel"
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JUDEA ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE Vol.6, No.3 Iyar-Sivan 5758/May-June 1998
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OUR NEW WEBSITE: www.virtual.co.il\clients\judea
Contents:
* In Memoriam - Dov Dribin of Maon / Remembering Dov / Moshav Maon / The
Dribin Fund
* Voting for Peace: The Example of Northern Ireland
* Peace, Egyptian Style
* Mordechai's Vision
* Border Policewoman
* Along the Road of Our Fathers
* In God's Country
* Remembering Oskar Schindler
* Judea on the Internet
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IN MEMORIAM - DOV DRIBIN OF MAON
Dov Dribin, a father of four, was brutally murdered by Arab
terrorists on his farm in Maon in the South Hebron Hills on 19 April
1998.
* * *
"The attack that day was a well-planned ambush intending to murder
Dov Dribin," says Maon's Rabbi Danny Stiskin. "When some Arab shepherds
were seen approaching the ranch from the wadi, Dov, who was seated on the
mini-tractor, started to drive towards them. As he neared them he saw
that there were more people than he had originally thought and called for
Efraim and Yehoshafat to join him. The three went down to the shepherds
by foot with Dov at the lead. Before he even had a chance to ask what
they were doing on Maon's ranch, they jumped him and started beating him
with clubs from all sides. Four more Arabs appeared who had been waiting
in ambush, and they attacked Yehoshafat and Efraim. Yehoshafat tried to
draw his weapon -- Dov and Efraim were unarmed -- and they stabbed him in
the hand, forcing him to drop his weapon. Efraim was attacked with clubs
and a large rock was used to smash his face. The three fell to the
ground, and both Yehoshafat and Efraim lost consciousness for a short
time. They only remember hearing many rounds of ammunition being fired.
Evidently one of the attackers who was trying to shoot Dov hit another
Arab, who was later brought into the Arab hospital in Hebron."
"Efraim's pistol had fallen into the hands of the Arab attackers.
The next thing that Efraim remembers is the calls for help from
Yehoshafat. Efraim rose, ran back to the ranch to get his cellular phone
and a gun, and while calling desperately for help ran back toward Dov.
Yehoshafat had crawled over to Dov despite his own serious injuries and
loss of blood and was trying to resuscitate Dov. Yehoshafat was taken to
the hospital suffering from a bullet wound in the thigh and a broken
hip."
(From Yehudit Tayar, _Yesha Report_, May-June 1998, pp. 5-6)
* * *
REMEMBERING DOV
Emanuel Be'eri
I first met Dov when we were 15. Dov was huge, muscular and
swift....horses, dogs, leather clothes, country and western songs, a real
cowboy, but still an Israeli, a Hebrew. Dov already knew the Hebron
Hills. He took flocks out to pasture -- from Tekoa to Lachish -- living
many weeks alone in the open country.
I was a quiet boy, not muscular, not a fighter, no horses. I still
don't understand how we became so close. We grew together in heart and
in soul. After Dov was murdered, his wife, Adi, said to me: "Half of
your soul is connected to Dov." There is some comfort in that thought.
I feel that Dov is still with me, and maybe I am with him.
* *
On the Top of the Mountain
We look out together onto the desert
A view from the top -- all of the Judean Desert
Up to Arad....
The chest expands, the soul breathes in...from the
never-ending view....
Onwards, into the soul of the land.
Into the Riverbed
We descended from the mountain top....
King David walked here....
Here he hid, here he ruled....
Adi warned us to be back by dark.
A glance up to the huge mountain,
How would we get back up?
Don't worry, says Dov.
The horses gallop, refuse to stop.
A Pause
We look at the time -- one more hour
Here at a bend in the riverbed, under
Maon, coffee brewed on a fire,
We remembered -- somewhere in the bags --
the book, "Orot...."
We open a page from Rav Kook's "Orot Torah...."
"Three powers are struggling among us: holiness, the nation,
the individual -- and each one cannot live without the
other."
Home
We ascend slowly, quietly, meditating.
We pass the fence, here is the yard.
Here are Bar and Shaked
Here are the puppies, the chickens, the goat.
Here is Adi -- happy that we have returned in time
And safely.
It is hard to part. A long, long embrace.
Until the next time, my brother -- go in peace.
* * *
The last time we saw each other was in the Mahane Yehuda market in
Jerusalem. Dov said to me: "The lesson in the wadi changed my life.
Since then I have been learning -- what is written is exactly what we
have been talking about for years. Everything that we believed in is
true."
Dov was a giant in body and soul. Limitless pride; never arrogant.
Powerful --- many stories have been told about him, but he never hurt a
soul. A wild man, a wanderer in the desert, a family man. He could hug
a friend until his bones almost broke and yet how gently he held his baby
sons.
Dov -- builder and plasterer, his head busy with questions about the
essence of the Land of Israel and redemption.
Dov died because he believed that we should not be enclosed within
fences in our own land. We should live, wander, plough, plant, and build
houses everywhere. Dov broke through the fences in spite of the threats
and dangers...he never gave up. Now we must go on, strengthened by his
light and power, by his path.
(From _Nekuda_, June 1998, pp. 19-21)
* * *
MOSHAV MAON
Moshav Maon is located 20 minutes south of Kiryat Arba-Hebron and 40
minutes north of Beer Sheva. The community was first established in 1984
and its residents are engaged in agriculture. Cherries, grapes, kiwi,
and nectarines are grown in fields adjacent to the Yatir forest. Another
vineyard worked by Moan residents is located near Arad. These quality
grapes are produced for the Carmel-Mizrachi wine corporation. There is a
cow and dairy farm, a joint venture with the nearby Carmel community,
with 400 cows producing high quality milk. There are also three large
chicken houses.
The Maon community also hosts the Reshit Institute for post-high
school women. Over 60 women participate in this program, which combines
high level Torah studies and art courses.
The community expects to eventually grow to 250 families. Presently,
new houses are available for prices starting at $33,000. Houses for rent
are also available.
* * *
The people living in Maon are special because of the way they care
about each other, and despite different backgrounds get along together in
all respects. "This community began as two families. Today there are 38
families in the village," reports Rabbi Stiskin.
"Since the Oslo Agreements there have been many changes in the
physical structure of the area. If you take the nearby Arab town of
Yatta, for example, and measure its size before and after the agreements,
you will see that it has multiplied several times.
"Here in Maon, and in each of the communities in this area, we are
physically preventing the Palestinian Arabs from taking over all of the
region. Because of our presence here, there is Jewish life in this
region. As small as we are, we are the promise of a Jewish future here
in these mountains. This Jewish community on top of the mountain forces
the Arabs in the region to come to terms with the fact that we are here
to stay."
Dov Dribin left behind a legacy, the firm resolve of his friends,
neighbors and family that no matter what price we must pay, we shall
continue to stand steadfast with the belief that what we are doing in the
communities of Judea and Samaria is important for the Jewish people. Each
incident of violence is because we are Jewish and not because we are
living in Judea and Samaria.
For more information about Moshav Maon, call: 972-2-996-3096, fax:
972-2-996-1053, or write to: Moshav Maon, D.N. Har Hevron 90410, Israel.
* * *
THE DRIBIN FUND
A special fund has been established for Dov Dribin's widow and
children. Donations can be sent to the following addresses:
In the United States, tax deductible contributions may be sent to:
Shomrei Torah Charity Fund, 38 Lowe Avenue, Fairlawn, New Jersey 07410,
Attention: Mr. Schloss - Dov Dribin Fund. In Israel, deposit directly
to: Bank HaMizrachi, Account Name: Moshav Maon, Account Number 214199,
Branch 426, to "Keren Dribin"; or send to Ronit Ariyeh, Moshav Maon, D.N.
Har Hevron 90410. For more information, tel. 972-2-9963134.
(From Yehudit Tayar, _Yesha Report_, May-June 1998, pp. 5-6; and
Hebron Press Office, 24 April 1998)
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The Example of Northern Ireland
VOTING FOR PEACE
Gerald M. Steinberg
In his recent talk to the diplomatic corps, Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu got it right. The peace process was killed, or mortally
wounded, by continuing terrorism and the failure of the Palestinian
leadership to destroy the foundation for hatred.
This diagnosis may not have been well received among the diplomats,
many of whom live with the illusion that it is Israel, and more
particularly Netanyahu, that wrecked the process, but it is an accurate
reflection of the facts. Without hate speech and violence, the Labor
party would still be in power, and the Palestinians would be well on
their way to a state.
It follows that the only way to revive the process is to change the
conditions and terms of reference among the Palestinians. Yasser Arafat
and the Palestinian leadership must end the rhetoric of rejection, the
threats and calls for an anti-Israeli jihad.
Here the example of Northern Ireland may prove useful. In May the
citizens of both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic went to the
polls to decide whether to accept or reject the peace agreement reached
by their leaders. The draft was approved overwhelmingly, by both
Protestants and Catholics.
In calling for a "yes" vote, the former terrorist leaders in
Northern Ireland publicly and unambiguously endorsed the peace process.
At one stage in the public debate, following a suspension of the Irish
Republican Army during the talks, Gerry Adams, the Leader of Sinn Fein,
affiliated with the IRA, took a strong and unambiguous stand, declaring:
"I appeal to everyone - everyone - to channel their anger and frustration
at today's decision into calm and disciplined protest....We are still
totally wedded to our peace strategy." Until the process began, Adams
was considered a terrorist leader, spent time in jail, and was boycotted
by British political leaders. In defending the peace process and
opposing violence, the transition was visible to all of his followers, as
well as his opponents.
If only Arafat had acted similarly, the Palestinian-Israeli peace
process would not be on life support in the intensive care wing of the
political trauma center. In order to revive the process we need to go
back to the first principles of mutual acceptance and a renunciation of
terrorism.
(From _Jerusalem Post_, 29 May 1998, p. 4)
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PEACE, EGYPTIAN-STYLE
Abraham Rabinovich
We should stop trying so hard to achieve a "warm peace" with Egypt,
says Ephraim Dubek, Israel's former ambassador to Cairo, himself born
alongside the Nile.
"Relations with Egypt will not warm up even if we have a peace
settlement with the Palestinians, even one that gives them a capital in
Jerusalem," says Dubek, countering those who attribute Egypt's coolness
toward Israel to the absence of a comprehensive peace in the region.
Dubek is no right-wing Arab basher. He is fond of his native Egypt
and its people and he served on Jerusalem's city council for the Labor
party.
Former Egyptian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Butros Butros-
Ghali once put it to the Israeli diplomat bluntly, but not unkindly. "He
said that for years Israel had been at the center of Egyptian
consciousness. 'We thought about you all the time,' he said. 'We tried
to destroy you, but didn't succeed. Finally we accepted you as an
undeniable fact. But now that we have made peace with you, we are going
to bring you back to your real dimensions. You are a small country, a
poor country, full of internal conflicts,' he continued. 'We accept your
existence in the region, but we don't see you as part of the region. We
won't cooperate with you.'" In other words, having made peace with
Israel, Egypt could at last ignore it.
"I believe the Egyptian position is quite legitimate," says Dubek.
"They don't want a New Middle East. They don't want to bring in a pushy
new partner. This is legitimate as long as they remain committed to
peace. And I'm convinced that they are committed because it is in their
interest. They will not go to war again for the Palestinians or Syria,
and they don't want the Suez Canal shut down again." This attitude is
summed up in the title of Dubek's new book, _U'bchol Zot Shalom_ (Peace,
in Spite of It All).
"The Egyptian elite is firmly convinced that _The Protocols of the
Elders of Zion_ are true, says Dubek. "Egypt's objective is to keep
Israel more or less isolated in the region and to replace it as the
privileged partner of Europe and the U.S.," says Dubek. "They say that
if Israel penetrates Egypt it will take over the banks and spoil the
youth. They intend to show the other Arab countries how to make peace
with Israel without letting Israel invade their intimacy."
(From _Jerusalem Post_, 22 May 98, p. 15)
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MORDECHAI'S VISION
Ron Meiberg
Interview with Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai:
Q: It's not hard to guess that it's not easy for the Defense Minister to
justify the fact that a whole army must defend 400 Jews in Hebron. It's
a burden, it's expensive, and it doesn't serve any purpose.
A: The point is totally the opposite. Do Jews have a legitimate right to
live in Hebron? If they do, then in my opinion the price isn't
important. Do I have to justify maintaining two or three brigades in the
north or opposite the Syrians? It's justified there in order to defend
Jewish settlement.
We have to see if the Palestinians have truly matured and understand
that they must live up to their agreements with the State of Israel. If
the Palestinians will open their eyes, they will see that they will not
receive from any other source what they receive from the government of
Israel.
Q: Isn't it possible to understand the frustration of the Palestinians?
A: We want peace, but first of all we want to live. You see yourself on
the peak of the human pyramid and from there you want to relate to the
world. Wonderful. I would want to do the same thing too if I was living
in Switzerland, Sweden, or the USA. It's very likely that I would enjoy
standing on that peak being the clean, beautiful, humanitarian person.
Everyone wants to be like that. But you live in the reality of the
Middle East where you don't know how to explain the conduct of Saddam
Hussein, of Homeinism, of Assad and of Hamas. It's also not possible to
ignore everything we've gone through. We have no other safe haven. This
is the safe haven of the Jewish people and we need to be prepared to
protect it today and in the future.
(From _Maariv_ Weekend, 29 April 1998, pp. 42, 99)
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BORDER POLICEWOMAN
Shoshi Greenfeld
While her friends from Beit El got married or did National Service
(teaching, social work), Shifra Ginzburg became a Border Policewoman --
one of the first women in a combat position. In the new experimental
Border Police framework, women are posted to regular units and take part
in assignments such as patrols, guard duty, and road blocks.
In spite of social pressures to go into National Service as do many
religious girls, Shifra decided that the army seemed more interesting and
that it would be a shame to miss her one opportunity to serve that way.
During basic training, Shifra asked to try for whatever combat
positions were open to women. After a four-month training course, she
joined a Border Police unit in Jerusalem. "At the beginning the men made
all kinds of chauvinistic remarks like: 'what will you do if suddenly
1,000 Arabs attack you?' I answered: 'And what will you do if 1,000
Arabs attack you?'"
"I have yet to be in a life-threatening situation, but I think that
if that were to happen I would be able to handle it just as well as a
man."
When Shifra finishes the army, she wants to be a doctor, live on a
farm and raise sheep and cows and grow herbs. The farm will be in
Samaria because Samaria is her home. She also wants to have 20 children.
In the meantime, however, it's more important to get a few hours sleep
before her next assignment.
(From _Nekuda_, June 1998, pp. 44-47)
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Jewish Roots:
ALONG THE ROAD OF OUR FATHERS
Our trip begins in the middle of the road from the town of Alon
Shvut to Kibbutz Rosh Tzurim, in the Etzion Bloc of Judea. A few meters
after we pass through the northern gate of Alon Shvut we will see an
unpaved path on our right. This is the "Road of our Fathers," the
ancient road from Hebron to Jerusalem. Walk or drive 800 meters on the
path and then take the left fork northwards (the right fork brings us to
the town of Elazar). About 10 meters after the turn, look to the right
for the entrance to the ancient ritual baths.
Unlike other ritual baths found in the area, this one was unusually
large and was built purposely next to the main highway to accommodate the
many travelers on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The ritual bath is also
unique for its two sets of stairs. Travelers would descend one set,
emerse, and then go back up the second set of stairs, purified and
separated by a wall from those going down.
The site was discovered in 1986 and excavated by archeologist David
Amit of Kfar Etzion, who also found the remains of some 20 glass vessels
dating from the first and second centuries CE, the period between the
destruction of the Temple and the Revolt of Bar Kochba.
If you would like to help in the restoration of other archeological
sites in the Etzion Bloc, contact the Field School in Kfar Etzion (02-
9935133).
(From _Gushpanka_, May 1998, p. 12)
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IN GOD'S COUNTRY
Diana Nelson Jones
Jerusalem - Just feet from the gangway of our cruise ship, a line of
buses waits to collect riders for the "Cities of God" tour. We transfer
from ship to bus as easily as cattle plodding from feedlots to rail car,
but even herd animals have good days: This would be the day that 41 of us
lucked onto Mori Alon's bus.
When the man at the front of Bus No. 2 this day says, "Good morning.
My name is Mori Alon," we pilgrims exchange happy little smiles. A voice
from home! After Greece and Israel, the Brooklyn accent is hardly an
accent at all. Mori looks to be in his young 40s. Atop his cropped hair
he wears a hat shaped like a pill box, with designs on it.
On our climb up the prerequisite 2,700 feet to Jerusalem, Mori tells
us that Israel, a nation of 5.9 million people celebrating its 50th
birthday as an independent state on May 14, has absorbed 800,000 Russian
immigrants and 50,000 Ethiopian immigrants in the last decade.
Asked how come he stopped being Murray, of Brooklyn, N.Y., he says,
"It's a long story," and tells us what we all seem hungry to know. Born
to Hungarian immigrants who survived Auschwitz, our guide is one of three
children who were born in Brooklyn in the '50s and raised Orthodox.
Other branches of his family had settled in Israel after the war, but his
parents were tired of war and knew Palestine was due one.
On a leave from Brooklyn College in 1973, Mori visited his
relatives. When the Yom Kippur war broke out, he volunteered to replace
men who were called up to service from a kibbutz. He stayed on at the
kibbutz and began college-level studies in Hebrew and history. His stay
lengthened from one year to two. "And now, 25 years later, I am a
citizen."
He left the kibbutz "for a chance to fulfill my dream of becoming a
tour guide," he says. Some on the bus laugh, but Mori is straight-faced.
"Tour guide school is hard to get accepted to, really." The study
includes geography, meteorology, religion, archeology, anthropology,
history and psychology. "It's not like the Circle Line tours of
Manhattan."
Before our bus parks to release us into the Old City, Mori warns,
"Pickpocketing is the national pasttime. Don't even take your wallets.
Forget about it." A few people chuckle delightedly at our erstwhile
American shepherd, while the rest of the bus begins humming in
consternation. "Take a few bills for odds and ends!" Mori calls out,
straining to keep our attention as people confer and examine items for
their pocket with expressions that say, "Can I afford to lose this?"
"Be super careful when a bunch of kids start pushing stuff in your
eyes," Mori continues. "They might be unzipping your money belt. If you
pay attention to me, I'm from Brooklyn, you won't get ripped off."
Cameras would be safe to take, he says: "What they want is your
passports. An American passport is worth around $2,000 on the open
market."
On the bus going back to the ship, I wonder whether other people are
looking at Mori as I am, a little in awe of the decision he has made. We
are headed into the sunset, when someone asks Mori a question that he
repeats: "Do I ever get homesick?"
His face is alight. He puts his hands out, as if in surrender, and
says, "I'm home."
(From _Pittsburgh Post-Gazette_, 12 Apr 98, pp. 1,4)
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REMEMBERING OSKAR SCHINDLER
The day before Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers is also the
birthday of Oskar Schindler. Israel television had just screened
"Schindler's List" the week before, on Holocaust Memorial Day. The tenth
grade class of Jerusalem's Dror High School, which will be going to
Poland next year, went to lay a wreath at Schindler's grave on Mt. Zion.
Genya, a Holocaust survivor who will accompany the group to Poland, came
to talk about Oskar Schindler. Genya is alive today thanks to Schindler;
she has children and grandchildren because he "employed" her and her
parents as laborers in his factory.
The group walked down to the grave on the same path that one sees at
the end of "Schindler's List." The principal laid a wreath and Genya put
some flowers on Schindler's grave. She began to talk -- about her
eternal gratitude to the man who gave her her life back. She and her
parents survived because of Oskar Schindler. She told us how, after the
war, grateful survivors set up Schindler and his wife on a farm in
Argentina, but he was an adventurer and could not settle down to quiet
farm life. He left Argentina, and his wife, and went to Frankfurt. He
never again made it financially. Survivors continued to support him. He
visited Israel 17 times before his death.
Schindler told one of the Jews he had saved, a former judge on
Israel's High Court, that he did not want to be buried in Germany and
requested that he be laid to rest in Jerusalem. Genya said that
survivors came from all over Israel to Schindler's funeral in a church in
the Old City of Jerusalem. Orthodox Jews sat through the Christian
service and then helped carry the coffin through the streets to the
graveyard, led by a priest carrying a big cross -- a strange sight
indeed.
The school children performed a short ceremony and then each one
laid a small stone on the grave -- the Jewish way of participating in a
burial and honoring the dead.
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JUDEA Magazine is a bi-monthly electronic magazine produced and
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