Hebron Etzion
_______ Bloc Betar Jerusalem
/Kiryat \ _______ ______ _____________
/ Arba \ / Efrat \ / \ / \_______
___/ \____/ \__/ \____/ Maaleh Adumim
######### #### #### # Tekoa ______
# # # # # # # # _____ / \
# # # # # ### ##### / \ / \
# # # # # # # # # _/ \____/ \_
### ## #### #### # #
"Rebuilding Jewish Life in Judea, Israel"
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JUDEA ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE Vol.9, No.1 Tevet-Shvat 5761/Jan-Feb 2001
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Website: http://www.crosswinds.net/~judea OUR 9TH YEAR!
Contents: THE WAR IN JUDEA CONTINUES
* Arabs Murder Jewish Doctor
* Views of the War from Efrat / The Peacemakers
* What Caused the War? - Israel's Report to the Mitchell Committee
* The Israeli Election 2001: The Jewish Shout / Judea Election Results
* Human Rights For Jews - The Last Casualty of the Gulf War
* General Eitam and the Grizzly Bear
* Relocating Out of the Territories
* Where is it Really Dangerous?
* The Spirit of the People
* Casting Lots for the Fallen
**************************************************************************
ARABS MURDER JEWISH DOCTOR
Dr. Shmuel Gillis, a 42-year-old senior hematologist at Hadassah Hospital
in Jerusalem and a father of five children, was buried this afternoon in Kfar
Etzion. He became yesterday's second victim of Palestinian Arab terrorism -
and the seventh in the past two weeks - when he was shot and killed while
driving home to Karmei Tzur, halfway between Gush Etzion and Hebron. Thousands
of local residents stood silently at the side of the road as the funeral
procession passed by.
Dr. Gillis' wife Ruth, head of Karmei Tzur's nursery school, said at the
funeral, "When we sat and organized this funeral, we knew that it had to leave
from here [Hadassah-Ein Karem] - this has always been your home, even before I
knew you. You belonged to Hadassah - the Hadassah of the patients, of the
students, of the research. And then, when you would come home at night to
Karmei Tzur, I was always amazed how you were able to integrate everything and
come home to our family needs and the needs of the community. Shmuel, when I
sat and talked to the children yesterday, I said that I pity not only
ourselves, but all the patients who were so dependent on you, for whom you
were their hope and their listening ear."
Ron Shechner descibed his brother-in-law as "a very talented and modest
man....He devoted his entire life to saving lives, both Jews and Arabs, not
only in the hospital but also those who were hurt on this dangerous road
nearby. This is a loss not only for us, his family, but also for the entire
country, and even all of mankind, for he was one of the few people in the
world engaged in the research that he was doing."
(Arutz Sheva News Service, 2 Feb 01, http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com)
***********************************************************************
VIEWS OF THE WAR FROM EFRAT
Doron Geller
The pioneers who established Efrat dreamed of a flourishing community
between Hebron and Jerusalem - as a memorial to those who fell in the Etzion
Bloc in 1948, and as a beacon of hope and inspiration for future generations
of Jews.
Today, Efrat has grown to 6,400 residents, a self-contained community with
excellent schools, parks, supermarkets, restaurants, and a bank. A third of
Efrat's residents are English speakers. Almost all would define themselves as
national religious. By and large, they are committed Zionists who wish to
combine a high quality lifestyle while fulfilling their ideals and dreams of
settling the Land of Israel.
The Dagan neighborhood of Efrat, the focus of intense settlement efforts by
thousands of Jews in 1995 (see Judea Magazine 3.4), is today under fire. The
caravan neighborhood - the only one in Efrat - is home to 8 families and 25
yeshiva students. Across the wadi, one can see the local school in El-Khader
from which Dagan has absorbed so much fire.
Marilyn Adler, a mother of six, moved to Israel from the U.S. 18 years ago
and now lives in the Zayit neighborhood of Efrat, just south of Dagan. "Since
Rosh Hashanah, we have seen close to a dozen battles taking place on the
hillsides of Dagan. From where we are we can see the tracer bullets and hear
the shooting very clearly. We can also hear anything going on at El David,
Tekoa, and sometimes even from Bethlehem when they're firing on Rachel's Tomb.
We have only one hill separating us from the nearest Arab village," says
Adler.
According to Doreet Freedman, the real estate market is still strong in
Efrat and the Etzion Bloc. "People really feel that this area is their home.
We have three, sometimes four generations of one family living here. That's
already a patrimony. That's another reason why people feel they have a right
to this land. People feel a sense of rootedness here."
The community's founder, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, says, "We had excellent
relations with our Arab neighbors. Even before Camp David II, the members of
the Palestinian Authority in charge of nearby Arab villages had been very
negative about all the cooperation between us. In fact, they let it be known
in no uncertain terms that they don't like the cooperation. On the other hand,
my experience is that the village Arabs are suffering from (PA rule) almost as
much as we are." Over the years Efrat has helped establish medical and sports
facilities in these villages, and Arabs come to Efrat for cut-rate or free
medical treatment.
This cooperation evidently doesn't influence everyone in El-Khader,
situated across from Dagan. "Last Wednesday as I was driving home, I saw a
group of Palestinians running down one of the hills along the tunnel road,"
says Doreet Freedman. "I didn't know if they were going to shoot or throw
rocks - and they don't only throw rocks. They throw cinder blocks, floor
tiles, chairs, even tacks onto the road."
Elazar Rosenberg, the head of the Siach yeshiva, recalled the night after
Yom Kippur. "One of the bullets penetrated a caravan here. Fortunately, almost
everybody was still in prayer in the beit midrash."
According to Binny Freedman, an IDF reserve officer and local resident,
"They're firing from civilian areas, from schools and behind small children.
This is something the IDF would never do. You know what they're dying for you
to do is to take out 20 civilians and then show it on CNN. But what's the
choice? If you don't fire, you're allowing your men and civilians to remain
under threat."
"Right now, the only way to stop firing on the Etzion Bloc tunnels leading
to Efrat and the other settlements in the area is to take Beit Jala. That's
definitely doable, with minimal risk to the IDF. The army is totally prepared
to take Beit Jala," said Freedman. "The Palestinian gunfire is itself
violating the Oslo accords. The Oslo accords were predicated on an end to
violence. Yet about 150 gunfire incidents have already occurred on this road."
* * *
THE PEACEMAKERS
Rabbi Menachem Fruman of Tekoa has cultivated relationships with his Arab
neighbors for years. This included many figures in the Palestinian Authority
and even in Hamas. Several years ago, an American Jewish filmmaker made a
movie about four peacemakers, two Israelis and two Palestinians.
One of the Israelis was Menachem Fruman, and one was Muhammad Issa, the
former principal of the school from which Dagan has been fired on of late. "I
was a teacher at the Dagan yeshiva for a year until just recently," says
Fruman. "Prior to that, I had established a friendly relationship with
Muhammad Issa and we held teacher enrichment courses in his private school in
El Khader. I considered his school to be very special. His school's curriculum
emphasized peace and gave a window to western civilization. They even studied
a little Hebrew."
Fruman continued, "A year ago on Hanukka I invited Muhammad Issa to come
to Dagan's yeshiva, which had opened in a caravan. He did come and he brought
a gift, a wall clock which hangs on a wall of the yeshiva today."
Muhammad Issa died eight months ago. "I went to his home to pay
condolences," Fruman said. "Soon after, one of the students at the Dagan
yeshiva married my daughter Shulamit. Then on the night after Yom Kippur,
Arabs opened heavy fire from Muhammad Issa's former school on the Dagan
yeshiva. My son-in-law and daughter were there that night, lying on the floor
under a haze of bullets."
(From _In Jerusalem_, 26 Jan 01, pp. 4-5.
**************************************************************************
Israel's Report to the Mitchell Committee
WHAT CAUSED THE WAR?
After the Sharm El-Sheikh Summit in October 2000, U.S. President Clinton
announced the formation of "a committee of fact-finding on the events of the
past several weeks and how to prevent their recurrence." What follows are
excerpts from the Israel government statement to the Mitchell Committee,
available from the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs - see
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0jcb0
"The violence has involved the active targeting by Palestinians of Israeli
civilians who were in no manner involved in the conflict. This targeting of
passive Israeli civilians in their homes, while traveling, or while otherwise
engaged in civilian pursuits detached from the conflict, is a significant
point of distinction between the practices of the two sides. Whereas
Palestinian civilians injured by Israeli action have by-and-large been
actively engaged or caught up in some manner in the confrontation with Israel,
Israeli civilians injured in the conflict have in the overwhelming majority of
cases been targeted merely because they were Israelis.
* *
As matters stand today, some 39.8% of West Bank territory, encompassing
around 99.2% of the Palestinian population, is under the territorial
jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
* *
In the majority of cases, Palestinian attacks against Israelis have taken
the form of a large number of Palestinians, invariably in the hundreds and
sometimes greater, usually including a live-fire dimension, attacking either a
small number of Israeli civilians or a small number of Israeli troops.
Typically, Israeli troops coming under attack, or responding to an attack,
have numbered less than 20. On many occasions this number is
lower....Attacks...invariably occur without warning and involve the
Palestinian attackers traveling to the point of attack....
Netzarim Junction is a small Israeli military checkpoint relatively
distant from Palestinian centers of population. Its object is to secure the
road to the settlement of Netzarim to ensure the security of Israelis at a
point that in the past had been the scene of violent attacks against Israeli
civilians. To engage in attacks on the IDF position, Palestinians have to
travel some distance, either from Gaza City or from Nuserat and El Bureij.
Simply because of its geographic location, it is not a point at which
spontaneous confrontation can occur.
* *
The Western Wall, the holiest site of Judaism, is situated at the foot of
the Temple Mount. Following the outbreak of violence at the Temple Mount on 29
September 2000, the area of the Western Wall was the subject of violent attack
by some of the 22,000 members of the congregation at Muslim Friday prayers. On
the eve of the Jewish New Year, the area of the Western Wall had to be
evacuated of Jewish worshippers. Following the attack, the entire area was
virtually carpeted in rocks.
* *
The present conflict is not of Israel's making. Israel would like to see
an end to the violence and a successful conclusion to the peace negotiations.
Israeli civilians, police and armed forces have, however, been coming under
sustained attack for 93 days. A commensurate response to these attacks is
warranted."
* *
Excellent Internet Coverage of the War at the Israel Defense Forces
Website - http://www.idf.il/english/news
***************************************************************************
The Israeli Election 2001:
THE JEWISH SHOUT
Rabbi Berel Wein
There is a hassidic story about a Jew who was in the midst of a very
demanding task on a Friday afternoon and did not notice that the Sabbath was
fast approaching. This Jew was known to be a mild-mannered, soft-spoken
person. When he suddenly realized that it was time for the Sabbath, he ran out
of his workshop to the synagogue. Upon arriving, he heard that the
introductory prayer welcoming the Sabbath had already been completed. Beside
himself with anguish at having been late for Shabbat, the Jew shouted a great
shout of agony and frustration.
The congregation, knowing him to be so mild-mannered and soft-spoken, was
in shock at his behavior. But the great hassidic rebbe who witnessed the scene
said: "It was not his own shout that we heard. It was the shout of the Jew
within him."
This past election gave voice to the great Jewish shout that resides
within the broad Israeli public. It was a shout about Jerusalem, the Temple
Mount, and the Western Wall.
In 1891, Ahad Ha'am, hardly an Orthodox Jew, visited Jerusalem for the
first time and wrote home to his family: "I am now in Jerusalem. I cannot
express to you, even in a small way, my emotions at being here. Every step,
every stone speaks to me of our history. Mount Zion, the Temple Mount, the
Mount of Olives. Only when one is here does one realize how foolish it is of
our opponents, the Arabs, to think that we will ever give up on Jerusalem. It
is the heart of the Land of Israel, the heart of the Jew."
Ahad Ha'am did not write those words. It was written by the Jew within
him; the Jewish shout that reverberates within all of us and does not allow us
to forsake our past and future.
(From _Jerusalem Post_, 16 Feb 01, p. B9.)
********************************************************************
JUDEA ELECTION RESULTS - 2001 (in %)
Sharon Barak
National 63 37
Cities
Jerusalem 78 22
Maale Adumim 90 10
Etzion Bloc
Alon Shvut 98 2
Bat Ayin 99 1
Betar Elit 100 -
Carmei Tzur 100 -
Efrat 98 2
El David 97 3
Elazar 99 1
Har Gilo 51 49
Kedar 89 11
Kfar Etzion 87 13
Maale Amos 100 -
Metzad 99 1
Migdal Oz 99 1
Neve Daniel 99 1
Rosh Tzurim 96 4
Tekoa 98 2
South Hebron Hills
Adura 81 19
Beit Haggai 100 -
Carmel 99 1
Hebron 97 3
Kiryat Arba 98 2
Maon 100 -
Metzudat
Yehuda 99 1
Otniel 99 1
Pnai Hever 98 2
Susiya 100 -
Telem 91 9
Tene 74 26
Election Statistics from _Yediot Ahronot_, 8 Feb 01
***********************************************************************
The Last Casualty of the Gulf War
HUMAN RIGHTS FOR JEWS
Jewish "human rights" activists have turned the life of one former Jewish
refusnik into a continuing nightmare. In December 2000, the Jerusalem District
Court ordered Boaz Moshkovich to pay NS200,000 in the wake of an incident that
occurred during the tense days of the Gulf War in February 1991.
Moshkovich, 42, a gentle, soft-spoken computer programmer and father of
two daughters, has lived in Tekoa near Jerusalem since 1986. On the night of
February 18, 1991, he was driving home on the road linking Jerusalem to Tekoa,
8 km. southeast. The road skirts the edge of Beit Sahur, an Arab town just
east of Bethlehem which since the intifada of December 1987 had became a
frequent scene of Arab attacks on Jewish traffic. Rock-throwing, nails in the
road, and burning tires were common. Moshkovich had been attacked there more
than once, with a rock smashing his rear windshield and landing in the then-
empty baby's car seat. Other times his family was in the car during the
attacks.
The road had been closed to Jewish traffic for weeks at the beginning of
the Gulf War and had just been reopened a few days before. As he was driving
home that evening, having been attacked on the road the night before,
Moshkovich found himself stopped by a roadblock of boulders and a suspicious
object, a box with a wire leading to the side of the road, at a spot where the
road ascends a hill to the Beit Sahur junction.
There was no moon or street lights. Suddenly, rocks hit his car from out
of the darkness. In those days, the sole means of defense available to an
Israeli civilian who found himself in such a situation was to shoot in the air
to try and scare the attackers away, and this is what he did.
As recorded in the evidence presented to the Jerusalem District Court, one
of the bullets hit a kitchen window of one of the houses up the hill, 80
meters away. It went into the living room through an open door, and hit the
Arab youth Salem Mouslach.
Moshkovich did not know he had hurt anyone. He was arrested, held for six
days, and after two years was indicted for homicide. He knew he was innocent
but, at the advice of his lawyer, agreed to a plea bargain that involved a
conviction for negligent homicide, and was sentenced in 1993 to five months of
community service (which he performed at Hadassah Hospital) and a year's
probation.
In March 1994, B'tselem, "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights
in the Occupied Territories," published a report highlighting the case
involving Boaz Moshkovich. (The report opens with special thanks to lawyer
Avraham Gal, who was to serve as the lawyer for the Arab family's civil suit
against Moshkovich.) The report reveals that lawyers Avraham Gal, Yosef Levi,
and Dr. Veronica Cohen traveled to Beit Sahur to invesigate the incident three
days after it occurred. The report also included a statement by the State
Attorney's office, tucked away in an appendix, that after its own
investigation at the scene, "it was doubtful that they would be able to
disprove Moshkovich's claim of self-defense." Moshkovich had not known of this
statement when he had agreed to the plea bargain.
In late 1994, Jewish "human rights" activists encouraged the family of the
Arab youth to sue for civil damages from Moshkovich in the Israeli courts, in
the hope of setting a precedent for scores of similar cases involving Jewish
civilians and soldiers acting in self-defense. As noted, the family was
represented by Avraham Gal.
In its December 2000 decision, the court upheld the suit, relying on the
testimony of two Arabs who claimed to have witnessed the event in the
moonlight, even though there was no moon on that date. Moshkovich was ordered
to pay NS160,000 to the family plus NS40,000 in court costs. He has had to
borrow money and divert his family's income to cover legal expenses. Now,
according to Israeli law, he must pay the judgment immediately, prior to a
ruling on his appeal.
The injustice is compounded by the fact that no reciprocal judicial
arrangements exist that enable Jews to collect on debts owed them by Arab
residents of the Palestinian Authority. Despite signed agreements on the
mutual enforcement of legal judgments, claims involving money owed to Jews are
universally ignored by Palestinian officials.
A wave of similar civil suits by Palestinian Arabs against Jews is now
expected. Meanwhile, Moshkovich, who has no Jewish human rights organization
working for his defense, must now raise NS200,000. If you can help, please
contact Boaz Moshkovich directly: Tel. 972-2-9964553; email -
boazm58@yahoo.com.
***********************************************************************
GENERAL EITAM AND THE GRIZZLY BEAR
General Effie Eitam, commander of a successful IDF campaign against
Hizbollah terrorists in Lebanon, recalled the time a few years ago when he was
vacationing in the wilds of Alaska. "On our first day out I asked the guide,
'what do we do if a grizzly bear comes?' (The bears grow to three times the
size of a man.) He answered me, 'We have instructions for this. You stand up
straight and call out to it in English: "Hey, bear, this is my place."'
I laughed, I thought he was joking, but he was serious. On the first day,
nothing happened. On the second day, in the afternoon, I'm standing near a
small stream when suddenly a huge bear walks out and stands maybe ten meters
from me. First of all, I quickly said to myself 'Shema Yisrael'; this was for
the Jewish record. But in the Golani Brigade they taught me to be a
disciplined soldier so I decided to act according to instructions. I stood my
ground and said 'Hey, bear, this is my place.' The bear nodded his head, stood
up on his two hind legs and went off to fish a hundred meters away.
When we returned, I went straight to the guide and asked him, 'You have to
explain to me why it worked.' He didn't understand why I was asking. 'It's
simple,' he told me. 'It's because you are a human. All the time you appeared
to him to be another bear, then you seemed like a small, weak bear. When you
showed him that you were a human, then he had no thought of attacking you.'
This whole idea is very much connected to the situation we find ourselves
in. If we knew how to say clearly to the world, 'Friends, this is our land and
we won't give it to you, any of it,' this would have more influence than
anything else. We've confused them. We let the Palestinians believe that by
using the pressure of terror they will be able to extract diplomatic
concessions. We complicated their lives and ours by raising doubts about who
this land belongs to. Why don't the Palestinians demand a state in Jordan,
where they are in the majority and where it would be more natural? Because
Hussein made it clear to them that they have no chance of receiving a state in
Jordan, and since that moment they have put all their hopes on the weakest
link."
(From Kalman Libskind, _Makor Rishon_ Magazine, 12 Jan 01, p. 10.)
****************************************************************************
ISRAEL NATIONAL RADIO'S JEWISH UNIVERSE
The Arutz Sheva (Radio 7) Jewish Universe website offers links to
Politics, Torah, Zionism, Kosher Food, Music, Singles, Teaching, Judaica, and
more. Post a Mazel Tov for a loved one on the Mazel Tov section. Simple
surfing with pictures of each website - great Jewish info at your fingertips.
See: http://www.jewishuniverse.net
Arutz Sheva's English News website now offers News Updates throughout the
day, as well as an on-line poll, and a Readers' Forum. This is in addition to
the already-existing 3 live internet radio broadcasts from Israel in 4
languages, the Israel/Jewish Music Jukebox, Arab Press Survey, and more. See:
http://IsraelNationalNews.com
***************************************************************************
RELOCATING OUT OF THE TERRITORIES
The "Peace Bloc" in Israel, which organized a boycott of products produced
in Judea and Samaria, has begun a new campaign - offering to assist factories
in relocating out of the "territories."
Shamai Ben Baruch, the manager of the Amgazit camping equipment factory at
Kibbutz Kfar Etzion, wrote the following response:
"I am pleased at the positive change in attitude toward us, after you tried
to harm our sales (unsuccessfully). I'm also pleased that you have decided to
begin, many years after you have done so with our enemies, direct negotiations
with your countrymen as well.
I wanted to clarify to you that the Amgazit factory at Kfar Etzion was
constructed on land that was purchased by Jews at the beginning of the last
century, unlike, for example, the entire industrial zone of Ashkelon which
came under Israeli control in the wake of the 1948 war."
(From _Gushpanka_, December 2000, p. 12.)
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WHERE IS IT REALLY DANGEROUS?
Uri Orbach
In America they know it is very dangerous in Israel now and it is not
recommended to travel there. In Israel they know that if it is dangerous, it
is dangerous primarily in the territories and a bit in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem
they know there is shooting but just in the Gilo neighborhood. In Gilo they
know it is dangerous but just on Ha'anafa Street. On Ha'anafa Street they
know it is dangerous but not along the entire street, just for the buildings
that face Beit Jalla. In the buildings that face Beit Jalla they know it is
dangerous but especially for a few houses which are shot at from time to time,
nothing special. In the houses which are shot at they know it is dangerous but
not in all the rooms, just the kitchen. In the bedrooms and bathrooms, for
example, it is completely quiet. In the kitchen, which they shoot into, they
know it is very dangerous, but not in the entire kitchen, just in the area of
the refrigerator and the toaster. In the area of the refrigerator they know
that where it is really dangerous is the area located exactly in the sights of
the sniper from Beit Jalla. From the refrigerator itself you can usually take
out cheese and milk without harm.
And in the freezer itself above the refrigerator on one section of
Ha'anafa Street at the edge of Gilo in Jerusalem in Israel? Aha. There it is
really a bit dangerous. If you stand there and take out frozen chicken breasts
- you are endangering yourself. So during the next few months until things
calm down, don't use the freezer. So, is that so dangerous?
***********************************************************************
THE SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE
Judy Lash Balint
The violence which has dragged on now for months, and which permeates
almost every sector of our lives, has in fact caused a closing of the ranks --
a sense that despite the political wrangling, we're all still family.
The compassion of some Israelis is inspiring. Twenty seven-year-old Keren
Leibovich won three gold medals in swimming at the Sydney Paralympic Games.
Leibovitch, disabled since 1992 from an accident during her army service, made
it her business to travel down to Soroka Hospital in Beersheva to pay a
special visit to the three young Cohen children who will spend the rest of
their lives without one or two limbs as a result of the Kfar Darom terror
attack. Keren wants to show the children that the challenges of physical
disability can be overcome. To give them hope for a productive future.
(From Innernet Magazine, Feb. 2001)
****************************************************************************
CASTING LOTS FOR THE FALLEN
It was a long time after the Etzion Bloc fell in Israel's War of
Independence (1948) till the bodies of its defenders could be gathered - the
brave fighters who had given their lives trying to hold it against
overpowering odds. The bodies were found in trenches and ditches. Some were
discovered around the settlements of the Gush, while thirty-five heroic
fighters, who met their death on the way there, when they were rushing to come
to its rescue, were found buried in a temporary grave, with only a thin layer
of earth covering the bodies. But that bit of earth protected them from both
human and animal scavengers of the desert.
When the bodies were all gathered, under the initiative and leadership of
the chief army chaplain R. Shlomo Goren, attempts had to be made to establish
their identities. Twenty-three could be identified absolutely, without any
shadow of a doubt. As for the rest, they only knew that these were the twelve
remaining martyrs who had given their lives for their land; and they had a
list of the names. But there was no way to link a particular body with any one
of the names.
When a few of the bereaved parents approached R. Tzvi Pesah Frank, the
chief rabbi of Jerusalem, with regard to the twelve, he decided that lots
would have to be drawn to provide an answer. It would be by a certain special,
unique way of drawing lots, known only to the wise elders of Jerusalem, which
was said to have originated with R. Elijah the Gaon of Vilna.
R. Frank asked Reb Aryeh Levin to undertake the solemn task. On a Thursday
evening in the yeshiva that Reb Aryeh maintained on the upper floor of his
small humble home in the neighborhood of Mishkanot, twelve candles were lit in
the dark room, lighting up the eastern wall where the holy ark stood. Present
were Reb Aryeh, his son-in-law R. Aaron Jacobovitz and his son R. Raphael
Binyomin, and two of the stricken parents (one of them the Israeli publisher
Reuben Mass).
By the tradition, for drawing the lots a certain Hebrew Bible was to be
used, with two columns on the page, that was printed in Amsterdam in 1701. Its
pages were yellowed with age but still whole.
After reciting Psalms, a hallowed silence reigned over the room as the
flickering candles added to the solemnity and awe. Reb Aryeh opened the Bible
entirely at random, to whatever page chance would bring him. Then he continued
turning batches of pages this way and that, haphazardly, seven times. Now he
turned over exactly seven single leaves, going forward. Next, he went forward
seven single pages; after that, seven columns; then seven verses; then seven
words; and finally seven single letters. Thus it was "seven times seven."
Whatever the seventh letter was, Reb Aryeh now looked for the very next verse
which began with that letter. By the verses of Scripture found in this way, he
would assign a name to each of the twelve unidentified soldiers who now lay
reburied in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl.
For each "casting of lots" (turning of pages) they chose one of the twelve
graves, to find a name for it. The deciding sentence in the Bible, to which
they came at last, had to contain or refer to one of the twelve names. And
that would be the name for the grave.
The first Hebrew word in the first sentence that came up is written with
the letters "lamed hey," which stand for the number 35 - the total of thirty-
five courageous soldiers who died on their way to defend the Etzion Bloc.
If the sentence at which they arrived did not relate in any way to what
they needed to know, they would take the last letter in it and look for a
sentence on the page that began with that letter, and try to find, directly or
by inference, the answer from that. This was the procedure they followed
eleven times, with the last name automatically given to the remaining grave.
To everyone's amazement, each sentence at which they arrived gave a clear
and definite message. One after another, the sentences produced the answers
they sought. "From the tribe of Benjamin" identified the first grave as
Benjamin Boguslavsky. "Am I not ben yemini, a Benjaminite" - Oded ben-Yemini.
"All the persons belonging to Yaakov" - Yaakov ben-Attar. "And Joseph said" -
Joseph Barch. "The pride, gaon, of Israel answers" - Eytan Gaon. "And Eliyahu
took the child" - Eliyahu Hershkovitz. "And of Zevulun he said" - Yitzhak
Zevuloni. "Let your kohanim be clothed with righteousness" - Alexander Cohen.
"You are a kohan" - Yaakov Cohen. "Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel"
- Israel Merzel. "One thing shaalti, have I asked" - Shaul Panueli.
No one had the slightest doubt that the determination was accurate - that
every one of the twelve had been rightly identified. R. Frank ruled that the
identifications were to be regarded as definite. The bereaved parents accepted
the results as final; and according to these results the names of the twelve
were inscribed on the tombstones of their places of burial on Mount Herzl.
(From _A Tzaddik in Our Time_, by Simcha Raz, 1972)
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1994 - Vol. 2: Issues 2.1-2.6 1999 - Vol. 7: Issues 7.1-7.6
1995 - Vol. 3: Issues 3.1-3.6 2000 - Vol. 8: Issues 8.1-8.6
1996 - Vol. 4: Issues 4.1-4.6 2001 - Vol. 9: Issue 1
1997 - Vol. 5: Issues 5.1-5.6
Back issues and site search capability are available through the JUDEA
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JUDEA Magazine is a bi-monthly electronic magazine produced and transmitted
from Judea, Israel, specializing in stories about the rebirth of Jewish life
in a tiny and unique corner of civilization. Mail address: Judea Magazine,
Yael and Mark Ami-El, Editors; Tekoa; D.N. North Judea, Israel. JUDEA Magazine
is offered without charge on the Internet. All material may be reprinted with
attribution to JUDEA Magazine and original source as cited. Comments are
welcome by e-mail to: amiel2@crosswinds.net
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