Ir Emuna

Ir Emuna – City of Faith. A place as aptly named as any. Just east of Tzomet Beit HaGedi and south of Netivot is where the future of some of Israel’s refugees is taking shape. Over 60 families currently call this tent city home, having steadily joined the original 20. They hope to ultimately draw on families from 7-8 Gush Katif communities to form the basis for a new semi-Gush, confident that other Israelis will join them as well. In this way they can preserve the spirit of the Gush as much as possible.

Atzmona was one of the last communities to be expelled from Gush Katif, on the 16th of Av, 5765/August 21st, 2005. The members were divided up, some to the dorms of Yeshivat Sha’alavim, the others to this site in the Negev. (A group of 18 families has since decided to settle the sand dunes of the Halutza area near the Egyptian border.) A private land owner let them set up their tent city at an open storage building site. And they have done that and much, much more.

The first week saw the wedding of the rabbi’s son, and two weddings have taken place since. Dilapidated caravans were donated to house up to 150 families for the next 2 years. They are working hard to receive permission to settle empty public lands close by and draw 400 families to an area of permanent towns and moshavim. Rav Rafi Peretz and his Mechina hope to eventually come here as well. Some Moshav Katif people already came from the Kfar Pines Ulpana dorms to them. (The 2 communal settlements had close ties in their previous life, co-owners of the very successful dairy at Katif. The cows that survived the uprooting are being cared for now at Be’er Tuvia.) Meanwhile a generator supplies electricity until the government allows the electric company to set up a grid. Toilets and showers are in a separate area. The eating is communal and prepared food is supplied by a company since the facilities are limited.

16 classes form the newly reopened Talmud Torah and girl’s school 1st- 8th grade. 80 children need ganim. A roof is being built by volunteers, supplies given by the Binyamin Regional Council.

The 80 dunam Atzmona plant nursery was the largest supplier of house plants in the Middle East. When I was there 2 days before the expulsion they were planning their Pesach 2006 orders while caring for the million plants in stock. 33 dunam were saved by dint of extraordinary efforts of volunteers from all over Israel, and has been re-established at Moshav Shachar near Kiryat Gat. What remained was bulldozed.

It is becoming clear that there will not be one new bloc that encompasses all the towns that were destroyed. Some people want to settle the Negev as a national mission and/or work in agriculture. Others, including those from Ganei Tal, Netzer Chazani and Gan Or, intend on rebuilding their lives in what could be called Refugee Row, the strip of communities between Kiryat Malachi and Ashkelon where the remnants of the original Gush Etzion settlers were sent after the Jordanians occupied the area in 1948. Still others, who need to be near the sea, are looking around Ashkelon. And then there is Nitzan, the caravan site of 350 families.

Here, in Ir Emuna, there is a sense of optimism, hope, and most of all, faith. Here it is patently obvious why the only demand that was made of– and ignored by- Minhelet Sela to keep the communities together was so important. Their togetherness strengthens not only them but anyone who comes in contact with them. Jews who are starting over, some for the third time since the original Atzmona near Yamit was wrecked in 1982, have a sense of tremendous purpose. The state betrayed them, the army let them down, they have lost their homes, income and markets, but they have their faith in G-d and the Jewish people and will not be broken.

Dudi Reitch and Zevelun Kalfa, leaders of Atzmona spoke to me at length of their needs but most of all their conviction that this is the new national challenge that we all should be a part of for our own sakes. They want to stay in the area because they feel that the poverty plagued Netivot needs them. I have visited a number of times, always astonished anew at the progress that has been made, like stairs to the new classrooms and the shul in a caravan with benches saved from their magnificent synagogue in Atzmona, torched by Arab mobs on September 12th. I was in touch with Dror Vanunu, the head of Keren Katif where the money that is raised through One Israel Fund is given to be distributed. After I told him that Warren Shimoff of Monsey, whom I had brought to Ir Emuna, had made a major donation to them he shared a wonderful secret. One of Atzmona’s few residents to actually get compensation for his property had given it all to Ir Emuna- a million shekels. His own home was less important to him than rebuilding his community. That should tell you the type of people they are, and why we need to partner with them in their new mission. It was born out of tragedy and a bitter betrayal, but it behooves us to absorb their optimism and faith and pass the test of togetherness which we have all been assigned.

US tax deductible donations to Ir Emuna can be made through One Israel Fund, 366 Pearsall Ave, Suite One, Cedarhurst NY 11516.

www.oneisraelfund.org

I have the breakdown of all their needs, especially for the children, schools and housing. You can reach me at eve@oneisraelfund.org. if you have a specific are of concern.

Visit Ir Emuna. You will not be sorry.