On May 29, 2001, Gilad Zar, a security officer for the Samaria Regional Council and a founder of the community of Itamar, tragically joined the long list of thousands of terror victims who were slaughtered during the Second Intifada.
So many of the challenges that the leaders and the people of Israel faced in the time of Samuel, Saul and David, are so similar to the challenges we face today in the modern State of Israel.
Just over a century later, a group of devout pioneers sharing the same love and passion for the Land of Israel, founded a new community just north of Jerusalem. Drawing their inspiration from Rabbi Yaakov Abuhatzeira, they named it “Abir Yaakov,” the same venerated title that was used to address the late Rabbi during his life. Subsequently renamed “Kochav Yaakov,” (“Star of Jacob”), the community has absorbed many Jews who, like Rabbi Abuhatzeira, left their respective countries of birth to live in the Land of Israel.
As we watched the return of what we thought were the bodies of four beautiful Israelis, we wept with the families and with all of Israel. Shiri Bibas and her two gorgeous red-headed children, Kfir and Ariel — their story and their pictures traveled the world and became the symbol of the evil and cruelty of the Hamas terrorists.
On April 4, 1968, Rabbi Moshe and Miriam Levinger, a visionary couple, registered themselves and dozens of others to stay at Hebron’s Park Hotel. Just ten months after the People of Israel liberated Hebron and the rest of the Biblical Heartland during the Six Day War in 1967, this dedicated group excitedly planned to hold the city’s first Passover Seder in several decades.
What an emotional roller-coaster! Last Sunday and again this past Saturday, we waited with baited breath to see which hostages would be released and what they would look like. It had been more than a year since the last hostage release, and no one knew what their condition would be.
The experience of participating in what could be one of the most pivotal moments for Judea and Samaria left an indelible mark on me. I want to share with you, my friends, the highlights of this extraordinary journey.
The pioneers named the nascent community “Yakir,” meaning “precious,” the precise Hebrew word used by God to describe His “son,” Ephraim (Jeremiah 31:19).
It is hard to believe that another year has gone by—another year of seemingly unending war, tragedy, loss. There are still 100 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. While at least 36 have been murdered, it is not clear how many of the remaining 64 are still alive.
Drawing their inspiration from the Biblical figure Avigayil (Abigail), Elisha and his friends decided to establish a new community in the southern Hebron Hills. They parked an old bus on a plot of land facing Maon, the ancient Biblical site where Avigayil lived.