On Erev Yom Kippur, my family made Aliyah to Shiloh in the beautiful Shomron, the Heartland of Eretz Yisroel. Monday morning the following article appeared on Arutz 7:

Report: Israel to Destroy Some Yesha Towns

15 Tevet 5768, 24 December 07 08:44 by (IsraelNN.com)

According to Yediot Acharonot, the government may decide to destroy several small Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria during United States President George Bush's upcoming visit. The communities have not received government approval. Each is home to approximately 50 people.

Yesha leaders are reportedly involved in the plan, and are talking with government officials to determine which towns will be removed as a "good-will gesture" to the Palestinian Authority. Some of the towns will be completely destroyed, while others will be transferred to more developed areas known as "settlement blocs."

Prime Minister's Office officials said they were discussing the issue, but that it was doubtful that an agreement would be reached in time for Bush's January visit in the region. © Copyright IsraelNationalNews.com”

I sent a copy of this article to a few friends here in Shiloh. One of my neighbors, Batya Meded sent me the following challenge:

Here's a challenge, write a short article how it hurts you as an oleh chadash and new resident of Shiloh to discover that Moetzet YESHA is acting contrary to your expectations, and I'll post it on Shiloh Musings, and if I really like it, I'll post it on my a7 blog.

Batya, I learned a long time ago not to set expectations, therefore I cannot be disappointed. However, I have written a letter to the members of Moetzet YESHA. Here goes:

Dear Members of Moetzet YESHA,

I am an Oleh Chadash. I left the USA in the fall of 2006. I lived in Jerusalem for 10.5 months, prior to making an Aliyah to Shiloh on Erev Yom Kippur.

On Monday, I read that you were prepared to negotiate with the enemy to decide which of my brothers and sisters you are willing to evict.

You were elected to represent ME. I made the decision to accept the gift that HaShem gave me, Eretz Yisroel. How is it possible that you, as my elected representative could possibly even consider the idea of evicting OUR fellow Jews from the Land that G-D gave us?

It seems to me that you already gave up on Eretz Yisroel when you did not draw the line at AZA. Have we not yet learned that giving any amount of Eretz Yisroel to our Biblical enemy, short of all of the Land that G-D gave us will not result in Shalom. (As an Oleh Chadash, 13 months in Eretz Yisroel, my Hebrew is not that good. It seems to me that the root of the word Shalom – Peace, is the same root for the word Shalem – Whole/Complete).

So, either WE, the B’nai Yisroel, Children of Israel must conquer the Complete Land of Yisroel, or we must be prepared to give up the Complete Land of Yisroel. Either way, the only way to Shalom – Peace is if someone has Shalem - Complete Control of the Land that G-D gave us.

I have two different solutions to this challenge.

The first requires some out of the box thinking:

Given that the only way we will have Shalom created through the giving away of the Gift that G-D gave us is giving ALL of Eretz Yisroel to our Biblical enemies. Therefore, if you will be evicting OUR brothers from their homes in Shomron and Yehuda, then you must insist that an equal number of homes in neighborhoods of Tel Aviv, Kfar Saba and Haifa must also be evacuated. There is absolutely no reason to focus on YESHA communities since by giving away ANY of Eretz Yisroel you are putting ALL of Eretz Yisroel into Political Play.

The second solution also requires some out of the box thinking:

It also requires some really hard work on your part. This work should have been started 40 years ago. So there is a tremendous amount of catching up needed.

Learn from your failure in Aza. Put a face on Shomron and Yehuda. You should be publicizing profiles of the 250,000 brothers and sisters living in YESHA. You need to be broadcasting pictures and stories of the residents of YESHA to the entire world, but start here in Eretz Yisroel. You should also be bringing our brothers and sisters to this Land that G-D gave us. I have found that so many of our brothers and sisters haven’t walked daled amot in YESHA, let alone get to know who we are.

You need to get the word out that we are mothers and fathers, that we have aging parent issues and children with LD and ADHD. We are doctors, lawyers, tradesmen, teachers, policemen, firemen, EMT, entrepreneurs, factory workers, commuters, students, writers, farmers, grocers, office workers, skilled and unskilled laborers, weavers, poets, soldiers, even a few politicians. Pensioners and mortgage holders, nurses and aged infirm.

As long as no one knows who we are, it is easy to dismiss us and evict us. If they opened their newspapers and on every page there was a photo and biography it would be more difficult to marginalize us.

If there was a television and radio spot with a story of one resident broadcast every commercial break it would be more difficult to marginalize us.

Dear Members of Moetzet YESHA, maybe the approach it to combine both suggested solutions. Ask which neighborhoods on the coastal plain will be evacuated while at the same time broadcast to Eretz Yisroel and the World the profiles of the YESHA residents.

Dear Residents of Eretz Yisroel: I am prepared to personally make connections for anyone who wants to tour Shomron and Yehuda. Please connect with me at aliyahtoshiloh@gmail.com

Dear Residents of Shomron and Yehuda: Please send me your profiles and biographies. Please connect with me at aliyahtoshiloh@gmail.com

Dear Brothers and Sisters living outside Eretz Yisroel: Please come home, even if only for a visit. I am prepared to connect you with your brothers and sisters living in Shomron and Yehuda, the Biblical Heartland of this Land that G-D gave to us as an inheritance. Please connect with me at aliyahtoshiloh@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Hillel Levin
Shiloh