An Overwhelming Majority
T

Gush Etzion, West Bank/Jewish Renaissance Media
he anti-disengagement activity scheduled for
Aug. 10 was a prayer service at the Kotel
(Western Wall) in Jerusalem. I dashed home
early from work to don an orange shirt, grab a few of
my kids and go.
This was no ordinary prayer service. Rallies and spe-
cial prayer events filled with orange-clad people have
become a regular occurrence in Israel as the dreaded
"disengagement" day rapidly approached, the day that
will pit Jew against Jew in the unfathomable event of
expulsion and eviction of 10,000 people from their
homes in Gush Katif in Gaza and parts of Samaria.
Last week's prayer rally at the Western Wall was
expected to be no different; but it was. Very different.
I took Lexi, 14, Eitan, 11, and Yaakov, 2, in my old
minivan and headed toward the Old City As we got
within two miles, the traffic practically came to a halt.
Though we were quite far from our destination, we
saw many people with various orange-colored gar-
ments and ribbons on them already parked and walk-
ing in the general direction of the Old City.
Something unusual was going on.
Miraculously, I found a parking spot, a mere
15-minute walk to the Kotel on a normal day. We
bounced poor Yaakov in his stroller up and down the

Laura Ben-David lives in Neve Daniel, near
Jerusalem. She has many relatives in Metro Detroit,
including a 90-year-old grandmother, Rena Fishman
of West Bloomfield. Ben-David and her husband,
Lawrence, made aliyah in 2002 from Boca Raton,
Fla. They have five children, ages 2 to 15.

DIVIDED

72

-

❑

from page 69

on what you call a yeshivah.
Same for the definition of some
of these synagogues.
Mitnagdim, like settlers
before them, have been quick
to throw up a room in a corner
of a building and call it a
yeshivah. Same for some syna-
gogues. We have already given
up places much more hallowed
than any mitnagid synagogue.
Ezra believes Gaza was part
of historic Israel. However, he
acknowledges that it is militari-
ly indefensible. He says, "Who
would want to raise a child in
this area? ... Who would want
reserve soldiers and regular
army soldiers to have to escort
them on their road to work? ...
Would the Americans who sit
in their homes and talk about
what a travesty the disengage-
ment is really want to live in
Gaza? ... Are they more cam-

8/18
2005

rocky stairs on our way down the valley, then
Wall.
up and into the Old City as many other peo-
I suddenly remembered that tucked into a
ple were streaming both in and out.
little alley was the rooftop balcony of Isralight,
As we entered through the Zion gate on
a Jewish outreach organization. We dashed
the southwestern side of the Old City, we
down the alley, found the narrow staircase
began merging with many others who
leading up to the roof, but the gate was
entered through other points. Within min-
locked. Eitan scrambled over first, then Lexi. I
utes, we were completely surrounded by
handed her Yaakov, and then I climbed over.
LAURA
densely packed people heading toward the
We were amazed to discover an old woman
BEN-DAVID among the trespassers; Lexi and I had a little
Kotel — and becoming denser with every
Special
step.
chuckle imagining how she climbed over the
Finally, we could see the Kotel. It was
Commentary
fence. A small crowd had gathered on the
astonishing! I'd never seen the huge Kotel
Isralight roof, but nothing like what was
plaza completely filled with people! More astounding
down below. In fact, I had no idea what really was
was that every spot from the plaza up the road,
down below until we were there on top.
around several bends to where we were standinc,
standing
Lexi was the first to hop up on the highest point
even nowhere near the Kotel —was filled to capacity!
there and look down. There were people on every
I grabbed the kids, and we ducked into a back alley
roof, in every alley, on every street! And the masses of
and up a fire escape. We bounced the stroller up the
people at the Western Wall plaza! The Kotel is some-
stairs and found ourselves in a side street in the Jewish
thing like a big, outdoor synagogue except that every
quarter amongst thousands of people. We squeezed
little group holds its own, sometimes competing,
prayer services. Not tonight; thousands of people
through and continued in the direction of the Kotel.
For a moment, I was disappointed that I would
prayed as one. I cried and sang along as all those peo-
ple sang the prayer "Avinu Malkeinu" in unison,
probably not be making it down there after all our
efforts. Then I realized that this was not a personal
amplified by some massive speaker system.
event. I can go to the Kotel any time. We were like
There were people who were about as different as
one with all of our brothers and sisters who made
you can get — black coats with long beards, hippie-
their way from all over to pray together this remark-
types, the fashion conscious, knitted kippahs, no
able evening. Leading rabbis from all religious sectors
kippahs, big black kippahs — yet all praying, togeth-
of Judaism were promoting the event. Every man,
er, in perfect unison, at the holiest site in the world.
woman and child — Haredi, modern Orthodox, secu-
I was overwhelmed and overjoyed at the unity that
I hope we can replicate in the coming, painful
lar — we were all there together. If anyone made it all
the way to the Wall, then everyone made it to the
weeks.

misted on a serious level?
"Personally, I believe in Israel
and decided to make my life
here. So I packed my bags and
made aliyah. It was important to
me and I did it. I just do not see
the same commitment from
many on the right for this issue."
The Wanetik parents con-
clude that this is no place for
Israelis. Gaza is like quicksand.
It wants to drag us all down.
We cannot defend it militarily
and will suffer only more and
more losses of bright young
men and women in trying to
do so.
It is already isolated by fences
that have proven effective in
stopping terrorism. And, as for
missiles being fired into Israel
from Gaza, it seems we have
short memories. Remember
how the people of the north
withstood decades of being

shot at and rocketed by Syria?
Like Ezra and Devra, we
don't speak with a forked
tongue. My health permitting
(I just had major surgery for
cancer), we will make aliyah
next year. We will put our skins
in the game. God willing, we
will live the life, ride the buses,
drive the roads and eat in the
cafes. We will watch our
descendants grow and prosper.
We don't expect complete
safety. As the bombings in
London showed, nobody's safe.
We will take Israel as it comes
— a crazy, socialist, politically
driven country with a tremen-
dous amount of mishegoss
(craziness).
If, some day, somebody sug-
gests leaving the Golan, we will
be among the marchers oppos-
ing them. But for now, let
them have Gaza.

❑

• mswerimg

Israel's

Critics

The Charge

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the main
cause of instability in the Middle East, the rise
in oil prices and anti-American feeling in the
Arab world.

The Answer

When compared to other Mideast news —
Iran's nuclear ambitions, regime instability in
Lebanon and Syria, insurgency in Iraq, terror-
ism against tourists in Egypt — events in
Israel and the Palestinian Authority, including
the cease-fire, Israel's Gaza and northern West
Bank disengagement and the election of
Mahmoud Abbas are being shaped by the
forces of democracy and moderation to stabi-
lize the situation.

— Allan Gale, Jewish Community Council of
Metropolitan Detroit

