Traffic Jams, Gd Willing Some Relief Soon

It used to be that the trip to and from Jerusalem-Shiloh, even by bus was barely an hour. And that was when we went through Ramalla and some chareidi neighborhoods in Jerusalem. So, you'd think that today, almost forty years later, after modern bypass roads have been built and highways in Jerusalem, plus the permitted speed has been raised, the trip would be much faster. It isn't. We are plagued by traffic jams.

When I make it to Jerusalem by bus in an hour, I'm in total shock. When it happens, it's either mid-morning or very late at night. The photo below was taken 6:05 PM last Thursday. That's the exact time according to my phone/file info.

As crowded and "jammed" as the traffic was going to Jerusalem, reports on the traffic jam whatsapp group indicated that there were much longer delays in the opposite direction. Every weekday morning reports come in from travelers sitting in traffic jams as early as 6:05-6:15 am before and after Adam going to Jerusalem. Those trying to drive/ride out of Beit El have it much worse. It is frequently a half hour wait among mostly Arab cars just to get to Highway 60 aka Derech Avot, the north/south road to Jerusalem to the South and Shiloh/Tapuach Junction to the north.

Givat Asaf, the Beit El Junction is being redone, and very soon a right-turn lane will be opened, so that the traffic jams at that T-junction should be reduced by a lot.

The Adam Junction, where many of our traffic jams originate, is also being redone. There will be a tunnel, so the traffic between Binyamin/Shomron and Jerusalem will bypass Adam and the Road to Ramalla.

There is also work widening the road south of Adam, towards Jerusalem, because that's another area that gets overfull.

Of course, these are the problems of the "rich," the fact that none of the city/road planners ever expected that so many people would be living in Binyamin-Samaria. They didn't expect industrial zones and shopping malls. Not only has the Jewish population been booming here, but Arabs have been moving here too. Many of them work with and for Jews.

Ironically, the traffic jams on the road to and from Jerusalem have caused something good in the Shiloh-Eli area. People quickly discovered that we are just as close to, or closer to the Rosh Haayin/Petach Tikva/Hod Hasharon area, besides being a ten minute drive to the Ariel University. Government offices and shopping opportunities abound in Ariel, and if you need something larger, you can get to nearby cities without suffering all those long annoying time-wasting traffic jams.

More and more neighbors have discovered that if they go east, to the Alon Road, they can work in the Bikaah, Jordan Valley. Even Beit She'an is more accessible than Jerusalem.

Shiloh is the true merkaz ha'Aretz, center of the Land of Israel.

Hiking Through Emek Shiloh Valley עמק שילה

Last Friday at high noon, a multigenerational group from גוש שילה Gush Shiloh Bloc took off together under the guidance of Land of Israel, Eretz Yisrael guide extraordinaire Zeev Ehrlich. 

A treasure trove of little-known history and Biblical geography, Ehrlich told us about the unusual nature of the massive Shiloh Valley and its place in Jewish History.

Apparently today's growth of Jewish communities around Emek Shiloh Valley עמק שילה isn't new. Over the millenia, even a few hundred years ago, there were also Jewish towns surrounding the valley and  taking advantage of the fertile land for agriculture.

Zeev Ehrlich

The tour was sponsored by the עמק שילה- ועד מקומי Emek Shiloh-Vaad Mikomi, vote עמ list for the Local Council. In recent years the גוש שילה Gush Shiloh Bloc has grown enormously in every way. It's situated between just west of Highway 60 and goes all the way eastwards to the Alon Road. There's potential for much more growth, since most of the Land is government owned. That's why the new community of Amichai, designated especially for the former Amona families/residents, is located here. 

I'm supporting this list, because I feel that it has the most vision for growth and unity. In order to maximize our potential the numerous existing communities must give up some independence and work together. This is a process that has played out all over Israel. Many of today's major and successful cities also began as small independent communities. No doubt that the גוש שילה Gush Shiloh Bloc will remain a combination of rural and suburban, but too much money and manpower are now being wasted.

The Biblical stories centered in גוש שילה Gush Shiloh Bloc are well-known, and it was very exciting to learn of Jewish life here during other times, even long after the Destruction of the Second Holy Temple. As you can see from the pictures, there's plenty of empty Land for Jewish Life here in גוש שילה Gush Shiloh Bloc.

Shiloh Celebrating 39! 🎂 Now a Major Settlement Bloc, Part 2

Thirty-six 36 years ago, when we began looking at Shiloh as a possible place to live in, it was considered "the end of the world," not only far from nearby Jewish/Israeli cities, but there were no nearby yishuvim, Jewish communities. The very few buses we had went by Jelazoon, an Arab refugee camp, and Ramalla. And to get to Ofra, one had to brave narrow cliff-side roads in addition to an unfriendly Arab village.

Recess in Ohel Shiloh Boys Elementary School

Today, Shiloh is surrounded on three sides by lots of Jewish communities of all sizes, Eli, Maale Levona, Givat Harel, Adei Ad, Eish Kodesh and more. The City of Ariel is a ten minute drive westwards followed by Petach Tikva twenty minutes further, and the Jordan Valley's Alon Road on the east is now connected to Shiloh via a road leading from Shvut Rachel and Kida, making even Beit Shean and Rimonim easy trips.

In Shiloh there are two large regional schools teaching up to the 8th grade, one for boys and the other for girls, besides a full complement of pre-schools and infant daycare. Kids are bussed in to study in the schools from Samaria, the Jordan Valley and of course from Gush Shiloh bloc of communities.

Here are some photos:

fruit and vegetables in the local supermarket

Shiloh's caravan neighborhood is between Shiloh and Shvut Rachel; dozens of young families rent there.

a night view of the pool, open during summer months

agriculture in Shiloh

Thousands of visitors come to Shiloh Hakeduma every week, or is it everyday, to see what has been discovered in the site of Ancient-Biblical Shiloh.

Even amateur archaeologists like myself have fun discovering something old. 

Yes, we enjoy the modern and the biblical here in Shiloh!

Like The Loss of a Child, The Destruction of a Community A Permanent Pain

Israeli Shabbat Newspaper
Written on Israeli Flag:
AMONA- WE WILL RETURN

Thursday night on the Israeli news one of the women from Amona, whose home and community no longer exist said she just wanted to know where they were going to live. She was ready to build anew, despite the great pain, bereavement and difficulties, but it hurt her even more that although the government had promised nearby locations the Amona DPs are in limbo.

Looking at all of these devastated, homeless young families and idealistic supporters from near and far just breaks your heart.

It took so much emotional strength for the woman to say that she is willing to build a new home and community if only the government would do its part and set it up. She reminded me of a bereaved mother who has other children after one dies/is killed. In Israel this is a very common reaction, even when the parents had considered themselves as finished with childbirth or "too old." The additional child is certainly not a replacement for the dead one, but the joy of dealing with a new baby a new life is frequently a good way escape the depression and focus on the past that is part of bereavement.

And that is how many of the Amona families feel. They want to build to help deal with their pain and disappointment.

Most had been living in flimsy mobile homes all this time.  Just a couple of months ago, the residents of Amona had been told that they'd still be on the hill, or very close by, and that the government would build them a real community with real houses, rather than the prefabricated ones they'd been in.

What has also been said by the government is that a new community will be built to the east of Shiloh, south of Shvut Rachel, possibly near Adei Ad, and the DPs of Amona will have priority rights for those houses.

The "New Amona" may possibly be on those mountains or nearby.

There hasn't been such a government initiative to build a community for Jews in Judea/Samaria for decades if ever. There are other rumors that it would be further to the south, closer to Kochav Hashachar and Rimonim. Whether near Shvut Rachel or Kochav Hashachar, one thing for sure is that the climate is much milder than Ofra. But if the families want their children to continue studying in Ofra, the trip isn't all that close, since there isn't an official road connecting the Alon Road and Highway 60. The one I travel on is barely one lane wide. Even though Ofra is close "as the crow flies," it's not all that close by road.  It would be nice if as an added bonus, the government should build a couple (or just one) good road connecting these two major north-south highways. 

I travel in that area now a few days a week to a from work, and I'm always amazed and impressed by the quantity of land just waiting for Jews to make it bloom.

Shavua Yoter Tov

May This Week be Much Better than the Last One

Tremping, (Hitchhiking) Dilemma

As everyone must know by now, we don't have a car, and

• I work in a place that, although near as the crow flies, does not have a direct bus line to Shiloh, nor does it have frequent bus service.
• I am not the type of person with patience.
• I cannot sit and wait without going nuts.

I generally combine public transportation with tremping aka hitchhiking and in order to get to work in Kochav Hashachar, I send out some whatsapp messages to teachers and staff members who either live in or pass Shiloh. I haven't yet been forced to tremp there from Shiloh, but I have to use tremps and lots of siyata d'Shmaya to get to work on Wednesdays from Jerusalem.

When I finish work to go home or to Sha'ar Binyamin for shopping or to Jerusalem for whatever, I wait at the security gate, and usually I get a ride to wherever I need pretty quickly. But yesterday I waited and waited for a ride in the direction of home. Even one of the staff members who lives nearby ended up going in the wrong direction. I had even planned on taking any ride to the eastern Gush Shiloh area and just tremp, but there weren't any.

I kept staring at the main road, Kvish Alon a few hundred meters away.

There are tremping posts, hitchhiking stations, on the road in both directions, as you can see circled in the photo above. They are even equipped with anti-terror-ramming cement blocks. But I've never seen anyone standing at either of them, though I'm sure some people do. I've gotten off at one coming from Jerusalem, in a tremp going to Beit She'an.

I know that many people going to eastern Gush Shiloh travel on the road, and also those traveling to the Shiloh area from Rimonim and Michmas pass and are potential rides. As I waited I became more and more tempted to walk out to the road. But I didn't. Just as I was about to consult with the guard at the gate, the same neighbor who had given me a ride in the morning came by on his way home, B"H.

But the question still holds. Should I wait there for rides?