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.

From the "Vineyards of the Mountains of Samaria," "כְרָמִ֔ים בְּהָרֵ֖י שֹֽׁמְר֑וֹן"

Jeremiah 31:

4Yet again shall you plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria, indeed planters shall plant [them] and redeem [them].

דעוֹד תִּטְּעִ֣י כְרָמִ֔ים בְּהָרֵ֖י שֹֽׁמְר֑וֹן נָטְע֥וּ נֹטְעִ֖ים וְחִלֵּֽלוּ:

It means a lot to me to have served grapes from our own Shiloh vineyard, a few grape vines growing near our house, on Rosh Hashana when we had just heard the above verse in the Haftara. It is clear to me that we are living in Messianic times. Things may not be perfect, but we are getting there, Gd willing speedily in our days...

Road Improvements to Make Life Better for Those in Binyamin and Shomron

Sometimes Jerusalem seems so far away. That's when there are major traffic jams at what's known as Kikar Adam, Adam Square and junction between the roads to Jerusalem, Adam, Ramallah and Benjamin County which leads to Samaria to the north. That short couple of miles from the Pisgat Zeev neighborhood of Jerusalem to Sha'ar Binyamin, just north of Adam can take even a half hour or more instead of five minutes.

For years we have been told that there are plans to widen, modernize the junction, We've been told of tunnels and overpasses, but until a few months ago, when we noticed work being done, we didn't believe any of the officials.

Last year the traffic jams during rush hour to Jerusalem became so intolerable I began sleeping in Jerusalem Tuesday nights so I could easily get to my Wednesday morning classes in Matan. Now, it's the highlight of my week, since I get to see my Jerusalem kids and all sorts of friends, go to events, the Israel Museum and eat out.

But a few months ago, we actually noticed changes. Of course I have absolutely no idea when it will all be finished. People went into a panic when as an "April Fool's Joke" it was announced that the area of the Adam Junction would be closed for a few months and we'd have to detour far to the east and enter/exit Jerusalem from Mt. Scopus.

Here are some recent photos.

Some People Should Be Muzzled

hat tip my husband

This New York Times article has me bothered. For a few days I've been mulling over how to deal with it. No surprise, my perspective may be a little different from most.

We've been living in Shiloh for twenty-seven years, and within a short time I found myself, not only spokesperson, but the one who escorts various media personalities/journalists during their visits to Shiloh. Even though, it has never been a paying job, I always took it very seriously.

I discovered very quickly, that most people are naive and are easily manipulated to give answers the reporters like, even if it makes the person look mean, stupid, racist or dangerous. A polite, smiling reporter can easily win the trust of your average person. And equally dangerous, a mean, aggressive reporter can get a person to say something extreme, which he/she doesn't really believe.

Yes, I can give a course in how to be interviewed. A couple of important rules:

• Never use sarcasm. Your words speak for themselves and they can be used out of context against you.
• You don't have to answer every question. There's nothing wrong with saying that you don't answer theoretical questions, only about actual facts on the ground. In addition you can refuse to answer a question which presumes something which isn't true.
• Don't give ambiguous answers which can be interpreted opposite of what you really mean.
• Be suspicious of the journalist. Don't confide. They aren't your friends, even if you like and trust the person who introduced you.

Now, there was something else about that article which bothered me. The tour seemed almost identical to the one I went on with Helen Freedman, of AFSI. Reading carefully, I realized that the same person led it. The group I was with was sympathetic, in favor of Jews settling all of Eretz Yisrael. We were sincerely happy and encouraged by what we had seen. We had no negative-ulterior motives.

Isabel Kershner, of the New York Times, was looking for things to mock and it was obvious that she'd distort the words and actions of the Shomron residents to give a negative impression. People should have been warned. People should be suspicious and refuse to cooperate, unless they really know how to control interviews.

I have no doubt that Kershner was very pleased with the tour...

As Promised!

I promised that I'd post some of the pictures I took when touring the Shomron, north of Shiloh, with Helen Freedman of AFSI. Finally, I got them on a CD to post.

It was a real privilege to have been able to accompany Helen. Even though I live in the same general area, I don't get to nearby Jewish villages. It may sound peculiar to some of you, but I had a real reason for calling my Arutz 7 blog, The Eye of The Storm. In some ways, living here is just living. We're busy with ordinary things. There's a calm, like the eye of the storm, while all sorts of dangerous things are swirling around us. I'm not oblivious to the dangers, but regardless of Olmert's threats, we go on with our lives in defiance and with confidence that we will survive. Olmert will just be one of the sorrier figures in Jewish History, while our contributions will be admired.

The tour was led by David Haivri of Tapuach. Our first stop was Rechallim. That's the location of the Arab terror attack when terrorists shot up a bus from Shiloh going to the Tel Aviv demonstration on the eve of the Madrid Conference. Two people were murdered, the driver, Yitzchak Harofeh and my neighbor and close frriend, Rachella Druk. In response to her murder, she was buried in Shiloh, which inaugurated our cemetery, and two communities were established. Shvut Rachel, just to the east of my home was given approval almost immediately, but Rechallim, where her murder actually took place is still struggling for official recognition.










Yitzchak Shamir's government fought all of the groups which tried to live there. It took a long time for any buildings to be built. As of today, almost twenty years later, conditions are horrendous, but young families still want to live there. For me it was very emotional seeing all of the young children. Rachella loved children and had seven at the time of her murder.






Then we went to an outpost where all of Shechem lay before us. The view was totally breathtaking. We could see every building including Kever Yosef, abandoned by Ehud Barak's reign of terror government. His short lived regime was the worst time in Israeli history. How can he dare to consider himself a candidate for Prime Minister after what he did? And how is it that the Israeli public has forgotten the rampant terrorism under his rule?











From there we went to Barkan, to the office of the Governor of the Shomron Regional Council. We had to wait a few minutes until he was available, since it was mincha (the afternoon) prayer time. The synagogue was overflowing.




Gershon Masika, gave us more details about the difficulties he faces finding ways to support the small unrecognized communities. He began his talk by showing us a map which makes the dangers of a terror state in the heart of Eretz Yisrael so obvious. The breadth of land Olmert is offering the Arabs is much larger than what he proposes remain in Israel's hands.






Afterwards we drove further into the heartland of our Biblical History, to Itamar and further, to Avri Ran's farm. We were invited to lunch and feasted on the goat yogurt and cheese they produce there. His very talented son-in-law told us the history of the farm and showed us his very impressive art, including the synagogue, like none I've ever seen before.












It was definitely a beautiful and inspiring day.

South of Jerusalem is...

Let's start with a very simple geography lesson. You've heard of Judea and Samaria? I live in Samaria, the Shomron, in Hebrew. It's north of Jerusalem. And Judea, Yehuda, which includes Gush Etzion and Hebron, is south of Jerusalem.


I like to keep things simple.


That means that Ofra and Efrat are not nearby, nor are Shiloh and Hebron.


I don't know that the custom is in other parts of the world, but in Israel, at the end of the school year, the school staff, in ours it includes maintenance as well as teachers and administrators, go on some sort of trip or walking tour and end up with a "dinner."



That's what I was doing yesterday afternoon, evening, actually until pretty late. We, the staff of Yeshiva High School Mateh Binyamin, went south of Jerusalem to Kever Rachel and Gush Etzion.



For me, the most complicated thing was just getting to the bus, since it was leaving from Beit El. I made a whole bunch of useless phone calls to try to arrange a ride. But since I was determined to get there and have a good time, I finally just left my house and hoped for the best.



After waiting a bit for the Egged bus to Jerusalem to show, I caught a ride with a school bus going to Ofra, on the way. I exchanged pleasantries with the driver, an old friend. Suddenly a felt the bus swerve a bit and a little white car bounced in front of us, hitting the heavy bullet-proof bus and flew away, towards the rocks on our right.



Ooop! The driver slowed down carefully and backed up to see what had happened. Other cars had already stopped. The car was on its side in the ditch/shoulder, and it seemed that the passengers had been able to get out. The bus driver told me that he had seen the little car trying to overtake us, though we were in a "no pass" area. Cars were coming in the other direction, and the little white car had no where to go, but fly like it did. We couldn't stop safely without causing cars to crash into our rear.


The cars behind us and going the other way had already stopped and the emergency team from Ofra, arrived within seconds, so I caught a ride to the Beit El T junction. I tried contacting the school to tell them to pick me up there, when another teacher stopped in a car and told me to get in.



So in the end I was about the first to get on the bus in Beit El. We picked up various teachers on the way. The first stop of our tour was Kever Rachel. Many of the teachers hadn't been there for years and were horrified by the wall which surrounds it.



One told me:

"It's a good thing I read your blog or I wouldn't have been prepared for the shock."

From there we went to Gush Etzion, where the guide told us that it's even higher than Beit El. The winds certainly were the worst.


From there we went to the "Alon Haboaded," a large tree which had been visible from Jerusalem during the 19 years between the destruction of Gush Etzion and the rebuilding after the Six Days War. I found the incongruity of the Arab vineyard next to it with the claim of "return" very disturbing.




Next we experienced the well-produced Sound and Light Show in Kfar Etzion.



After that we had dinner at the "foot" of Efrat, in a rustic setting, catered by "Shifon," Neve Daniel. Of course, we're all familiar with the original "Shifon Bakery" in Adam, near us.


Then a neighbor drove me home, straight to the door.

Baruch Hashem and Shabbat Shalom.