Building in Shiloh, We're Expanding!

This is also posted on Israel Bloggers.

During "the season" we moved to Shiloh in the summer of 1981, Shiloh doubled in population from over thirty families to sixty plus. And the yishuv (town) also got much, much larger, because Arik Sharon who had then been Minister of Construction had decided on insisted on making a whole new neighborhood on a large hill a kilometer, as the crow flies, to the northeast of Tel Shiloh. The first homes, which were trucked in were right near the Biblical Shiloh. And permanent homes were being built just above them. But when Sharon visited Shiloh just before that Passover, he, very correctly judged that larger hill to be much more suitable for housing and living. The forty prefabricated cement homes he had sent by truck are still being lived in, though most are almost unrecognizable after having been expanded by the owners.

Our house was built on a building plot Sharon had prepared, which didn't get a house. We preferred building from scratch.

There are now close to four hundred families living in Shiloh. Not only are there one-family homes, but there are also terraced apartment buildings overlooking totally amazing views. And we've even reached the point where people buy a house and then knock it down in order to build something much larger and nicer.

Recently, I was informed that the Shiloh will soon be doubling in size. There are that many houses being constructed or already approved for construction. The Shiloh Bloc, unlike many other communities in Judea/Samaria has a lot of State Land which can be used for housing, schools etc. And, yes, a new school campus and girls high school are also being worked on. It's to be located just above the Shiloh-Shvut Rachel Junction.

And our regional council, Mateh Binyamin, has announced that finally a proper access road to the Alon Road is getting approval. Right now we have a paved "one-lane" road, which isn't the most pleasant to drive on. But even this below standard road makes Shiloh a very convenient place to be. We're just minutes from the Jordan Valley.

Shiloh is very central. We can drive to Petach Tikvah and Kfar Saba as quickly as to Jerusalem, though you do need to change buses in Ariel if using public transportation. Also the Number Six Highway and Rosh Ha'ayin Train Station aren't far. Of course the Ariel University is barely ten minutes away from Shiloh. Lots of kids now move back home after the army and National Service to study nearby.

Shiloh is now in its fortieth year, and we've come a long way, thank Gd!



You'll see me towards the beginning and the end of the video.

Building in Shiloh as Land Rises in Value

Shiloh has reached the exalted stage in real estate values when people are willing and hoping to buy an old house and tear it down before building their dream home.

I consider this an extremely important benchmark in our development as a community. There was a time when people came to Shiloh just for ideological reasons, and in terms of financial reasons, just because it was relatively inexpensive. Land for those of us who have been here from the beginning or close to it, was free. We just paid for the expense of our homes, whether built or purchased very cheaply.

But now, Shiloh as real estate value, the community, education, location and other necessary facilities are such that the land itself has value.

The house that was knocked down was built by the housing ministry and sold pretty cheaply about twenty-five years ago. A family lived there, and then it was rented out. Many people have added to those homes and are very happy living in them, but the new family has planned a large home with one or two rental apartments. As you can see, the area is flat, so access is easy. It is also a very desirable neighborhood, just down the way and around the corner from me. There are many "youngish" families with children in school. The parents are approaching middle-age. Yes, they are about the ages of my children.

There are a few synagogues in the neighborhood, a clinic and public transportation. There are also a lot of English speakers.

The neighborhood also has a few terraced apartment buildings, which are also populated by young families, who have bought their apartments. They were built by private contractors. The only "public housing" built here in Shiloh were that area built up twenty-five years ago and the first prefabricated homes which Ariel Sharon had brought here just over thirty-five years ago. They are still being lived in, and here in the photograph below you can see that they, too, have real estate value (though less) and are being expanded.

There are a lot of housing options in Shiloh besides purchasing homes. We have a large caravan (mobile home) neighborhood, and there are other rental options. I think there are close to four hundred families living here now. And there are many more in neighboring Shvut Rachel and the various small "hilltop"communities to the east and west of us.

Construction Fiascos, The Tipping Point towards Death

Rescue workers dig through rubble at collapsed parking garage
IDF Spokesperson’s Unit (Arutz 7)

Yesterday afternoon, the Israeli television stations stopped regular broadcasting schedule and brought us the awful news of a major fatal construction collapse in Tel Aviv. A four-story parking garage totally collapsed.

Third body found in the Tel Aviv construction site collapse
The search for survivors continued Tuesday morning, with four construction workers still missing at the site of the collapse.Soldiers began a search and rescue operation on Monday afternoon with two victims successfully extracted by Monday evening. 
Police received reports of a building collapse on the corner of Habarzel and Hanahoshet Streets at 11:24 a.m, on Monday, and responded within minutes.
Rescue workers continued working into the night in an effort to recover those who remained missing. (Jerusalem Post)

Apparently, the owners had decided to add a "minor" "design element" to the plan without properly checking engineering feasibilities/ramifications.

Building engineering is a very mathematical science. Add a floor to a house, or a garden to a roof, and you can easily have a disaster, like there was yesterday in Tel Aviv.

I kept seeing this deep sand-filled pit on television and wondered how it could have happened.

Rescue workers work at the site of a collapsed multilevel underground parking in Tel Aviv on Monday. (AP photo)

Where were the support pillars? How could it have happened? Apparently, the owner had decided to add a garden on top and like many of us, figured that "a garden doesn't weigh much." As the tractor brought in the soil, the entire structure collapsed like a house of cards. Because the truth is that the tractor and packed soil for a garden are much heavier than cars. And apparently, the garden hadn't been in the original plans which the engineers had received and planned for.

Who will pay in the end? Construction workers were killed and injured because of this.

I am certainly no expert in building, but I'm not the only one who looks warily at the modern, quick construction materials being used in our neighborhood. They just don't seem as safe and strong as the bricks we used on our homes. For sure they will need fire alarms all over the place. What do you think?

Building With Jews and "Lego"

It's not quite Lego, but a lot of neighbors who are expanding their homes are not using bricks and cement at all. In Hebrew it's known as בניה קלה bniyah kallah, easy or light construction. Except for a "shelter" made of poured cement, which is now required, it seems that buildings, or added rooms are specially coated styrofoam and plastic.


A new boys high school is opening in Shiloh in a few weeks, and it, too, is to be constructed from this stuff, as you can see. It's mind-boggling how quickly even a large building can be constructed. This is amazing. In a few weeks it will be bustling with kids and staff. I can't wait to go back in a few days to see the progress. Last week we just saw the large flat cement foundation "floor," and now there are walls and doorways. Soon windows, roof and finishing, so you'd never know what's underneath.











This new method can also be used in two or three storied homes. As you can see, it's based on metal supports.  It's so funny seeing these coated styrofoam sheets piled up on the side of the road. I guess that next week they will be in the shape of a building like this one:

And some people are also saving on roof tiling, as you can see here. This addition has a red painted roof. Besides being quicker and easier to construct, the tiles won't fall off, because there aren't any. A classic tiled room, as on the original house is very time-consuming and expensive to do. You also need highly skilled workers.

The skills and strength needed for this sort of building method versus the classic brick and cement is very different. Nowadays fewer construction is being done by Arabs in Shiloh. Also, when hiring Arabs, one needs an armed guard.

Once the construction is finished, it won't look any different from a "regular" old-fashioned brick house, because the outside gets coated with a cement stucco finish. I recently spoke to the owner of this one to the right and bottom. He said that over the metal roof, which is specially insulated, they will have tiles. So, it's going to be very hard to distinguish it from a brick building.

No doubt these new construction methods won't last as long as our double-walled brick house, and I wonder about the flammability of them, too. No doubt that they will need all sorts of smoke detectors in each room. That's what there is in Rami Levy and Yafiz, which are also constructed in this quick method.

I know that synthetic and wood construction, both rather flammable, is the norm in other parts of the world, but until now, most Israeli homes were safer -though more expensive per meter to build. If this helps people make affordable homes... who am I to complain?

Building and Road Improvements in Shiloh Area

One of the complaints of people who live in Mateh Binyamin (Benjamin County) where Shiloh is concerns traffic jams at Tzomet Adam (Junction.) It's a badly planned junction with a tiny contorted traffic circle, which is barely large enough for a small suburban neighborhood. It connects roads to Jerusalem, Adam, Binyamin-Shomron and Ramalla. The planners had wanted to somehow keep the Ramalla traffic a bit separate from the rest of the traffic, which just compounds the primary problems of a very small circle and not enough traffic lanes.

Besides the expected traffic jams, this setup isn't safe, because there's no way an emergency vehicle can go through.  Finally, there not only are plans to widen and fix it, but the work has begun!

Besides that there are new multifamily buildings ready in Shiloh. And more are planned.



And others have been started in various neighborhoods.



Regardless to what the world and Israeli Leftists like to think, life goes on here and bli eyin haraa is getting better and better.

Many Recent Terror Victims USA Citizens, But Obama Condemns Construction

Even though many, if not most, of the recent victims of Arab terror attacks have been American citizens, the United States Government hasn't hushed their condemnation of building homes for Jews in Jerusalem. I'd say that the American Government's reactions to Arab terrorism shows a disproportionate sympathy with Arabs over Jewish life, freedom, religious rights etc.

According to Reuters, State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke stressed Washington's "clear and consistent opposition to construction activity in East Jerusalem."
"During this sensitive time in Jerusalem, we would see such activity as inconsistent with the goal of lower tensions and seeking a path toward peace," he added. (Arutz 7)

What reactions to this have there been in the USA?

A photo I took in Har Chomah a couple of years ago

A photo I took in Har Chomah a couple of years ago

Any normal country would be more concerned about condemning the terrorists who murdered its citizens but not the United States Government. It's totally focused on blaming Israel in a classic case of "blaming the victim."

The United States isn't a "normal" country. Its President, Barack Hussein Obama has made it clear that his aim in life is to facilitate the establishment of a Palestinian State in the Land of Israel, in the land that Israel liberated in the 1967 Six Days War.

Phantom Nation: Inventing the 
"Palestinians" as the Obstacle to Peace

Obama is fixated on the lie that there had been a State of Palestine sic which Israel took over/attacked and now occupies. The fact this this has absolutely no historic basis doesn't bother him one iota. Read Sha'i Ben Tekoa's Phantom Nation: Inventing the "Palestinians" as the Obstacle to Peace.  No doubt that once he's the "former president" he'll join with the unabashedly anti-Israel Jimmy Carter to work with and support the Arab terrorists who are trying to destroy the State of Israel.

Even though I was born in the United States and do have American citizenship and passport, I've lived in Israel since 1970 and do not see myself as an American citizen in terms of having the right to protest directly to the USA government. So I ask those of you who do have active American citizenship, meaning that you live and work and vote in the US, to protest to your Senators and Congressmen and your president about their policy which excuses murder of Jews and condemns building.

And don't forget that Jonathan Pollard is still jailed, thirty years, as the only condemned spy for an ally, while enemy spies have been released.

No justice for Jews in America!

Should Israel Strive to Thrive or to Please the Americans?

Dry Bones

Honestly, I consider these as two opposites. Meaning- if we please the Americans, we won't survive, forget about thrive, which would be impossible. American policy vis-à-vis Israel is not only anti-Israel but detrimental to Israeli security.

Obama's claims that he cares for Israel are pure baloney. The United States President is one of those who actually believes that there had been a "state of Palestine" here that was conquered and then occupied by Israel. He refers to this "Palestine" in his statements. Unfortunately, the Palestine lie is accepted by most of the world.

credit

They're not interested in the truth, and they certainly won't lose any sleep over the destruction of the State of Israel, G-d forbid. They'll just add an annex to the local Holocaust Memorial and then cry crocodile tears.

It's extremely worrying that the extreme Leftist leaders, Tsipi Livni and Yair Lapid, who are part of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government coalition are explaining their opposition to building more homes for Jews in Judea-Samaria and Jerusalem as because it would anger Obama.

Two senior members of Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet warned the premier late Sunday that more construction in Jewish settlements would further inflame already-tense ties with the United States. (Jerusalem Post)

Israeli policy should be based on what's good for the State of Israel and the Jewish People, not to please foreign governments.

It's ironic, or more exactly hypocritical of Livni and Lapid to oppose building, because they claim to be in favor of building more low cost housing in convenient locations. The best locations for more housing units are davka in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, because of their convenience and low land cost. Ma'ale Adumim and Gush Etzion are an easy commute to Jerusalem while Shiloh bloc is just half an hour from both Jerusalem and the Petach Tikva area. Schools in those places have excellent reputations. There's a great demand for housing in these areas, and the construction of large projects would give young families affordable options and lower prices all over.

Simply put, it's  a choice between a thriving Israel and a strangled Israel. I vote to build!

Israel Should Build Much, Much More in Judea, Samaria, Jordan Valley aka "West Bank"

Israel is a very tiny country with impressive immigration statistics.  At sixty-five years, compared to most United Nations member countries, it's not all that new.  In terms of actual history, culture and more it's definitely one of the most ancient countries on earth.  The State of Israel descends from the Ancient Jewish People with a long continuous, well-documented history.  I live in Shiloh, the original Capital of the Jewish Land/Nation.  Jews have returned here from all over the world, and we're building lives and homes.

Unfortunately, Israel is still dominated by Jews who are insecure in our success as a legitimate country and continuously pander to those who want to destroy us.

Instead of just going on with full confidence and sovereignty in all of the Land of Israel we have under control, they keep on begging the world to recognize our rights and offering valuable gifts of Land to the Arab terrorists who want to destroy us.  That's why Israel gets so much international flack and criticism for building homes for Jews in Land we won in a terribly aggressive war to destroy us.  The world still hasn't forgiven our victory. Most countries would have happily built and supported memorials for the Holocaust and the destroyed State of Israel.  They prefer celebrating Jewish deaths rather than supporting vibrant Jewish Life.

The State of Israel keeps trying the same failed technique to get a "Peace agreement" with the Arabs. Such a thing will never be for two simple reasons.  The Arabs will never agree to a treaty promising the State of Israel a true peace, and whatever "interim" agreement is signed will be violated by the Arabs.  This is what always happens, like a Law of Physics.  We have to constantly be on the alert and not project our good peaceful nature and customs onto Arabs.  Stories like the Arab Egged bus driver spy should be a lesson.  Naivete is a dangerous enemy.

The only way for us to have peace is to build all over the Land of Israel.  I was recently in the town of Adam, just north of Jerusalem.

It has land prepared for building in the direction of Ma'ale Adumim.

One of the major issues of the recent economic protests in Israel has been housing prices.  The best areas to build in are davka in locations like Shiloh, Adam, Ariel, Gush Etzion etc which are close enough to Israel's major cities for easy commuting and already have successful and viable social, educational, economic and industrial infrastructures.

Building freezes won't bring Israel security, but building will.

Those Jerusalem Views, Always Changing

In 1969 I came to Israel to be a student at Machon Greenberg in Jerusalem.  At the time I had many friends doing the year at Hebrew University.  Most of them were housed in brand new dormitories, called "Shikunei Elef" at the edge of the Givat Ram campus near the orchards that separated the campus from Givat Mordechai and Bayit Vegan. The buildings were long, thin rectangles on barren land.

I spent a Shabbat with one of my friends, and in the afternoon we walked from her dorm through the orchards to Givat Mordechai to see friends of hers.  Two years later I was married, a mother and we lived in a top floor walk-up on Rechov Bayit Vegan which davka overlooked Shikunei Elef.  During the ten years we lived there, I was able to observe how the university's landscaping department managed to camouflage those plain buildings. 

I hadn't seen them for a long time until last week when I visited a friend who lives in the Senior Citizens Residences of the Shalom Hotel.  During the time we lived in Bayit Vegan we also saw the hotel under construction.

Now Shikunei Elef is hidden by greenery. I remember when the buildings were new; now they're among the oldest you can see.

My friend and I went out on the terrace and I was mesmerized by the view.  It was the same basic view I had from my old apartment.  That's for sure, because you can't see our building from there.  I walked around and tried to see from the sides, but it blocks our old building.

The Shalom Hotel has two buildings.  In between is the swimming pool.  I couldn't get a picture of our old home.  It's blocked by the other building.

There's so much building going on in Jerusalem.

It doesn't matter how many apartments are built.  Housing prices still go up in Jerusalem.  Supply never reaches demand, because the more there is, the more people want to be in Jerusalem.

When we moved to Bayit Vegan in 1971, it was considered a suburban, almost country-like neighborhood.  There's little to remind anyone of that today, except for the tall trees in the park near our old building.

This picture is taken on Rechov Uziel, under our Rechov Bayit Vegan.  Our old building is hidden by the trees. When we lived there, we were next to the large park/playground that connected the two streets.  There was just an empty lot in-between us and the park.  I could even see my kids playing there from our apartment.  You can't do that today.  Just as we were planning our move to Shiloh building began on an apartment house on that empty lot.

Nothing stays the same in Jerusalem.