The Lost Sandal - 1000 days have passed.

The Palm Beach Hotel at the Neve Dekalim beach,
days before it was bulldozed in 2005.

As the Jewish communities of Gush Katif commemorate 1000 days since their eviction and the destruction of their homes by Israel, the "Sela Disengagement Authority" issued the following statistics this past Sunday at a press conference in Ashkelon:

40.2 percent of the Gaza evacuees are still waiting for lots on which to build their new homes.

43% - 586 families - have received housing lots and can now [May 2008] start construction.

Ex-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the Israeli government promised that the resettlement process would take up to two years, and promised on the SELA eviction website [though not anymore] and in paid advertisements that there was a "solution for each settler."

The blatant callousness of the Israeli government and of Disengagement supporters who do not spend every second of their days trying to help the solve the refugee problem they created is simply mind-numbing.

One thousand days have passed.

Helping children cope is a new book, "Eyal's Sandal," written by Ruth Etzion, previously from the Katif community of Morag and illustrated by Sarit Stern. A young boy, Eyal loses a sandal when playing on the sand dunes near his home in Gush Katif. His faithful sandals always waited as a pair for him while he played in the sand dunes, so it can't be far. However, the Disengagement dashes his hopes to find his lost sandal, as he and his family are removed from Gush Katif and his sandal.

The book poignantly describes the difficulties in living in Gush Katif prior to the Disengagement, the trials of a child trying to come to grips with a difficult future, "Abba, are the same soldiers who I love so much going to be the ones throwing us out of our home?"

Despite it all, the book ends optimistically. Even if your family didn't go through the Disengagement, this book is a must for every Jewish family to understand what their fellows Jews went through, and are going through today.

I translated the Hebrew from a page of the book -- the Hebrew rhymes and is extremely well written. My translation does not rhyme and is for those who can't read Hebrew at all...

הִתְחַלְתִּי לִשְׁמֹעַ כָּל מִינֵי דִּבּוּרִים לֹא טוֹבִים,
עַל תָּכְניִּוֹת לַהֲרֹס אֶת הַגּוּשׁ, וּלְפָרֵק אֶת כָּל הַיִּשּׁוּבִים.

I started to hear all sorts of bad things, programs to destroy Gush Katif, and dismantle all the towns.

בְּכָל יוֹם אַחֲרֵי הַלִּמּוּדִים הָיִינוּ מַגּיִעִים לְבֵית הַכְּנֶסֶת הַיָּשָׁן,
לַאֲמִירַת תְּהִלִּים וְלִתְפִלָּה (גַּם קִבַּלְנוּ מַמְתָּק קָטָן).

Every day after school we gathered at the old shul
to say tehillim and pray (we also received a candy)

לִי הָיְתָה תְּפִלָּה מְיֻחֶדֶת, רַק שֶׁלִּי, שֶׁהָיִיתִי מִתְפַּלֵּל עַל הַגּוּשׁ,
שֶׁנַּמְשִׁיךְ בּוֹ תָּמִיד לִחְיוֹת, שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה גֵּרוּשׁ.

I had my own prayer, it was only mine, that I payed for Gush Katif that we would always live there, and that there would be no expulsion

הָיוּ הַפְגָּנוֹת וַאֲסֵפוֹת בָּהֶן אַבָּא וְאִמָּא הָיוּ עֲסוּקִים,
אֲבָל אֲנַחְנוּ, הַיְּלָדִים, הִמְשַׁכְנוּ כָּרָגִיל בְּכָל הַמִּשְׂחָקִים.

There were demonstrations and meetings which kept my parents busy, but we the children, continue as usual with our games

בְּדִיּוּק אָז גִּלִּינוּ דְּיוּנָה עֲנָקִית שֶׁל חוֹל לְיַד הַשַּׁעַר הָאֲחוֹרִי,
מֵאֲחוֹרֵי הַקָּרָאוָן שֶׁל הַתַּאיְלַנְדִּים שֶׁעוֹבְדִים עִם אַבָּא שֶׁל אוֹרִי.

It was then we discovered the giant sand dune next to the back gate, behind the Thai worker's caravan which worked with Ori's father.

מֵאָז מִדֵּי יוֹם הָיִינוּ גּוֹלְשִׁים וּמִתְגַּלְגְּלִים בָּהּ יְחֵפִים, מְאֻשָּׁרִים,
וּכְשֶׁסִּיַּמְנוּ לְשַׂחֵק, חִכּוּ לִי בַּצָּד, בְּנֶאֱמָנוּת, זוּג הַסַּנְדָּלִים הַשְּׁחוֹרִים.

From that day on we slid down it, rolled around on it barefoot and content
And when we would finish playing, always waiting faithfully for me, was my pair of black sandals.

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Published by Beit-El for 39 NIS.


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד