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Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Fogel Condolences Guest Book 2
Just click HERE to leave your comment.
This second Guest Book has been added due to the length of all the previous comments. The first guest book will appear futher down on the page so you can view all the earlier 150+ comments. Your comments are absolutely cherished. We will continue to add more Guest Books as needed.
* Your donation to the "Friends of Itamar" non-profit would also be a very timely help at such a horrible time for them. Click on "Ways To Bless Itamar" to donate.
** To stay informed about Itamar on an ongoing basis, I invite you to JOIN our Bless Itamar Newsletter. Send a request to be subscribed to the Newsletter to info@blessitamar.com
UPDATE: If you are having trouble trying to post your comment, please try again to comment and when asked to "Select Profile" choose "Anonymous". If you are still having problems, email me a elizabeth@blessitamar.com and I will do everything in my power to post your message for you. Thank you for your persistance - and know that G-d sees your heart.
The Frisch School, Paramus, NJ Condolence Book
Student, teachers and staff, just click here to leave your comment
The Fogles and Itamar will be so blessed by this outpouring
of love from young Israel! Am Israel Chai!
* Your donation to the "Friends of Itamar" non-profit would also be a very timely help at such a horrible time for them. Click on "Ways To Bless Itamar" to donate.
** To stay informed about Itamar on an ongoing basis, I invite you to JOIN our Bless Itamar Newsletter. Send a request to be subscribed to the Newsletter to info@blessitamar.com
NOTE: I have received several messages from people having trouble trying to post their comment. The problem is with the blog service. Please try again to comment and when asked to "Select Profile" choose "Anonymous". If you are still having problems, email me a elizabeth@blessitamar.com and I will do everything in my power to post your message for you. Thank you for your persistance - and know that G-d sees your heart.
Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls - Hewlett, New York Condolence Book
The Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls in Hewlett, New York, has requested a way for their students to send messages of condolences and support to the Fogel’s family and friends. Student, teachers and staff, just click here and scroll down the page to leave your comment.
* Please be aware that there will be a delay in seeing your post on the Condolence Book. All comments are moderated before posting. We will get your comment posted as soon as possible.
** Your donation to the "Friends of Itamar" non-profit would also be a very timely help at such a horrible time for them. Click on "Ways To Bless Itamar" to donate.
*** To stay informed about Itamar on an ongoing basis, I invite you to JOIN our Bless Itamar Newsletter. Send a request to be subscribed to the Newsletter to info@blessitamar.com
NOTE: If you have trouble trying to post your comment, please try again to comment and when asked to "Select Profile" choose "Anonymous". If you are still having problems, email me a elizabeth@blessitamar.com and I will do everything in my power to post your message for you. Thank you for your persistance - and know that G-d sees your heart.
Fogel Family Condolences
Just click Here to leave your comment.
I am sure they would love to know your name and where you are from or you can be anonymous. I want to see hundreds of messages sent on to the family and the whole community of Itamar who has been traumatised by this incident. Itamar is a VERY small and tight knit community.
Your donation to the "Friends of Itamar" non-profit would also be a very timely help at such a horrible time for them. Click on "Ways To Bless Itamar" to donate.
Thank you for taking the time to bless our friends.
UPDATE: I have received several messages from people having trouble trying to post their comment. The problem is with the blog service and is very random. Please try again to comment. If you are still having problems, email me a elizabeth@blessitamar.com and I will do my best to post your message for you. Just know that G-d sees your heart even if the comment doesn't reach us. Your prayer has been heard. Thank you.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith's reflections after the Fogal Massacre on Itamar
Posted before Shabbat Friday 1:30 PST
Itamar Israel, the heartland of G-d!
For all those who have mourned with Itamar, take a moment to
be refreshed by this amazing look in to the heart of Itamar.
It's a WONDERFUL world!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Yoav's Prayer
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| Photo: Original Source Unknown |
This little wooden plaque hung above the bed of
slain 11 year old Yoav. This must have expressed his belief
May it be Your will, L-rd G-d and G-d of our forefathers, that I love every one of Israel as myself, and to graciously perform the positive commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself.
And may it also be Your will, Lord G-d and G-d of my forefathers, that you cause the hearts of my friends and neighbors to love me fervently, and that I be accepted and desirable to everyone, and that I be loving and pleasant, and that I be gracious and merciful in the eyes of all who see me. As water reflects face to face, so the heart of man to man. And all for the sake of Heaven, to do Your will. Amen.
And may it also be Your will, Lord G-d and G-d of my forefathers, that you cause the hearts of my friends and neighbors to love me fervently, and that I be accepted and desirable to everyone, and that I be loving and pleasant, and that I be gracious and merciful in the eyes of all who see me. As water reflects face to face, so the heart of man to man. And all for the sake of Heaven, to do Your will. Amen.
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| Yoav Fogel |
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
"I Will Be Their Mother" Says 12 Year Old Tamar Fogel
 |
| Photo: Flash 90 |
by Uzi Baruch Israel National News
The eldest daughter of the Fogel family, 12 year old Tamar, promised her relatives: "I will be strong and succeed in overcoming this. I understand the task that stands before me, and I will be a mother to my siblings". The orphaned youngster's words were quoted in the Hebrew daily Yisrael Hayom.
their home in the town of Neve Tsuf in Samaria, Tsila and Chaim Fogel, parents of Udi, are sitting on low benches for the traditional “shiva” week of mourning alongside his three brothers and sister. There is a constant stream of comforters going in and out of the house, VIP's and ordinary citizens from all over Israel, whose hearts go out to the bereft family that lost son, daughter-in-law, and three young grandchildren in a barbaric terrorist slaughter on Friday night.
Chaim Fogel continues to retell the story of terrible hours from 3 a.m. on, when he received the horrific news, drove to Itamar, met his 12 year old granddaughter and then entered the family’s home. The authorities were forced to ask her to tell what she saw when she returned from her youth group activity to find her family’s bloodsoaked bodies at 12:30 a.m. Chaim himself had the heartbreaking task of identifying the bodies.
We came to take the surviving grandchildren out of the Valley of Death, he said. I don’t wish on anyone in the world the sight I saw. It is horrendous, beyond description, beyond comprehension".
The grandparents recalled the last time they saw Udi, Ruti and the children, a week and a half ago on Saturday night. They celebrated the start of the month of Adar Bet in Itamar, danced, sang and laughed.
"At least they had a taste of Purim", said Udi’s mother Tzila. "I didn’t feel any premonitions. Why should I have thought that I will never see them again? I am not trying to remember if there was anything of that nature in my mind. We were happy together. We have photos of the children playing and happy".
The family is against any personal revenge or taking the law into civilian hands. Their slain children felt the same, they said, unequivocally.
The Ben Yishai home of Ruti’s parents in Jerusalem, where the surviving grandchildren are now, is also crowded with comforters. After the mourning week is over, the family will decide where the children will live. Meanwhile, they are having difficulty in explaining to the youngest child what happened to his parents. "What shall we tell them?" they said. "What does a two-year-old understand when he cries over the loss of his parents? They tell us that children heal quickly, mentally and physically. We hope so".
Monday, March 14, 2011
Mourning Father of Fogel Massacre Victim ‘Strengthens Israel’
 |
Israel news photo: Flash 90 |
the mourning father of Ruth Fogel, one of the five victims of the Itamar massacre, taught a lesson of faith and strengthened the People of Israel.
Article by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu Israel National News
His inspiring remarks on Voice of Israel government radio stunned
the interviewer into near silence and brought tears to her eyes.
After Rabbi Ben-Yishai expressed deep pain but no anger or calls for vengeance, interviewer Estie Perez, who has described herself as a secular Jew, asked, “Where do you have the strength and restraint that you can talk now and strengthen us, without anger and without calling for vengeance – that is not in your voice?
Where is the strength from?"
Rabbi Ben-Yishai answered, "I have worked in education many years, and as an educator, I try to strengthen and teach people faith. I understand that I cannot be satisfied with words and that I also must implement the same principles on which I have educated others. This is a test of my faith, and therefore I agreed to be interviewed."
"I believe in the country, in our strength and in the strength of the army, and I ask how did this strength not save our children?”
Rabbi Ben-Yishai said Monday morning that he asked the oldest surviving children, 12-year-old Tamar and eight-year-old Ro’i, if they wanted to say the Kaddish prayer, recited by mourners and expressing their faith in the Creator.
“They answered, ‘Of course. They are our parents, brothers and sisters.’” The mourning father and grandfather told Voice of Israel government radio, “They understand.” He said, “We [the grandparents]
will take upon ourselves the difficult task and pave for them the path so that life will be victorious."
“Their mother and father will pray for them from the Heavens, their grandfathers and grandmothers will give them a lot of love, and the People of Israel will hug them and encourage them to grow and continue in the path of their parents."
Rabbi Ben-Yishai said that the only thing he regrets is that he did not tell his daughter Ruth and his grandchildren enough times, “I love you. I love you." He added, "If I could go back in time, I would say so every five minutes, but that would not be enough.”
Rabbi Ben-Yishai revealed that the police came to his home in Neve Tzuf, in Samaria, on Shabbat to inform him of the attack but that no one was home because they were visiting in the north. “The Creator was kind to us” by his not having to bear the bad news on the holy Sabbath. “Our daughter called after Shabbat, assuming we already knew."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke with Rabbi Ben-Yishai on the telephone Saturday night and visited him Sunday morning. “He felt great sorrow and said that the entire People of Israel are part of the sorrow. We hugged each other,” Rabbi Ben-Yishai said.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Fogel Family Funeral
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| 5 Coffins: 3 Regular & 2 Small (Photo Israel News) |
Udi, Ruth Fogel, three of their children – Yoav, Elad and Hadas who were killed Friday night in terror attack, laid to rest at Jerusalem cemetery. Senior government, religious officials attending. 'Barbaric act that only animals are capable of,' says childhood friend. Chief rabbi: Make Itamar major city By Ronen Medzini Israel News
Five coffins, two regular sized, 3 small ones. This is the appalling scene that met the eyes of the thousands attending the funeral of the five members of the Fogel family who were brutally murdered Friday night in the settlement of Itamar terror attack.
The funeral was held at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem. According to the police, some 20,000 people attended the funeral.
Former Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau was the first to eulogize saying: "There are situations, there are days there are hours where you are at loss for words. You sit feel and sense the pain, feel the anger and mostly, feel the powerlessness…
"When you imagined that this circle of terror closed maybe 66 years ago and when the blood of infants runs like water and 1.5 million children were trampled by human beasts… it has been 66 years, we've declared statehood, gained our independence, established the enviable IDF. And still, the circle of terror and the river of blood flow and we stand helpless."
Rabbi Lau added: "What can you say when you see a three month old baby stabbed to death? What do you say?" He stressed: "We will not bend, we will not give up, we returned to the land of our fathers and it is our home, and the children shall return within their borders and nothing will prevent our faith in the righteousness of our path."
Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger told those on hand, "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you came out of Egypt. Amalek is here - people who are capable of tearing and butchering a whole family when they came home from prayer services."
"You were the personification of devotion to the Zionist vision, pioneers. Your hands held both scythe and book, teachers and settlers whose entire lives were the love of their country and the love they had for their neighbors," Rivlin said. "Build more, live more, more footholds – that is our response to the murderers so that they know – they can't defeat us."
Minister Moshe Ya'alon attacked the Palestinian Authority over its anti-Israel incitement. "The murderers, if they'll be jailed, will be recognized as heroes and they will be honored by (Palestinian) schools. Such acts are routine with our neighbors.
"As long as this murderous education persists, as long as the leadership's wild incitement continues, any agreement we sign will not be worth the paper it is written on. Moreover, (any agreement) will be breached due to the venomous education and incitement to Jewish hatred," added the minister.
Rabbi Yehuda Ben Yishai, Ruth Fogel's father said: "We shall not bid you farewell. You shall come visit us like pure angels."
Rafi Ben-basat, a childhood friend of the father – Udi Fogel said that "the family is going through a very difficult time; we are trying to encourage them and give them strength. This was a barbaric act that only animals are capable of. It is time for the nation to sober up and tell its leaders to stop the concession for concession system.
Udi's brother Motti said: "All the slogans about Torah and settlement, the Land of Israel and the Jewish people try to make us fotget the simple and painful truth: You are gone. You are gone and no slogan will bring you back. Above all, this funeral must be a private event. Udi, you are not a symbol or a national event. Your life had a purpose of its own and your horrid death must not render life into a vehicle. You are my brother and shall remain my brother."
Omri Efraim contributed to the report
Israel Distrubuting Itamar Massacre Photos
Images of gruesome murders in West Bank settlement being released online by unofficial sources. PR expert: We must show the world what kind of animals Israel is dealing with. Analyst: It won’t change people's opinion of Jewish state Aviel Magnezi Israel News
Those in favor of releasing the photos from Itamar say they would force the international community to come face to face with the cruelty of Palestinian terrorism, while others claim that not publishing the photos would further underscore the differences between Israel and the terrorists.
Most PR experts who spoke to Ynet said the government should have released the photos, with the authorization of the Fogel family. "We should use photos and videos, in which the victims' faces are blurred, to show the world what kind of animals the State of Israel is dealing with," strategic advisor and crisis management expert Roni Rimon said.
He said releasing the images is necessary in order to convince anyone who is willing to listen that "Israel is dealing with forces that do not conduct themselves according to conventional laws of war, but rather to the law of the jungle.
"Israel spends tens of billions of dollars on security, but it neglects the PR aspect, which is just as important as advanced tanks and planes," Rimon added. "It is crucial that people understand the difference between us and them. We must stress that that when we kill civilians it is by mistake, but they butcher an entire family in the middle of the night. The photos serve as unequivocal proof of this."
Communications expert Yariv Ben-Eliezer of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya also believes Israel should distribute the photos "to show the kind of horrors we are exposed to," adding "in this war, pictures are the bullets."
PR expert Amnon Shomron agrees that the fight for global awareness is a "dirty" one. "If we claim that we are facing wild animals – we have to provide visual proof, not only statements," he says.
Shomron mentions the horrific photos form the lynching of two IDF reservists in Ramallah in 2000. "Being humane does not require us not to show the other side's brutality," he contends.
However, Yoram Schweitzer, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and an expert on international terrorism said Israel must remember that the massacre in Itamar took place as the world is focused on the devastating earthquake in Japan. "Obviously, images from the massacre can shock hundreds of thousands, but they won't change people's opinion of Israel – be it positive or negative," he said.
Attila Somfalvi contributed to the report
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| Fogel family home in Itamar (Photo: Ben Kelmer) |
Elements within the settler leadership distributed over the weekend gruesome photos from the scene of the terror attack in which five members of the Fogel family were stabbed to death in their home in the West Bank settlement of Itamar.
Officials at the Prime Minister's Office considered the option of releasing the shocking photographs to raise global awareness to the threats Israel is facing, but eventually decided against the move.
Officials at the Prime Minister's Office considered the option of releasing the shocking photographs to raise global awareness to the threats Israel is facing, but eventually decided against the move.
Those in favor of releasing the photos from Itamar say they would force the international community to come face to face with the cruelty of Palestinian terrorism, while others claim that not publishing the photos would further underscore the differences between Israel and the terrorists.
Most PR experts who spoke to Ynet said the government should have released the photos, with the authorization of the Fogel family. "We should use photos and videos, in which the victims' faces are blurred, to show the world what kind of animals the State of Israel is dealing with," strategic advisor and crisis management expert Roni Rimon said.
He said releasing the images is necessary in order to convince anyone who is willing to listen that "Israel is dealing with forces that do not conduct themselves according to conventional laws of war, but rather to the law of the jungle.
"Israel spends tens of billions of dollars on security, but it neglects the PR aspect, which is just as important as advanced tanks and planes," Rimon added. "It is crucial that people understand the difference between us and them. We must stress that that when we kill civilians it is by mistake, but they butcher an entire family in the middle of the night. The photos serve as unequivocal proof of this."
Communications expert Yariv Ben-Eliezer of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya also believes Israel should distribute the photos "to show the kind of horrors we are exposed to," adding "in this war, pictures are the bullets."
PR expert Amnon Shomron agrees that the fight for global awareness is a "dirty" one. "If we claim that we are facing wild animals – we have to provide visual proof, not only statements," he says.
Shomron mentions the horrific photos form the lynching of two IDF reservists in Ramallah in 2000. "Being humane does not require us not to show the other side's brutality," he contends.
However, Yoram Schweitzer, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies and an expert on international terrorism said Israel must remember that the massacre in Itamar took place as the world is focused on the devastating earthquake in Japan. "Obviously, images from the massacre can shock hundreds of thousands, but they won't change people's opinion of Israel – be it positive or negative," he said.
Attila Somfalvi contributed to the report
Itamar Mayor Goldmith and His Wife Leah Respond To Fogel Massacre
Mayor of Itamar: 'Strong Backbone of Love' Holds Us Up
by David Lev Israel National News
For Leah Goldsmith, a long-time resident of Itamar and the wife of the town's mayor, Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith, the horrible tragedy of last Friday carries with it one bittersweet consolation: In a reaction to the murders of five members of the Fogel family, she has no doubt that Itamar will grow and prosper.
“We have now had 20 victims of terror attacks here in Itamar, a much higher number relative to our population than nearly anywhere else,” Goldsmith tells Arutz 7. “In 2002, three boys from the Yeshivar Hitzim high school in Itamar were killed by a terrorist, and we thought that was the end of the school. What parent would want to send their children to study here? But soon after, the school expanded – quadrupled – its student body. And we've had similar stories after all the terror attacks on our town.” With the murders of the five members of the family - Rabbi Udi Fogel, 36, mother Ruth, 35, and children Yoav, 11, Elad, 4 and three month old Hadas - she is sure that the town will continue to grow.
Her words evoke the verse in Exodus 1, which states that the more Pharaoh caused the Jews in Egypt to suffer, the more they increased and became stronger.
Goldsmith and her husband the mayor, who is also one of the founders of Yeshivat Hitzim, know Itamar as well as anyone. Both made aliyah from the U.S., and have been living in Itamar for about 15 years.
In an interview with Israel National News, Rabbi Goldsmith described the "strong backbone of love in Israel" that helps residents cope with the horror: See Video Link Of Mayor Goldsmith's Interview.
The town's website explains its significance as part of the hills known as Gav Hahar, the strategic "hump of the mountain". In this area, families are spread upon ancient mountains, called Harey Kedem. There are 4 communities, Itamar, Bracha - situated on the mountain of the Blessing, Yitzhar, and Elon Moreh. Each one has a panorama unique to its position on the mountainsides:
Leah Goldsmith wrote about the town on the website: "It is hill country, tremendously big, picturesque and mysterious, varied with long and wide valleys who resemble a mosaic coat of many colors ranging from pea to deep jade greens and chestnut browns in the winter and spring months. In the summertime the colors are dry, like the colors of Rebbeca's jug, in which she served Eliezer and the camels in Babylon.
There are springs and wells in the hills. The bounty stemming from the blessing given to Joesph…."The blessings of the father are potent above the blessings of my progenitors to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills"(Vayechi 49). The tribunal portions of Ephraim and Menashe, the sons of Joseph run across these highlands. In every direction that one looks, the views are emanated with authentic biblical greatness and Jewish nobility. This is the chief feature of the landscape, of your life in it, and you are struck by the feeling of having lived here in the past."
Itamar is full of people like the Fogels, says Leah Goldsmith – idealistic people who gave up everything for a life of Torah. Indeed, Yitzhak Shadmi, chairman of the town of Neve Tzuf and a close friend of the family, said that the murdered Udi Fogel was a brilliant studenta and “could have been a scientist, but chose to be an Torah educator.”
Goldsmith affirms that Udi, and the whole family, were indeed special people. “He was a very bright, articulate person. They originally lived in Gush Katif, and when they were thrown out of their homes in the 'disengagement' they moved to Ariel, and from there to Itamar.”
The Fogels, like many others, were attracted by the deep spirituality that Itamar evokes. “We can look out of our windows and see Mt. Grizim and Mt. Eval, the Biblical mountains of blessing and curse,” Goldsmith says. “And it's very appropriate; I, and so many others who come here, feel blessed.”
Many of those who live in Itamar are engaged in learning or education, and the town is home to not only Yeshivat Hitzim, but also to a Yeshiva Gavoha (adult level yeshiva), presided over by Rabbi Avichai Ronsky, who was until recently the Chief Rabbi of the IDF. Despite the ongoing terror attacks on the town, the Yeshiva now has over 170 full time students; Rabbi Fogel was a teacher in the yeshiva, and his wife, Ruth, was a teacher in nearby Ma'ale Levonah.
The town also has several businesses, and is known for its organic farming, whose products are marketed all over Israel. Many of the residents earn their livelihood by raising olives, goats and sheep, with a number of larger farms, such as Joseph's Blessing Eco-farm (http://www.shechem.org/alon/ecofarm/index.html), which produces a range of products, such as cheese and olive oil.
One thing Itamar is not, says Goldsmith, is “peripheral,” an inaccurate picture painted by the media. “We are exactly one hour away from Jerusalem and the Gush Dan area in the coastal plain. On the map we are at a geographical centerpoint of the Land of Israel. That is anything but peripheral.”
One reason that Itamar is a target for terrorists, is that it stands in the way of their reaching the Tel Aviv area in the center of the country. “This land is not separate from the coastal plain; it's all one small country. As thickheaded as our leaders can be, I think they have to realize this on some level.”
“We have now had 20 victims of terror attacks here in Itamar, a much higher number relative to our population than nearly anywhere else,” Goldsmith tells Arutz 7. “In 2002, three boys from the Yeshivar Hitzim high school in Itamar were killed by a terrorist, and we thought that was the end of the school. What parent would want to send their children to study here? But soon after, the school expanded – quadrupled – its student body. And we've had similar stories after all the terror attacks on our town.” With the murders of the five members of the family - Rabbi Udi Fogel, 36, mother Ruth, 35, and children Yoav, 11, Elad, 4 and three month old Hadas - she is sure that the town will continue to grow.
Her words evoke the verse in Exodus 1, which states that the more Pharaoh caused the Jews in Egypt to suffer, the more they increased and became stronger.
Goldsmith and her husband the mayor, who is also one of the founders of Yeshivat Hitzim, know Itamar as well as anyone. Both made aliyah from the U.S., and have been living in Itamar for about 15 years.
In an interview with Israel National News, Rabbi Goldsmith described the "strong backbone of love in Israel" that helps residents cope with the horror: See Video Link Of Mayor Goldsmith's Interview.
The town's website explains its significance as part of the hills known as Gav Hahar, the strategic "hump of the mountain". In this area, families are spread upon ancient mountains, called Harey Kedem. There are 4 communities, Itamar, Bracha - situated on the mountain of the Blessing, Yitzhar, and Elon Moreh. Each one has a panorama unique to its position on the mountainsides:
Leah Goldsmith wrote about the town on the website: "It is hill country, tremendously big, picturesque and mysterious, varied with long and wide valleys who resemble a mosaic coat of many colors ranging from pea to deep jade greens and chestnut browns in the winter and spring months. In the summertime the colors are dry, like the colors of Rebbeca's jug, in which she served Eliezer and the camels in Babylon.
There are springs and wells in the hills. The bounty stemming from the blessing given to Joesph…."The blessings of the father are potent above the blessings of my progenitors to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills"(Vayechi 49). The tribunal portions of Ephraim and Menashe, the sons of Joseph run across these highlands. In every direction that one looks, the views are emanated with authentic biblical greatness and Jewish nobility. This is the chief feature of the landscape, of your life in it, and you are struck by the feeling of having lived here in the past."
Itamar is full of people like the Fogels, says Leah Goldsmith – idealistic people who gave up everything for a life of Torah. Indeed, Yitzhak Shadmi, chairman of the town of Neve Tzuf and a close friend of the family, said that the murdered Udi Fogel was a brilliant studenta and “could have been a scientist, but chose to be an Torah educator.”
Goldsmith affirms that Udi, and the whole family, were indeed special people. “He was a very bright, articulate person. They originally lived in Gush Katif, and when they were thrown out of their homes in the 'disengagement' they moved to Ariel, and from there to Itamar.”
The Fogels, like many others, were attracted by the deep spirituality that Itamar evokes. “We can look out of our windows and see Mt. Grizim and Mt. Eval, the Biblical mountains of blessing and curse,” Goldsmith says. “And it's very appropriate; I, and so many others who come here, feel blessed.”
Many of those who live in Itamar are engaged in learning or education, and the town is home to not only Yeshivat Hitzim, but also to a Yeshiva Gavoha (adult level yeshiva), presided over by Rabbi Avichai Ronsky, who was until recently the Chief Rabbi of the IDF. Despite the ongoing terror attacks on the town, the Yeshiva now has over 170 full time students; Rabbi Fogel was a teacher in the yeshiva, and his wife, Ruth, was a teacher in nearby Ma'ale Levonah.
The town also has several businesses, and is known for its organic farming, whose products are marketed all over Israel. Many of the residents earn their livelihood by raising olives, goats and sheep, with a number of larger farms, such as Joseph's Blessing Eco-farm (http://www.shechem.org/alon/ecofarm/index.html), which produces a range of products, such as cheese and olive oil.
One thing Itamar is not, says Goldsmith, is “peripheral,” an inaccurate picture painted by the media. “We are exactly one hour away from Jerusalem and the Gush Dan area in the coastal plain. On the map we are at a geographical centerpoint of the Land of Israel. That is anything but peripheral.”
One reason that Itamar is a target for terrorists, is that it stands in the way of their reaching the Tel Aviv area in the center of the country. “This land is not separate from the coastal plain; it's all one small country. As thickheaded as our leaders can be, I think they have to realize this on some level.”
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