| We proceeded south into Gush Etzion, the bloc of 15 Jewish communities (with 20,000 residents) that protect the southern entrance into Jerusalem. We always include an eat-and-shop stop at the Gush Etzion Judaica Center, a gift shop that has beautiful items for sale (and an Internet store as well at www.judaica.org.il), as well as great food. We then proceeded to Nokdim, where we met our good friend and local guide, Shani Simkowitz. Shani showed us the community of 120 families, living in the area where they feel a strong connection to the prophet Amos. We then drove on to the neighboring community of Tekoa, viewing Nokdim on the left, the Arabs on the right, and the magnificent Judean desert spread out in front of us. We were surprised to learn that it was Shimon Peres, in his former life no doubt, who started Tekoa, which now has four distinct sections: Aleph (shown here), Bet, Gimel, and Dalet (the first four letters of the Hebrew alphabet). Tekoa consists of 350 families. Unfortunately, Tekoa and Nokdim are currently located outside the confines of the security fence that the Israeli government is building. Apparently, the Sharon government considers these Israelis expendable in the name of "peace." Just below Tekoa is a nature reserve and the famous Khartun caves. Tragically, it was in one of those caves that Koby Mandell and Yosef Ish-Ran, two Jewish teenagers, were brutally stoned to death by Arab terrorists in May 2001, as the boys were scouting the area in preparation for the school Lag B'Omer outing. This is the Arab concept of "peace" with Israel. |
