4 5 6 1 2 3 128 129 Chapter Eight | Security We never compromised on maintaining our rou�ne When the first rockets started exploding, we had to prepare for more than armored transporta�on, also for shielded classrooms. There was not a single shielded classroom in the en�re Gaza Strip. We worked together with the Home Front Command. Li�le by li�le, we protected ourselves, including kindergartens and daycare centers, and created protected spaces so that the children could go out and play in the yard. There were days when it was forbidden to go out into the yard. There was no clear answer what to do. We had to maintain a rou�ne, but also be careful. We had to obey the IDF's instruc�ons, but never compromised on maintaining the rou�ne. Rou�ne con�nued as best we could, but the managers and the board faced difficult decisions. There were many concerns in every ac�vity. The morning shu�les were of par�cular concern. Following the a�ack on the Kfar Darom bus, we opened a school there. Mochi Beter Those who helped and assisted in the security conflicts were the rabbis. They received many inquiries from the public and were required to respond to ques�ons like: How to behave given the situa�on? When is it permissible to travel? what is considered 'Pikuach Nefesh' (a life-and-death situa�on)? What to tell the children? And whether to hold celebra�ons in Gush Ka�f or outside of it? Thanks to their trust in God and His teachings, the rabbis cons�tuted an essen�al part of the suppor�ng, strengthening and helping system, even though they were not officially part of the security department of Gush Ka�f.34 In Iyar of 5762 (April 2002), the rabbis of Gush Ka�f published a leaflet to the residents that included instruc�ons for behavior during a security incident on Shabbat. The basic premise was that Gush Ka�f was in a state of war, that the home front was an essen�al part of the defense forces, and that public morale was a vital component of the war. Therefore, in any doubt - the rabbis chose to facilitate. For example, the rabbis ruled that when mortar shells fall on Shabbat, "people who have a child at home who is not of sound mind, whose parents are likely to be worried about them, should be no�fied by phone. Concerned parents may use the phone to call the hotline or anywhere else to verify what is happening with their children. If it is unclear whether the message was about mortar shells, terrorist infiltra�on or any other message, it is permissible to call the hotline and verify what had happened." 35 How the educa�on system coped The security difficul�es also affected the educa�on system, which found itself forced to face new kinds of hardships. Kindergarten teachers and nannies who were not residents of Gush Ka�f, were afraid to come when the terror on the roads increased. It decreased the number of daycare centers and kindergartens that could be opened, straining the en�re system. The problem was solved when the educa�on department took in nannies and kindergarten teachers who were residents of the area. When the shoo�ng incidents on the traffic routes increased, the army decided that the buses must be armored. It started with one bus, and later all buses were armored. Over �me, the council had to purchase such buses itself, when the army's instruc�ons were that every trip should be in a bullet-proof bus. When there was a shortage of armored buses, transporta�on was conducted in unprotected buses with an IDF escort. With the intensifica�on of the in�fada, the armored buses were also required to travel only with military escort.36 The series of a�acks affected the students, especially the younger ones, and the teachers found diverse ways to let them express themselves and release the tension. The teaching staff had to face extremely difficult ques�ons, such as whether to send children to funerals, or how to inform students at school about a disaster or a�ack. Ephraim Tashnadi, Director of the Neot Ka�f' School, insisted on the principle that children should be given all the informa�on and nothing should be withheld from them, because the children's imagina�on may arouse greater fear in them. On the morning of the a�ack on the Kfar Darom children's bus that was on its way to school, when the informa�on received was ini�ally par�al and fragmented, he ordered to con�nue with a normal school rou�ne un�l the situa�on was clarified. And following the a�ack, when parents refused to allow their children to go on trips, Tashnadi explained to them that "life goes on. This is our way of defea�ng the Arabs, and this is what God wants." This line was some�mes met with severe cri�cism, especially during the period of the incessant firing of the mortar shells. However, it later became the guiding principle in Gush Ka�f: despite the difficul�es - we con�nue to live.37 This was also the case in the Talmud Torah and girls' school in Atzmona, where many bereaved children studied: the children of Rabbi Shimon Biran and Doron Shorshan ((May God Avenge Their Deaths) who were murdered in Kfar Darom, sons of Rabbi Yitzhak Arama (May God Avenge His Death) from Netzer Hazani who were with him in the car at the �me of the a�ack, and sister of Itamar Yefet from Netzer Hazani who was shot to death by a terrorist while on his way to Kfar Darom - all studied. The director of the Talmud Torah, Rabbi Itzik Amitai, used to send le�ers to parents, the purpose of which was not only to inform them about the subjects of their children's studies, but to ins�ll a spirit of heroism. From �me to �me, he had to inform one of his students that his house had been hit by a mortar shell (a�er making sure that no one was hurt). When one of the student's family members was slightly injured, he made sure to connect the boy with his family member via a phone call, so that the injured person could tell the boy in his own voice that everything was fine. When Miri Amitai z"l Gabi z"l were killed in the Kfar Darom bus a�ack, Rabbi Amitai had to break the bi�er news to the families.38 Part of the managers' coping mechanism was to sit with children who had just lost their loved ones, even before the funeral, to explain to them what would happen to them in the following days, what a 'Shiva' was, what a grave was and what a tombstone was. In many cases, they also had to teach them to say 'Kaddish' and explain that even though their father or mother are now gone, and there is very li�le heavenly glory, s�ll "His great name be blessed forever, and to all eternity" and it is their job now to come to terms with their absence.39 1 The children of Morag holding one of the hundreds of mortar shells launched at the se�lement 2 Gideon Rivlin (May God Avenge His Death) in a demonstra�on against the Oslo process 3 Mo� Yifrach, the Council's Deputy Chief Security Coordinator, holds a first aid kit 4 Netzarim children travel to the se�lement in an armored vehicle 5 Children from the 'Neot Ka�f ' School behind the concrete barricades 6 The tradi�onal Independence Day ceremony for the children of all kindergartens in Gush Ka�f
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