God, Israel, and Shiloh: Returning to the Land by Rubin David

Author:Rubin, David [Rubin, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shiloh Israel Press
Published: 2015-02-22T22:00:00+00:00

“How long will you wait, to come and take possession of the land that the Lord, God of your fathers has given you?” (Joshua 18:3)

“...and they will inherit the fields of Ephraim and Samaria...” (Obadiah 1:19)

The southernmost area of the portion of Ephraim was the first to receive government approval for settlement, when the community of Ofra was unofficially set up in April of 1975, ostensibly as an important military installation. Being situated on one of the highest elevations in central Israel, Ofra was certainly militarily strategic, but the intention was to settle the Land and build a community. Ofra became the organizational base for the Seed of Shiloh, and from there other young people were invited to join the challenge. At that time, Ofra was a good thirty minute roundabout ride to Shiloh and since most of these 21 to 25-year-olds didn’t have cars, it made the task all the more difficult when the moment arrived to make the big move.

On the first day of the Hebrew month of Shvat (January 9, 1978), the first Jews returned as residents of the reborn ancient capital. An official permit was soon given, confirming the return to Shiloh as an “archeological expedition.” That was the official spin, not one that was taken too seriously by anybody, neither its supporters nor its opponents, notwithstanding the archeological significance of the site. Just two weeks later, a great ceremony was held on the then barren, rocky hills of Shiloh, which had been waiting for its children to return home for close to two thousand years. Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, then eighty-four years old and not in the greatest physical health made the difficult, winding one hour drive to be there, along with other rabbis and activists and the brave pioneers who were finally succeeding in re-establishing roots in the place where the permanent Tabernacle had stood for 369 years.

Despite the official designation, it was announced at this ceremony that the foundation stone was being laid for the building of a “new” city in Israel. It created quite a commotion in Israel and the world, as the enemies of Israel, as well as their Israeli apologists, recognized the significance of the return to Shiloh. One of the founders of the return to Shiloh recalled the far-left Israeli politician, Yossi Sarid, feigning a lack of concern, by saying that after a few months the settlers would leave, as a result of the difficult living conditions. It’s true, indeed, that the physical living conditions left a lot to be desired. Electricity was provided only by a noisy generator, while water was carried in from a natural well, located down in the adjacent valley. There was one primitive and not so reliable military telephone, used by the soldiers on duty, as well as by the eight families and the twenty singles who were the first residents of Shiloh. The singles lived in tents at first, while the young families lived in 22 square meter caravans (no-frills trailer homes). The

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