by Batsheva Pomerantz EMUNAH MAGAZINE

Gilo is a sprawling neighborhood in southern Jerusalem purchased by Jews before World War II. Most of Gilo’s residents are professionals employed in the fields of health, education and services. A few are business people. The neighborhood’s rabbis teach in well-known Torah instutions in the city. Its residents were looking forward to Wednesday June 19, 2002 when the Gilo Music School was to dedicate a new floor in the community center. Talented young musicians were to perform before Keren Hayesod delegates from around the world who had donated funds for the construction. Instead, Jerusalemites and delegates participated in a memorial ceremony with Gilo residents. The previous day, 19 people were massacred on the 32a Egged bus leaving the neighborhood. Passengers were on their way to school, work or volunteer activities. A homicide bomber boarded the bus at nearby Patt Junction and exploded himself. Seventeen of the murdered victims were from Gilo. The blast could be heard by residents in their homes.

At the memorial ceremony, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert praised the strength and perseverance of Gilo. “Pain and sorrow are not a sign of weakness. We are strong and will continue to be strong,” he said, referring to the resilience of Gilo inhabitants after having suffered 170 attacks in an 18-month period that began in October 2000. Palestinian gunmen swept into neighboring Beit Jalla, moving into abandoned builidngs and forcing residents out of their homes. From these positions, they started shooting directly into apartments, roads and cars of central Gilo, whose Jewish residents had enoyed a view of mountains and pastoral villages and social and business harmony with Arabs of predominantly Christian Beit Jalla until violence erupted.

Beit Jalla is slightly more elevated than Gilo, which is built strategically on Jerusalem’s highest mountain range. When the shooting began, residents in central Gilo would hide in the innermost rooms of their houses with lights shut off. Streets were deserted by nightfall. The municipality set up emergency headquarters, with social workers on call around the clock to deal with trauma, and IDF tanks were stationed on the slopes to defend the residents.

Slabs of gray concrete that form a long wall provide protection for people walking or driving by, and for apartments on lower floors. Because the wall blocked the picturesque view, Russian olim artists painted imaginative scenes, as well as the actual view that was being blocked. Known as “barricadot”, they fast became a tourist attraction for busloads of Israelis and solidarity mission participants visiting the “Great Wall” of Gilo. Concrete slabs shield bus stops directly facing Beit Jalla. Sandbags and high pillars were placed around schools and kindergartens, and apartments received protective glass windows. Miraculously, only a few people were injured until the shootings ended after Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002. Gilo finally had quiet.

The victims of the June 18th homicide bus bombing reflect the diversity of Gilo’s population of 40,000 people. Among them were recent and veteran olim from the United States, Ethiopia, and the former Soviet Union. People of Yemenite, Persian, Ashkenazi, and North African origin were killed, as were young native-born Israelis. Both Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and Sefardic Chief Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron spent Shabbat in Gilo, visiting its synagogues and its mourning families. Sefardic Mishkan Gabriel and Sons Synagogue in western Gilo lost two of its members — pillars of the community — in the bus bombing: Boaz Aluf, 54, father of five children, and Baruch Garavani, 60, father of four adult children. Shortly before his murder, Gavarani had become the adoptive grandfather of two young girls who had lost both parents in a March terror attack.

GILO’S TRIPLE SYNAGOGUE COMPLEX

Of Gilo’s approximately 35 synagogues, Mishkan Gabriel is part of a unique triple-synagogue complex completed in 1990. The complex was designed to meet the needs of the area’s diverse residents with three congregations that cater to the different nussachim and customs. The others are the Ashkenazi Mishav Teneh Synagogue and the North African Tefillat Yisrael Synagogue. All three share more than the breathtaking view of Mount Gilo and the simcha hall. They share a commitment to learning Torah and doing Chessed.

No family in Gilo is alone, either during joyous occasions or when in sorrow. After the bombing, members of all three synagogues helped the grieving families arrange the funerals and the shiva and offered both tangible and emotional support. When another Mishkan Gabriel member was seriously injured, a special Tehillim service was initiated. Teenagers cared for his children until he returned home on the road to recovery.

Gilo is a unique community. A visit to the synagogue complex on Shabbat is a fulfillment of Kibbutz Galuyot. Jews from Yemen, the former Soviet Union, Switzerland, France, Persia, the US, Czechoslovakia, Brazil, South Africa, Iraq, Belgium, Morocco as well as Sabras come together for prayer. The National Religious pray alongside Chabad and Breslav Hassidim, and with the newly observant and those on their way to becoming observant. Secular families enjoy the warm atmosphere and celebrate Bar Mitzvahs there. Perhaps Gilo is a manifestation of Rachel Imeinu’s wish that the “children shall return to their borders” (”v’shavu banim l’gvulam”). Kever Rachel in Bethlehem is close to Gilo, a mere ten-minute walk from its eastern entrance. Until October 2000, Gilo residents from its various communities held mincha services there before Shabbat or holidays. As of this writing, access to Kever Rachel (during the week) is in bulletproof busses under IDF protection.

Gilo’s proximity to Bethlehem enabled members of the three synagogues and other residents to deliver weekly food packages to IDF soldiers stationed in the region during Operation Defensive Shield.

The three congregations mutually organize guard duty around the synagogue, supplementing police patrols. They also coordinate routine Shabbat and holiday activities. Every Shabbat, parents rotate Parashat Shavua classes, followed by Tehillim. On Chanukah, members from the three shuls light candles with the children. In addition to jelly donuts, children enjoy a story or musical entertainment provided by one of the many talented teachers or musicians in the community. The synagogues have Gemachs that distribute funds and food packages to families in need, especially before Pessach and the High Holidays.

Approximately 1,000 people attend services during the High Holidays. On Yom Kippur, the pathway leading to the synagogue is a sea of white, as many people, including recent olim from the former Soviet Union, join others on the way to Kol Nidrei or Ne’ilah. With the Torah linking all Jews together, during the Simchat Torah hakafot, members of the Sefardic and North African minyans visit the Ashkenazi synagogue with their colorful Torah scrolls. All join in thunderous singing of songs that praise the Torah and G-d that gave the Torah to the people of Israel.

Perhaps it is no coincidence that nine Gilo streets with names like Odem (ruby), Tarshish (topaz) and Yahalom (diamond) designate the precious stones on the Kohen Gadol’s Choshen (breastplate). The colorful stones mirror the diversity of the Tribes of Israel unified in the Choshen. Likewise, Gilo, whose residents come from nations around the world, are united by their love for Israel, their deep faith, and by their commitment to Torah and Chessed, helping them to cope during challenging times.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 19th, 2004 and is filed under ourjerusalem.