An exciting and moving event accompanied the end of the Polish trip of students from the 'Amit' Yeshiva in Bruchin.
The students set off on a week-long trip to Poland, but before their departure, they made an Israeli trip to the Samaria region, culminating in a large gathering in Homesh and meeting with the head of the Samaria Council, Yossi Dagan, and the head of the Homesh yeshiva, Rabbi Elishema Cohen.
The head of the Samaria Council shared with them the story of the struggle for settlement in the Five Hundred, the return to the place after the expulsion, the efforts invested in restoring life to the settlement, and the deep significance of settling the land at this time.
Dagan spoke about their mission - representing all generations of the Jewish people, about the responsibility to continue building and holding on to all parts of the land, and about how they are another link in the continuous chain of the people living in their land.
After the Rosh Yeshiva of Chumash, Rabbi Elishema Cohen, spoke words of encouragement and blessing, the students participated in a dance of devotion and joy in the destroyed and rebuilt settlement.
A week and a half later, the students set off on a trip to Poland with something special in their bags: dirt from arable land that the students collected and placed in their bags.
Last Friday, at the end of the week-long trip to Poland, where about 40 of the students set out, the event had a chilling climax: the scattering of soil from the regenerating settlement of Homesh over the extermination pits in the Zbilitowska Góra forest - the place known as the "Children's Forest", where 3,700 Jews were murdered, about 800 of them children, including infants.
At the ceremony in the "Children's Forest," the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Avi Shish, spoke words full of emotion and power, and sought to connect the students to the depth of the moment: "A bag of dirt from the settlement of Homesh, a settlement that symbolizes dedication and hope. 20 years after the injustice of expelling Jews from their home, we were able to make amends. Today, on the path of Homesh we find a yeshiva, residents and even a kindergarten.
""In this dust that we are scattering now, the ashes of exile and the dust of the land are mixed, exile and redemption, death and life. Beloved students, you are the youth of a generation of redemption. You have the responsibility to fill the void with love for Israel, with connection to the people of Israel and the Land of Israel. When we return to the Holy Land, look up and be here for those who gave their lives in death.".
Be moralists for a great and profound life. Be great in everything you do. Shout after me with pride: The people of Israel are alive!"
Yossi Dagan: "This earth from Mehom, a place that came back to life despite an attempt to uproot it, now lies on the land of murder where they tried to destroy our people. This is the victory of life over death. Opposite the pits that were dug, we place land from which settlement, faith, and a living people grow. This is a tremendous message: The people of Israel are here, victorious and returning to their land, alive and building their homeland.".
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