Twin Peaks: Itamar’s Mayor Knows The Blessing And Curse

Fogels’ friend comes to the U.S. to explain the beleaguered town.

The (New York) Jewish Week  Tuesday March 29, 2011
Article by Jonathan Mark - Associate Editor

From the highest elevation in Itamar you can see everything but the future. On a clear day, says Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith, Itamar’s mayor, “We can see the three seas”: the Dead Sea, the Mediterranean and the Kinneret (Galilee). To the west, “We can see Gerezim and Ebal,” the twin mountains linked in the Bible to “the Blessing and the Curse,” but untrained eyes can’t tell one from the other.


To be the mayor of Itamar is to be the mayor of a yishuv, a settlement of about 160 homes deep in the rocky Samarian highlands, where more Jews have died from Palestinian bullets, knives and bombs than have died of old age; 22 murdered Jews in the last 10 years, including five members of the Fogel family on March 11.

Three weeks ago, Goldsmith was in shul on a Thursday night, studying Gemara, when he looked to his right and saw his friend, Rav Udi, a teacher in the local hesder yeshiva. Rav Udi had some 24 hours left to live.
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Interview with Itamar's mayor about the Fogel terror attack

Glen Beck Interviews Itamar's Mayor Moshe Goldsmith

Thousands Gather on Purim to Bless Itamar

Thousands gathered in Itamar for Purim Celebrations exactly one week aftter the attack on the Fogel Family, to show support and love for the family and the Itamar community.

Am Yisrael Chai!  The People of Israel Live!

Itamar Israel, the heartland of G-d!

The real Israel - the real Itamar. It is a WONDERFUL world!

Joy amidst the Mourning - A Special Wedding at Joseph's Tomb

Miri Tzachi,
Shomron Regional Council

Itamar Residents Celebrate Wedding at Joseph's Tomb! 
by Hillel Fendel   Israel National News

The army periodically allows and enables Israelis to enter the holy site of Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem (Nablus) – but no previous visit was ever as moving as the wedding there last night.

Hundreds of residents of Itamar, still reeling from the Palestinian terror  massacre of the Fogel family five days earlier, arrived for a special prayer service – highlighted by the wedding ceremony of a resident of an Itamar  hilltop, Moshe Orlinsky, and his betrothed, Natalya Zucher.

The two had planned to get married in Itamar, but decided to hold the joyous ceremony at the holy site of Joseph’s Tomb instead – the first wedding known to have ever taken place there. The intensity of emotion left no eye dry.  Click on the video below!  



The officiating rabbi was Itamar’s rabbi, Rabbi Natan Chai, and wedding blessings were recited by Breslov leader Rabbi Shalom Arush, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef (son of Shas leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef), Shomron Region Chief Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, Yitzhar Rabbi David Dudkevitch, and the Kabbalist Rabbi Yaakov Deutsch.

The ketubah (marriage contract) was read aloud by IDF Shomron Brigade Rabbi Capt. David Feig.

The local IDF commander, Shomron Brigade Commander Col. Nimrod Aloni, wished the young couple “Jewish home full of joy, faith, and warmth.” Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika noted the residents’ emotional roller-coaster of late, and said: “The prophet says, ‘With your blood you shall live – unfortunately, we had to go through five ‘bloods’ [the five murdered Fogel family members – ed.], but in the merit of this exalted occasion, it will strengthen all of us – the people of Itamar, the residents of the entire Shomron, and all of Israel; we will gather the broken pieces together and we will become stronger.”
Yosef's Pursuit of Unity Supports the Jewish Nation
Rabbi Chai said, "We thank G-d for giving us the fortitude to carry on… and we thank IDF Commander Nimrod Aloni, who made great efforts to enable us to hold this chupah here … It was near this spot that Yosef said, ‘I seek my brothers,’ and this pursuit of unity and love for Israel is what unites us and gives us the strength; Yosef had a coat of many colors – symbolizing that there are many aspects to the Jewish People, and each tribe has its place, but they are all unified.”

Other blessings were offered by Yesha Council head Danny Dayan, Rabbi Dudkevitch, and IDF Commander Maki Siboni. Musician and actor Golan Azulai provided the music, at no charge.

IDF and West Bank Residents save Arab baby



 IDF Corporal Levin and Palestinian baby, Jude

It felt amazing to hold girl in my arms,
know we did something good

Saving life after massacre
IDF troops and paramedics save life of Palestinian woman giving birth in settlement where Fogel relatives sitting Shiva.

See Full Story:  By Yair Altman  YNetNews.com

Just take a moment to ponder this event.  This happened
in the town where the Fogel family was sitting shiva for their butchered family.  IDF forces guarding the area and local paramedics who would be grieving along with the family, didn't give a second thought to saving the lives of a baby being born to a Palestinian woman - perhaps a sworn enemy.

How does this make sense?  While the response to the murder of 3 month old Hamas Fogel in the Arab village below Itamar was fireworks, the response of the IDF and Jewish paramedics to the need of a Palestinian mother in trouble was mercy and I might add, joy.  The very "human" expression of joy of witnessing and participating in the miracle of new life.  The paramedics and IDF shared the joy with the Palestinians from the nearby village of Nabi Salah along with the new grandmother.  How can some in the same community find joy in the death of another beautiful baby of another mother and another grandmother?  How is this "humanly" possible?  I don't understand this darkness of heart and this "un-human" evil.

Rabbi Yakov Cohen interview - Itamar neighbor of the Fogel

The neighbor of Udi and Ruth Fogel family, Rabbi Yakov Cohen describes his entrance to Fogel home and helping Tamar Fogel enter her home to discover gruesome murders.

Letter From Mayor Moshe and Leah Goldsmith

Source: A letter to our Face Book friends, from  Moshe and Leah Goldsmith  By FB Itamar Israel Support Group

Dearest Friends of Itamar,  First of all we want to thank you from the depths of our hearts for all your support and encouragement to the Fogel family and to all the residents of Itamar in the last few days. 

Itamar has been our home for 27 years. It is also the home to over 100 jewish families. Itamar is the heart of Israel, our identity and our roots. After 2,000 years of being exiled from our land, the remnant of the Jewish people has come together and returned. It is God's work, a war for the Jewish people's survival. We see hatred all around us. I ask you; what hasn't Israel given for peace? We are a people of peace. And all we've got back is bloodshed. The world need to know this is our home. We are here to stay and the world is going to have to live with that

Friday's horror has made Itamar stronger and more determined to live and grow.  The Israeli government's announcement on Sunday that it would permit the construction of more than 400 new homes in West Bank settlements. This does not honor the dead. It is an insult to us and to the dead. Expansion of Itamar is an unassailable right, not a payment for these terrible murders

Dear friends, Exodus 1, which states that the more Pharaoh caused the Jews in Egypt to suffer, the more they increased and became stronger. We have now had 20 victims of terror attacks here in Itamar, a much higher number relative to our population than nearly anywhere else in Israel. With the devastating murders of the Fogel family which include 3 precious children, Itamar is more committed than ever to grow and prosper. We thank you for standing with us during this most tragic time. May G-d bless you and your families as you bless us!   Moshe and Leah Goldsmith

"I Will Be Their Mother" Says 12 Year Old Tamar Fogel

Photo: Flash 90

"I Will Be Their Mother" Says 12 Year Old Tamar Fogel

by Uzi Baruch  Israel National News


The eldest daughter of the Fogel family, 12 year old Tamar, promised her relatives: "I will be strong and succeed in overcoming this. I understand the task that stands before me, and I will be a mother to my siblings". The orphaned youngster's words were quoted in the Hebrew daily Yisrael Hayom.

In their home in the town of Neve Tsuf in Samaria, Tsila and Chaim Fogel, parents of Udi, are sitting on low benches for the traditional “shiva” week of mourning alongside his three brothers and sister. There is a constant stream of comforters going in and out of the house, VIP's and ordinary citizens from all over Israel, whose hearts go out to the bereft family that lost son, daughter-in-law, and three young grandchildren in a barbaric terrorist slaughter on Friday night.  See Full Story:  Fogel Family Tragedy