Beit Hagai

Beit Hagai is a Religious Israeli settlement located in the southern Hebron hills in the West Bank and within the municipal jurisdiction of the Har Hebron Regional Council. The Yishuv's name (Haggai) is an acronym of the given names of Hanan Krauthammer, Gershon Klein, and Yaakov Zimmerman, three students of the Nir Yeshiva in Kiryat Arba, who were murdered in a terror attack on the eveof Shabbat, Parashat Emor, 5740 (2 May 1980). [cite web
title = The Six Murdered Outside Beit Hadassah
publisher = Jewish Community of Hebron
date = 2006-07-19
url = http://www.hebron.com/english/article.php?id=273
accessdate = 2007-11-07]

The community rabbi for Beit Hagai is Rabbi Moshe Eliezer Rabinovich (HaLevy).

History

Beit Haggai was established in 1984 by a few former classmates of the victims and their families with assistance from the Amana settlement organization.

In 1989, the residents of Beit Hagai founded a special needs children's village which has provided a home, education, and services for dozens of kids.

During the First Intifada, several residents were killed in shooting attacks near the village. In the years of the Second Intifada, another three residents were killed on the roads leading into and out of Beit Hagai.

Despite the attacks and Palestinian violence, between the years 2001 and 2007, the population of the village doubled, such that there are today approximately 95 families.

In the summer of 2006, the Yishuv welcomed a group of families who had been expelled from Kfar Darom, Gush Katif, as a part of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan. The group established a new neighborhood, and also reopened the kollel for dayanim which had operated in Kfar Darom. The Kollel is named "Or Yosef" (Light of Joseph) after Yossi Shuk, a resident of the village, who had been murdered by terrorists in December 2005. [cite news
last = Schechter
first = Erik
title = Father of five killed in Hebron Hills ambush
publisher = Jerusalem Post
date = 2005-12-18
url = http://info.jpost.com/C002/Supplements/CasualtiesOfWar/2005_12_16.html
accessdate = 2007-11-07]

Also in 2006, an additional new neighborhood was established with fifteen trailer-homes. This initiative was part of the building plan of the village. Likewise, an observation point was built in memory of Yossi Shuk on nearby Rehavam Hill (named after Rehavam "Gandhi" Ze'evi).

Community

Most residents of the Yishuv work in Kiryat Arba or in the surrounding Har Hebron area. Some, however, even travel as far north as Jerusalem or south as Be'er Sheva to work. Many of the residents are involved in education. Additionally, some of the residents work in the youth village. There are approximately 15 yeshiva students (In Hebrew, "avreichim") who live in Beit Hagai.

The community maintains a close connection with the families of the three murdered boys for whom the village is named, and every year, on the anniversary of their murder, "Shabbat Hagai" is commemorated in memory of the three. Their families are hosted for that weekend by the community.

Central buildings in Beit Hagai are; a central synagogue, a Sephardic synagogue, children's daycare centers and an infant daycare center, a medical clinic, a mikvah, a celebration hall, a Bnei Akiva branch and more.

References

External links

* [http://www.amana.co.il/Index.asp?ArticleID=173&CategoryID=100 Profile on Amana website]