Man Recounts Emotional Return to Kfar Etzion After Decades
Translated & summarized from Arutz Sheva by baba
Yochanan Ben-Yaakov described his emotional return to Kfar Etzion, a settlement he left as a child, as part of a heritage project. His memories were based on stories and photos, making the actual return feel dreamlike. He identified landmarks and felt overwhelmed by emotion. Rabbi Chaim Druckman later compared his experience to a verse from Psalms about being like dreamers upon returning to Zion.
The story in 6 lines · by baba
- Yochanan Ben-Yaakov described his surreal return to Kfar Etzion after being forced to leave as a child.
- His memories of the settlement were built from stories and photos over 19 years.
- Ben-Yaakov identified familiar landmarks, connecting past narratives with the present landscape.
- He became overwhelmed with emotion, weeping as he recognized more locations.
- Rabbi Chaim Druckman likened his experience to the biblical verse 'We were like dreamers'.
- The return was part of a project by the Ministry of Heritage to document settlement founders.
Yochanan Ben-Yaakov has recounted his return to Kfar Etzion, a place he was forced to leave as a child, as part of a project documenting the founders of Israeli settlements. For 19 years, Ben-Yaakov's memories of Kfar Etzion were shaped by stories, photographs, and observations, making his eventual return a surreal experience.
He described the journey back, which included passing by Bethlehem, Solomon's Pools, and Rachel's Tomb, before reaching the Gush Etzion junction and proceeding to a military camp. Upon arrival, he struggled to reconcile his distant knowledge of the area with the actual landscape before him. He identified landmarks such as ruins of Savir (now Givat HaHish) and Givat Ha'etz (now Allon Shvut), connecting the narratives he had heard with the physical reality.
Ben-Yaakov's emotional state intensified as he recognized more locations, eventually weeping as he stood in the area. His ultimate goal was to reach Kfar Etzion itself, the home he yearned to return to. He described the feeling as dreamlike, questioning whether he was experiencing reality or a dream.
Years later, he shared these feelings with Rabbi Chaim Druckman, who related Ben-Yaakov's experience to a verse from Psalms, "We were like dreamers," signifying a profound, almost unbelievable fulfillment. The project, "Documenting the Elders and Founders of the Settlement," initiated by the Ministry of Heritage and the Council for the Preservation of Heritage Sites in Israel, aims to record the establishment of settlements across various regions of Israel, including the Jordan Valley, Judea, Samaria, Benjamin, the Golan Heights, and the Galilee.