Students Celebrate Return to Revived Shaniar Settlement with Songs of Renewal

Twenty-one years after the 2005 disengagement, hundreds of students from Amit Yeshiva in Bruchin visited the renewed settlement of Shaniar in northern Samaria for the first time since its evacuation. The visit marked a significant milestone as the students, alongside Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, who himself was expelled from Shaniar and has since returned, sang "Tefilah LaAni", a song symbolizing the struggle against the disengagement, and "Ushvu Banim LeGvulam," expressing hope for the return of Jewish residents to their ancestral lands.

The event included a Torah study session and the completion of the tractate Rosh Hashanah, led by Yeshiva head Rabbi Avi Shish, who connected the students' academic achievements with the settlement's revival, citing the biblical phrase "You shall yet plant vineyards in the hills of Samaria" as coming to life. Participants also heard from Nechama Leah Aviner, a former Shaniar resident, who blessed the students and described the return as a rectification for the entire Jewish people.

The gathering culminated in a powerful communal singing, symbolizing the closure of a historical chapter and the beginning of a new era of settlement growth. Yossi Dagan emphasized the shift from the disengagement plan to a "plan of connection and love for the Land of Israel," affirming that the community has returned to Shaniar to stay permanently. He encouraged the students, calling them the "generation of victory" who will establish new communities and bring all of Israel to the region. Dagan also announced that in two months, another mass singing event will take place at the renewing settlements of Ganim and Kadim.