MERAV OF Mevo Modi’im municipal council asked Leah Sand and other young ladies dressed in white to sing one of the beloved songs of Shlomo Carlebach – ‘dressing people in the village in a garment of splendor instead of a drooping spirit.’.
(photo credit: LIANE GRUNBERG)
Residents and friends of Moshav Me’Or Modi’im, which was severely damaged by fire in May of this year, staged a musical protest demonstration near the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.
The moshav, which was founded in 1975 by Shlomo Carlebach and some of his followers, was a living memorial to Carlebach’s ability to bring unaffiliated and strayed Jews back to Judaism.
Most of the founders were former hippies who became part of each other’s extended families in the House of Love and Prayer in San Francisco. Some came to Israel to study at yeshivot and religious seminaries for women, and later connected with each other again to create a place of music, prayer, learning, and harmony on the moshav which was quickly populated by the many children they brought into the world.
The residents of the moshav, most of whom are still living in a hotel or in some other form of temporary housing, say that the fire was an act of arson, but the government is reluctant to recognize it as such and so far has provided minimal help towards reconstruction.
The victims of the fire say that without proper government assistance there is a strong possibility that sufficient resources for the rebuilding of the moshav will never be found.
Brachi Sprung, 36, who was born and raised on the moshav said that there are currently 64 families, comprising the 223 people who have been displaced. They cannot understand why the police have closed the file on arson. Nor can they understand why the government hasn’t come up with comprehensive long and short term solutions to their problem.
“They all want to go home especially the children,” she said.
“The pioneers have put more than 40 years of their lives into the moshav,” she added.
The first song sung by the demonstrators was Veshavu Banim Legvulum.
The children will return to their border.
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