B”H we are having a wonderful Sukkot so far. The country is full of exciting events and happenings. We spent today in Beit-El and Shilo. (We also happened to bump into a few bloggers including Jameel and Lurker).

But like the song say every silver linings got a touch of gray.

Shilo was amazing. There were activities for the children, historical reenactments, activity booths, an audio-visual presentation, archaeological discoveries, and of course the location of the original Mishkan (and the Mishkan Shilo Synagogue).


But that’s were the touch of gray comes in.

Shilo used to be the spiritual capital of Israel. The Mishkan used to be located there for hundreds of years. Shilo is a site that is tremendously important in terms of Jewish history.


Yet, from what I saw, except for what the local residents have organized and built themselves, the government has not invested a single agurah in what is such an important site.

This has been bugging me all day long.

How can this country ignore something that is so important, so critical, and so central to our history?

In fact, if you look at most of the important historical locations (such as Hebron for example), the government has chosen to completely ignore them – simply because they are located over the green line.

These sites should be turned into the most important tourist sites in the country, instead they are neglected, and worse, under threat of destruction and loss by the very same government that should be protecting and fostering them.

That is just wrong.

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Here is a cool thing at the Tel Shilo site that I haven't seen before.

You can get information on each specific location by calling the number on your cellphone and entering the specific site number. The cost is just air time.


This is an amazing piece of artwork that lists all the towns of Gush Katif (click on it to get a better view). It's viewable in the Shilo gift shop.