Do you want to go back into time and see, or even relive, the way Israel was built — to witness how its early pioneers changed the land from wilderness to settled and prosperous communities?
Today, because of both the work of the people there and the help they received from JNF, some 200 families “with an average of eight children per family” now live in two communities, Naveh and Bnei Netzarim; and a third, Shlomit, is being planned that will eventually house 1,500 families, Berniker said.
In addition, the people have put into cultivation some 3,000 acres of land; and 95 percent of the vegetables grown there — mostly potatoes and carrots, Berniker said — are exported to Europe, making what Berniker called “a $50 million business” that started “out of nothing.”
In fact, Berniker, who works in public affairs and fundraising for these communities, said farmers in these communities get angry with him when he refers to the soil of the area as sand. “The farmers say, ‘This is not sand; this is gold,’” he said.
Moreover, the area now has a waiting list “of more than 100 families, who want to move there tomorrow,” Berniker said.
All in all, the development of this region is “the most beautiful, magical thing that is happening,” said Berniker.
This is not to say that Israelis have not wanted to work on this area and other parts of the Negev earlier. Israelis going back to first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion have thought of the Negev as the key to Israel’s future.
As Berniker pointed out, the Negev constitutes “more than 50 percent” of Israel’s land area, but only about 6 percent of its population currently lives there. “Today the Negev could be a very good solution” to the overcrowding becoming endemic to Israel’s major cities, Berniker said.
As for Chalutza itself, Berniker said that Israeli general and former prime minister Ariel Sharon believed that this area has strategic importance for Israel and tried to get something started there. “He understood that if you don’t have places close to the border, the border moves,” Berniker said.
Nevertheless, nothing happened for a long time because Chalutza “is not an easy place to live in” and Israeli political and military officials had other priorities, Berniker said.
But then came the “disengagement” of 2005, when Israel removed some 8,600 Israeli residents of the bloc of Gaza settlements called Gush Katif.
One group of these displaced Israelis comprising religiously observant farmers and educators decided they had to replant their community somewhere; and they heard about Sharon’s ideas for the Chalutza region.
About two weeks after the disengagement, a caravan of about 20 former Gush Katif families moved to the area and set up temporary housing and tents, Berniker said.
Moreover, the group decided that they didn’t want to just build housing for themselves, but wanted to create a community that would attract others. That meant creating jobs and schools even before building permanent housing, Berniker said.
Those early living conditions were rough, but “these people were happy,” indeed, happier and healthier than most of the other displaced people of Gush Katif, because “they were on a mission” and “were looking forward,” Berniker said.
As the communities grew, something else happened. Near Chalutza were some 28 kibbutzim and moshavim, collective farms that had been founded by secular Israelis; and there was some apprehension “that the religious and non-religious communities might not get along,” said Berniker.
But the collective farms were struggling with unemployment, and the new Chalutza communities had jobs. Today, about 150 people from the moshavim and kibbutzim work in the agricultural business in Chalutza, and social relationships and Torah study groups have formed and flourished, Berniker said.
“Suddenly those people become best friends of our people,” said Berniker. “This is maybe even more important than this great project happening in Chalutza.”
JNF officials initially were skeptical about the Chalutza project and didn’t want to devote its resources to the work of “20 crazy families,” Berniker said.
But “when they saw that these people are serious and for real,” JNF became the first outside organization to provide assistance, Berniker said. To date, JNF has paved roads, built two school buildings, and created a five-acre park in the area, he said.
JNF currently is campaigning to raise some $10 million for Chalutza development, to help build synagogues, a mikvah, plus more schools and parks, and in general “bring a new life to this area,” said Berniker, for whom Milwaukee was his last stop on a two-week national JNF speaking tour. “We know we can do it very fast with the help of JNF.”
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