Hamas War

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Local Democracy

Last night we held local elections here in Shiloh for our Town Council aka HaMazkirut.  Yes, that was the venue for the early stages.



We couldn't get the door to the school open.  Eventually we did get in and made ourselves at home in the Teachers Room.  There was a good turn-out and a pleasant atmosphere.  Two of the winners are graduates of the school, having been born and raised in Shiloh and now they're raising their own children here.  You can call that a vote of confidence in yishuv life.

Our school, the Ohel Shiloh School has really grown since it first opened on September 1, 1981.  That day, just 18 kids in three grades studied in three brand new prefabricated buildings in the then brand new upper neighborhood of Shiloh.  That's where we had just moved to, also.  It was one of Arik Sharon's brilliant pioneering ideas to build a large neighborhood high above the site of Biblical Tel Shiloh.  Half of Shiloh's residents live here today.

After a year the school moved to the area of Tel Shiloh, using various buildings and caravans.  Then a proper permanent school building was constructed.  We were in there last night.  Actually, today it's a very tiny portion of the school building, a maze of various additional classrooms and even more caravans.  They also use rooms in a nearby building as classrooms.  We now have two elementary schools which educate the kids until the Eighth Grade, separate administrations and play yards for boys and girls.  The students come from communities all over.  It's a regional school.

Many of its graduates live in Shiloh or other YESHA, Judea and Samaria, communities.

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