This  Motzei Shabbat, Parshat Shelach Lecha, saw the last havdalah in the neighborhood of Netiv Avot. The neighborhood, which lies in the town of Eleazar in Gush Etzion, has been slated for destruction following a High Court ruling that parts of the houses in the neighborhood sit on small pockets of Palestinian owned land and are there fore illegal structures.

Residents of the neighborhood gathered in the home of the Dan Hayir family, whose home is one of the buildings slated to be destroyed on Tuesday. Singer-Songwriter Yitzchak Meir, who was visiting the neighborhood this Shabbat sang a melodious tune for Havdalah that brought many in the room to tears.

15 houses in the neighborhood are slated to be destroyed this week and the residents of all of the homes, as well as many other people from Gush Etzion, gathered together for Havdalah to show their support for the families.

A large protest is scheduled to be held on Monday at 6:00 p.m. against the destruction. Rabbi Chaim Druckman is expected to lead the protest together with the head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, Rabbi Shlomo Neeman. The evacuation and destruction is scheduled to begin on Tuesday following Shachrit at 7:30 in the morning.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)