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The Women who Saved

the Dagan Hill

Today, the Dagan hill in Efrat is a bustling
neighborhood of close to 400 Jewish
families, with a high percentage of Anglo
olim. But Dagan, on the northernmost edge
of Efrat, would likely be a suburb of Arab
Beit Lechem if not for the heroic efforts of
an extraordinary group of women in July
of 1995. Rabbi Elie Mischel spoke with
Marilyn Adler, Sharon Katz, Eve Harow and
Nadia Matar to learn about their story.

Tell me about your backgrounds and how you came to After the First Intifada, when things settled down, we would
Efrat. drive to Yerushalayim through Beit Lechem – it was the only
road at that time – and would see only one soldier along the way.
Marilyn: I was born and raised in Brooklyn, the daughter of Life was relatively calm, and my plan was to be a stay-at-home
Holocaust survivors. I came to Israel to study at Machon Gold, mom. Things turned out differently!
and then returned a few years later, and immediately joined a
settlement in Sinai to protest the evacuation. My husband and I
came to Efrat in 1989, which at that time was a small community For many of our readers, the Oslo Accords are like a bad
of 300 families where we felt we could make a difference. dream; you want to wake up and forget it ever happened.
But as Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the
Eve: We made Aliyah from Los Angeles in 1988 and moved past are condemned to repeat it.” What was life like on
straight to Efrat. The First Intifada, a terror war against Israel, the ground in Efrat in 1995? What was the government
was in full swing, and we made Aliyah right into it. We were the planning to do with the Dagan hill?
300th family, and I was pregnant with our fourth child. We felt
we could fit in here. Nadia: In 1992, Rabin and Peres came to power, after making
their four famous promises – no talks with the PLO, no division
I was involved in one pro-Israel demonstration in Beverly
Hills before we made Aliyah, but otherwise I wasn’t an activist. of Jerusalem, no Palestinian state, and no abandoning the Golan
Making Aliyah changed my personality. When you make Aliyah Heights. But very quickly, they showed their true intentions,
– not because of persecution, but because you want to be here and soon began negotiations to give away the Golan. The Oslo
– there is a drive inside of you to make a difference. Accords followed soon afterwards.
Sharon: We made Aliyah with five kids from Woodmere, NY in Eve: I remember the day Oslo was signed. We were watching it
1992. In America, I was the Eastern Editor of the Hollywood on the news, and I started sobbing. Here we were, giving away
Reporter, writing about the entertainment industry. In Israel, places that are part of who we are – to an enemy. It was clear
I would use my writing skills in ways I never dreamed of – to that we wouldn’t be able to go to Kever Yosef, that Chevron was
fight for Eretz Yisrael. a mess. We felt the government had betrayed us. They pushed
Oslo through very undemocratically, stealing votes.
Nadia: I grew up in Belgium, made Aliyah in 1987, and met my
husband, an American oleh, after I came here, and moved to Sharon: On the day the Oslo Accords were signed, my children
Efrat soon afterwards, to help settle Yehudah and Shomron. We and I were driving home through Beit Lechem from Jerusalem.
felt that making Aliyah was not enough, that we had to continue Suddenly a mass of Arabs ran into the middle of the street and
making Aliyah every day, to do more for Am Yisrael. began dancing around our car – dancing, chanting and laughing.

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