Z-News out of JudeaBrought to you by Zahava Englard of On...

Z-News out of JudeaBrought to you by Zahava Englard of One Israel Fund
On the road again with Marc Prowisor.
Starting out bright and early, I’m on the way down to the southern hills of Hevron with Marc Prowisor, chief of security projects for OIF. The jeep Marc drives, it’s back loaded down with a myriad of security and emergency medical supplies, greets the bumps on the road with a dull heavy thud. We stop at the Gush Etzion junction just south of Efrat to meet Ofer, the head of Hatzola Yosh. Marc opens the trunk of his weathered jeep and lugs out a bounty of emergency medical kits that OIF acquires thanks to the generous donations from our supporters..


It is One Israel Fund’s guiding principle to encourage unity and we therefore, work together with other organizations throughout Judea and Samaria. There are no egos involved, no elbowing one or the other for the spotlight; rather, we join forces with other groups to create a greater positive impact. 
There is one goal, which is to keep Judea and Samaria flourishing for the Jewish people. Building and further developing the communities along with proper security provisions can accomplish this.
To this end, One Israel Fund is dedicated to the safety of all the residents in all of the communities throughout Judea and Samaria and it makes sense to work in conjunction with others who feel the same way. Hatzolah Yosh, Tatzpit, Regavim are three such groups that OIF is proud to work with. It is the perfect prototype of achdut, unity.
Before leaving the junction, we meet an Israeli soldier from the Kfir unit working his beat. Marc notices that the shluker/camelback he is outfitted with is one of ours, the One Israel Fund emblem proudly stamped onto it. “We gave these out a couple of years ago,” Marc says pointing to the smiling soldier’s shluker. “It’s good to see how well they’re holding up.”
We wind our way back up the road to Caliber 3 tucked off the road northwest of Efrat where Marc speaks with a group of ravshatzim, heads of emergency response teams in Judea who are there for security training, a project funded by OIF. Assessments are made as to what type of security equipment is needed by each response team.
The surveillance equipment we provide is cutting-edge. With the information we gather from the response teams in the field, OIF works together with our manufacturers in making the necessary technological revisions. Our suppliers will update equipment and provide special components, modeling the equipment according to our specific needs.
Subsequently, the IDF has taken notice of what we are doing and the Home-Front Command is interested in working together with us in securing the civilians of Judea and Samaria.Marc and I continue on highway 60 towards Kiryat Arbah. We stop at the gas station there that houses a small grocery store. I need a quick chocolate fix and Marc needs another coffee. From there we head further south towards Yatir, a community of over one hundred families that boasts an outstanding mechina, a pre-military yeshiva headed by Rav Moshe Hagerlow, a former Division Commander in the IDF. At the mechina, his students are highly motivated with love of the land and social activism. They regularly do farm work and gardening in the community as well as volunteering to help another local farmer in the area, a widow by the name of Dalya Har Sinai, whose husband was killed by Arab terrorists. Despite ongoing threats, she is staying put and OIF protecting her is a big reason why.  In addition, the students volunteer in Sderot and in hospitals.
At Yatir, we also meet with Shai, the director of the mechina who informs us that they badly need an exercise room for the students who wish to train before their army service. Many of these young men strive to serve in elite units. We’re told of three brothers who graduated from the mechina, each of them going on to become pilots. Shai shows us around, and we meet several students working in the kitchen, mostly city kids who are now experiencing a hands-on approach in connecting to the land, thanks to Yatir’s mechina.
We wind our way outside and up a metal staircase bringing us to a look out point that affords us a stunning panoramic view of the surrounding hills with the village of Sussia in the distance as well as the Carmel winery. Shai asks for One Israel Fund’s help in providing the funds toward the exercise room. He also tells us that Yatir’s ambulance is lacking some crucial equipment.
Marc instructs Shai to make a list of what he needs before we continue to the southern Hevron city council to meet Dan, the Regional Director of security in the Hevron Hills. He’s been waiting there for us to bring the shopping listof security equipment that each of the ravshatzim in the area requested for their response teams. It was getting late in the day, when Dan joins us and further discusses the type of security equipment that he requires. “Don’t say another word,” Marc tells him. “I know just what you need”. He follows us to the jeep and Marc shows him one of the latest state of the art mini surveillance cameras. Chanukah may be over, but Dan’s eyes widen, excited with this latest gift from OIF to add to his security arsenal.
In our travels, we discover a surprisingly large and successful cosmetics manufacturer who not only is a major exporter but he is the third generation of his family in the area and he employs Jews as well as Arabs to work in his factory. Marc and I walk through this wonderful find, uplifted by the living example of coexistence in the southern Hevron hills.
All in all, a good productive day.
The sun is just about to set when we head back home, passing by several Jewish communities along the way − most of them, secular while some are mixed.  I indulge myself in a nap as Marc drives north.  About a half hour later, he drops me off in Efrat and continues home to Shilo with an entire new list of requirements and security assessments for the Judea region.
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