The Girls of the Hills: Life and Ideals of the Settlement Movement in Judea and Samaria
As part of a C14 report series, we visited the "Or Ahuvia" hill near Ofra, where a group of girls aged 16–21 have established a home, balancing national service, studies, and a life dedicated to the ideals of the complete Land of Israel.
So many hills and farms have been established in recent years that it is simply a pity not to go out and get to know them up close. As part of a series of articles on C14 about settlement points in Judea and Samaria, we went to the "Or Ahuvia" hill, which was established by a group of girls near the settlement of Ofra in Binyamin. The uniqueness of the place screams from afar: the house is incredibly well-kept, a pot emitting aromas stands on the stove, and girls aged 16–21 welcome us with homemade cookies.
Stormy weather in the middle of summer
The hill was established in memory of Ahuvia Sandak (of blessed memory), and among its founders were also his sister and his fiancée. Today, three additional families already live in the place, and the hill aims to absorb more families soon. The girls tell C14 about the cold and unusual weather at the mountain peak where they chose to settle; as proof of this, we were treated to a small "winter" in the middle of summer, with strong winds that almost forced us to screw our shoe soles into the ground so as not to fly away.
An interesting detail that catches the eye in the house is the "computer room," which looks more like a dungeon. The girls on the hill oppose a life of excessive preoccupation with everything related to the internet and technology, so there is a designated room where they can work on the computer or use the hill's smartphone. Their personal mobile devices are kosher, meaning there is no internet, but at most SMS messages and the game "Snake."
A short distance from the girls' house, they built the "Mitzpe Shoval" lookout in memory of the cousin of one of the families, Staff Sergeant Shoval Ben Natan (may God avenge his blood), who fell in battle in Lebanon last Simchat Torah. The lookout includes a dirt road, trees, a swing bench, and a wooden table that is not recommended to sit on if you do not want to fall and break your neck. It is also recommended not to come in heels because the road is not the most paved, to say the least.
"Are you not afraid?"
Two Bedouin outposts that were near the hill left in the two years following its establishment. The girls explain this by saying that "they understood who the owners of the house are here." From a security perspective, there is nothing to fear at all because the girls are in constant contact with the IDF, the hill is a short distance from the settlement of Ofra, and other hills established in the area separate the villages. Also, there is no need to fear dying of thirst because there is water on the hill that a farmer supplies from his vineyards directly to the "water tower" on the hill, which is a tank standing on a tower of boards that the girls built (they even told us that one time it collapsed and destroyed part of the house's walls).
There is even a place on the hill to refresh yourself in the summer, the Erez spring, which the girls renovated in memory of an Ofra resident, Erez Round (may God avenge his blood), who was murdered in 2002 in a terrorist attack near Shilo. The girls built a deck there, a swing bench, and even put up a hammock to swing in while watching the buildings of the nearby village of Rimon.
"Are your parents not worried?"
Today, 5 girls aged 16–21 live on the hill, some of them in national service, some working, completing matriculation exams, and even studying higher education. Some of them came with the full backing of their parents, and some told us that the decision was not received favorably at first, but in the end, the relatives managed to understand the desire to live the ideal of the complete Land of Israel.
On the hill, some of the families live in Area B, contrary to the Israeli law established in the cursed Oslo Accords. The girls said that the goal is to set a trend on the ground of canceling the division into Areas A, B, and C as part of a larger move intended to influence policy decisions that will eventually lead to the cancellation of the Oslo Accords, as they hope.
In conclusion, it is impossible not to talk about the road to the hill. The trip is made through the settlement of Ofra, passes through the settlement's security road, and descends later to a dirt road with many bumps that are not good for a vehicle not intended for off-road driving. This is a detail that is definitely worth considering before arriving, but there is no doubt that the road is worth every moment, and the visit leaves a lot of the taste of Zionism, pioneering, and inspiration from girls who dedicate the best years of their lives to living for the redemption of the Land of Israel.
