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NEWS
Shul Dedication in Shomer Hatzair Kibbutz
By Shmuel Greenwald
The concepts of `synagogue' and `Hashomer Hatzair' are an incongruous match — at least until last week. Kibbutz Kfar Menachem in the Yehuda coastal plain, waited eighty years for this realization. The pathways of the kibbutz adapted themselves to this momentous occasion and from afar, huge signs emblazoned the entire area, which assumed a very festive air in anticipation of the historic day in the annals of the kibbutz when a shul was dedicated.
"What is taking place here tonight," said one kibbutz member, movingly addressing all the participants, "is something quite incredible. It was not a unanimous decision but in the end, a compromise was arrived at, and from now on we are privileged, like so many other upstanding Jews in other like places, to have a beit knesset of our own which will be called "Beit Menachem", and which will serve us not only for the Yomim Noraim but for Shabbatot and festivals as well."
It was at that very moment that a fiery internal battle which had even reached the courts finally reached its happy end, thanks to the Ayelet Hashachar organization, which had constantly stood at the forefront of the conflict. This organization had accompanied the pro-shul members with counsel and necessary actual assistance, and many of the kibbutz members were gathered at this occasion to inaugurate this Beit Knesset, having labored for it for many years. And to enhance and complete the momentous event, a hachnosas Sefer Torah was celebrated to welcome a new Sefer Torah to its interior.
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