Behind the Headlines a Town Called Emanuel

Ultramodern electric trolley cars plying between pedestrian-only areas midweek, and furry shtreimels parading around on Shabbat and festivals — these will be two of the special characteristics of the town of Emanuel, being built on the hills of Samaria.

The town planned as a new residential site for Orthodox young families from Israel and abroad, is going up at a rapid pace — and the first families are slated to move in during the summer.

Initiated by private Orthodox businessmen here and abroad, and now strongly supported by the government, Emanuel is planned eventually to house 10,000 Orthodox families. One thousand housing units — mainly apartments, but also some houses — are presently under construction. Some 800 of them have already been sold, according to the managing director of the firm specially set up to build Emanuel, Pinhas Ehrenreich.

Interviewed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency at the firm’s Jerusalem sales office, Ehrenreich and his associate, Yosef Margulies, said that some $50 million had already been invested in Emanuel and that it was the fastest-developing Jewish settlement in Judaea and Samaria (outside the Jerusalem area).

Visiting the site a few days earlier, this reporter witnessed huge earth-movers and bulldozers clearing land for new buildings, while teams of builders, plumbers, plasterers and electricians put the finishing touches to the first-phase housing complex.

INDUCEMENT FOR PROSPECTIVE BUYERS

An official of the Kochav Hashomron (Star of Samaria) company at the site claimed the firm used ultra-efficient and intensive techniques that enabled it to offer prospective buyers better-quality construction at relatively cheaper prices than were available elsewhere in Judaea and Samaria.

A four-room apartment with its own backyard and the possibility of building on at a later date sells for $60,000, the official said. Government-financed mortgages on easy terms mean that in practice a buyer needs to spend only half of that sum to receive possession of the flat.

A similar housing unit would cost a great deal more in established cities — especially in the Orthodox communities of Bnei Berak and north Jerusalem where housing prices are even higher than the national average.

During my visit, a bus-load of potential buyers arrived from Bnei Berak to view Emanuel. The aim of most of them was to find reasonably-priced homes for sons or daughters about to be married. In the Orthodox communities, where families are large and men often spend years in yeshivas, how to afford a home for a young couple has become the major social problem.

HELPING YOUNG ORTHODOX JEWS TO FIND HOMES

It is with this social problem in mind that the Hasidic Rabbi of Gur, Rabbi Simcha Bunim Alter, has sponsored the construction of Hasidic settlements in outlying places: Hazor in the Galilee, Ashdod, and now, the most ambitious project of all — Emanuel.

It was reportedly Rabbi Alter who drew London-based Orthodox millionaire Zalman Margulies into financing part of Emanuel (Yosef Margulies is one of Zalman’s sons). Margulies is the biggest private investor in the project, and, says son Yosef, he is confident that with time he will make a profit — alongside building a new town in Eretz Israel and helping Orthodox young families find homes.

Margulies’ investment is guaranteed by the government against political developments in the future that might affect Emanuel — as is the investment of each home purchaser who puts his savings into buying an apartment or house in Emanuel or any other West Bank government-approved settlement.

SKEPTICISM TURNS TO ADMIRATION

At first, the bearded, Hasidic-garbed Ehrenreich recalled, the government was skeptical of Kochav Hashomron’s ability to carry off this ambitious project. Hence the company had to put up the first several million dollars out of its own private resources. One of the first things it had to do — and the government agencies apparently regarded this as something of a test of its seriousness — was to build a major approach road to Emanuel.

Skepticism has long since given way to admiration. Deputy Premier and Housing Minister David Levy has become on enthusiastic backer of Emanuel. And, in recognition of his support, the town has named a community center after Levy’s late mother.

As befits an Orthodox community, Emanuel’s first stage (1,000 homes) will boast seven synagogues and 12 kindergartens — apart from schools and yeshivas.

A mikva now being built at the cost of $1 million will be the latest word in bathing luxury. The company is also planning factories and workshops in Emanuel. There is a large industrial park beginning to be built at Rechan, nearby, to serve Ariel, Emanuel and other townships planned for central Samaria.

HOME OWNERS MUST BE ORTHODOX

Ehrenreich, himself a Gur Hasid, stresses that Emanuel will not be an exclusively Gur or indeed exclusively Hasidic community. Other Hasidim have homes, as well as non-Hasidic Orthodox Jews — including a group of 100 professionals and scientists from the U.S. “All we require is that people are Orthodox — what brand of Orthodoxy doesn’t concern us,” he explained.

Town-building is “in the family” with Ehrenreich: half a century ago his grandfather founded Bnei Brak and became its first mayor. Ehrenreich was a school principal before the building bug got to him. What will he do when Emanuel is finished? “Build another town,” is his prompt reply.