My father has always been the family pragmatic. He is sensible, practical, and nearly always right. And with Prime Minister Sharon's "Disengagement Plan," my father behaved as usual; pragmatically.

The pragmatic behavior progressed until he wasn't willing to put the time and effort into repainting the interior house walls before Pesach (Passover) or touching up the gorgeous aqua colored paint which borders our outside doors and windows. We didn't quite agree with him, but we all understood his view that you can not enjoy something properly if it isn't going to last for long.

However, when my father stopped watering our lush, welcoming front lawn, I thought he had gone too far.  I, for one, can definitely enjoy a sparkling green oasis in the midst of golden sand dunes!  Even if it might only be for a few more months.

The straw that really broke the camel's back though was when he stopped watering the trees and hedges.  Now, while grass only takes a few months to grow in, trees and hedges are a matter of years of dedication, pruning, and devotion.  It has taken our olive colored square hedge seven years to reach its current height of five feet.  And with the lovely warm Spring days, our stately trees have only just covered themselves with a delightful array of numerous light-green colored leaves!

So many hours, months, and years have gone into creating our small personal Garden of Eden.  So many tears and droplets of sweat have soaked through the Good Earth stirring the roots to spread and deepen and firmly take root.  My father used to walk with us kids around the garden on the warm summer nights, the plants glittering after having just been watered and the stars sparkling in the black sky above.  We'd stop by every tree and bush looking for new growth... and he'd describe to us, his eager children, how big and spread out it would be by the season's end.  And how much bigger it would be next year and the year after that.

And today something changed. "Hey Shifra, I've been working in the garden today," my father greeted me as I returned home from school.  "Really?!" I asked surprised.  "Did you enjoy it?" I couldn't help adding teasingly in response.  "Actually, yes, I did" my father said cheerfully sounding a bit amused at himself.

I was soon to find out the reason for this delightfully drastic change.

Today thousands flocked to the streets and 350 of them were arrested.  These thousands of protestors realized the probability of their being arrested and decided that it is an honor to be arrested if it is for a good cause.  And they decided that our cause is the best in the world.  Those 350 protestors were arrested while blocking major streets in major cities in Israel in order to show that if a Jew's life is disrupted in Gush Katif then Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Lod, Holon, S'derot…will not be able to continue with its' regular hustle-n-bustle life.  And if these cities are determined to ignore it's brothers plight in Gush Katif, then thousands of protestors will determinedly bring the entire country to a halt for a desperately needed and long over due lesson in loving ones fellow Jew as oneself.

And it is these thousands of precious protestors who have convinced my father to take good care of his Garden of Eden and not allow himself to be banished from it.

Am Yisroel Chai -- The People of Israel Live!