JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A new chapter in the Jewish return to northern Samaria was marked this weekend as kindergartens were inaugurated in the communities of Sa-Nur, Eival and Emek Dotan, with the opening ceremonies featuring the children themselves affixing mezuzahs to the entrances.
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The most historically significant of the ceremonies took place on Mount Ebal, where a new kindergarten has opened in the recently established community of Eival.
“This is the first kindergarten on Mount Ebal since the days of Joshua son of Nun,” Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said at the ceremony.
The opening carries particular significance for Jewish residents because of the mountain’s prominent place in the biblical account of Israel’s entry into the Land.
The Book of Yehoshua describes Joshua leading the Israelites to Mount Ebal after their entry into the Land of Israel. There, he built an altar to the Lord and the Israelites gathered between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim to hear the words of the Torah, including the blessings and curses. The biblical account states that the ceremony was attended by the entire nation, including women and children.
The new kindergarten is located in the modern community of Eival, established on the mountain in northern Samaria, near the archaeological site traditionally associated with Joshua’s altar.
הכי מרגש: נחנכו גני הילדים בשא-נור עיבל ועמק דותן.
גני הילדים ביישוב המתחדש שא-נור וביישובים החדשים עיבל ועמק דותן נחנכו בסוף השבוע.
הגננות קבעו את המזוזות יחד עם הילדים הנרגשים. יוסי דגן אמר בטקס בהר עיבל: “זהו גן הילדים הראשון בהר עיבל – מאז ימי יהושע בן נון”. pic.twitter.com/SFUx62XLIu
— מה חדש. What’s new❓ (@Gloz111) September 5, 2026
For the families involved, the arrival of young children and the establishment of a permanent educational framework represents more than the opening of another preschool. It is being presented by the settlement movement as a tangible sign of a renewed Jewish presence in an area associated with one of the earliest chapters of the biblical story of the Jewish people.
“This is an emotional moment to see the children here, the next generation,” said Tehila Dvir, the kindergarten teacher in Eival and a resident of the community. “There has never been a kindergarten here on the mountain, and now Jews are returning, settling the place and making the wilderness bloom.”
The opening in Sa-Nur carries a different but equally significant historical dimension.
Sa-Nur was one of four northern Samaria communities evacuated and demolished during Israel’s 2005 disengagement. More than two decades later, Jewish families have begun returning to the site.
The community was reestablished in 2026 after the government approved its renewal, with families moving back to the area earlier this year. The new kindergarten therefore represents the return of a basic community institution more than 21 years after the original community was uprooted.
“This is a very emotional morning,” said Yael Nevo, the kindergarten teacher in Sa-Nur. “Opening a kindergarten is always exciting, but especially opening a kindergarten again after it was closed for so many years.”
She expressed hope that the children and their families would continue to build Jewish communities throughout the region.
A third kindergarten was inaugurated in the new community of Emek Dotan, near the biblical Emek Dotan where Yosef met his brothers and was sold to slavery. The kindergarten is headed by teacher Tova Trovya Dasa.
The openings are part of a broader expansion of Jewish communities and educational infrastructure across northern Samaria.
According to the Samaria Regional Council, eight new kindergartens opened across the region this school year, six of them in new or renewed communities in northern Samaria—including Eival, Sa-Nur, Ganin, Kadim, Noa and Emek Dotan.
More than 25,000 students are beginning the new school year in the regional council’s educational system, which includes 168 kindergartens, 28 elementary schools and 11 secondary institutions.
The council says the expansion is part of a five-year education plan under which it intends to invest approximately NIS 50 million in upgrading and developing educational facilities over five years, as the population of the region grows.