In the midst of the heartache fostered on the people of Gush Katif, the Elba family celebrated a joyous occasion: the brit milah (ritual circumcision) of their newborn son. Born in an ambulance en route to Netzarim last week, the ceremony took place on the eighth day, according to the commandment given to Abraham, as a sign of God’s eternal covenant with the Jewish people. Tomorrow when the army comes to evict them and the rest of the residents of Netzarim from their homes, they will remember today’s joy and the hope it has brought them. Netzarim residents have been told they’ll be housed temporarily in the Ariel College dormitories in Samaria, though they don’t know where they’ll be moved from there. At the northern end of Gush Katif, the people of Moshav Katif set bales of hay and old furniture on fire at the entrance to the moshav to symbolize the tragedy of leaving their homes.