Places to visit in Bat Yam, Kiryat Tiv'on, Beit Zaid, Zikhron Ya'akov
Saturday walk through Beit Shearim and Zichron Yaakov.
Beautiful autumn days in one of the most mysterious places in the north of the country. Beit Shearim is an ancient city with a well-preserved necropolis, Zichron Yaakov - the first settlement of Baron Rothschild - European corner of the Holy Land Translated with Google Translate
Free parking in Beit Shaarim National Park - it all starts from here. Beit Shearim National Park was founded on the site of the ancient necropolis and the city of the period of the Mishnah and Talmud - Beit Shearim. One of the largest and most beautifully preserved ancient necropolises. In Beit Shearim was buried Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. Beit Shearim was founded as a city at the end of the 1st century. BC, during the reign of King Herod the Great. He was a prosperous Jewish city until it was destroyed by a fire in 352 AD, the year of the Jewish uprising against the Roman Caesar of the eastern part of the empire Constancia Gall. After some time, Beit Shearim was transformed into a Byzantine city. Translated with Google Translate
During the early Arab period (7th century AD), there was a small settlement here, and at the end of the 16th century, there was an Arab village of Sheikh Abrek named Sheikh Burek known in these places. Josephus mentioned the city called Basara as the administrative center of the lands of Princess Berenice in the Jezreel Valley. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD The Sanhedrin was at a certain stage in Beit Shearim. Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi, head of the Sanhedrin, settled in Beit Shearim. The last seventeen years of his life, he spent in Sepphoris (Zipory) because of a more favorable climate, but had to be buried in Beit Shearim in the limit, which he received as a gift from his friend, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Antonin. The most desirable place for the burial of the Jews was the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, but in 135 AD, when Jews were removed from Jerusalem, the Beit Shearim district became an alternative. The archaeological significance of this place was recognized in the mid-1880s during the Survey of Western Palestine, which mentions many tombs and catacombs, but there is no mention of an ancient city. Translated with Google Translate
The burial of Judas This man is the founder of modern Judaism due to his personal connections with the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, Judaism almost became the state religion of the Roman Empire. Many ancient tombs have been found in more than twenty necropolis catacombs. Geographical references in the inscriptions on the walls of the catacombs indicate that the necropolis was used not only by people from the city of Beit Shearim, but also from other places in Galilee, and even from such distant cities as Palmyra and Tir. The Jerusalem Talmud cites Beit Shearim as the burial place of Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi. The funeral is described as follows: “Wonders were unheard of on that day. It was evening, and in all the cities they gathered to mourn him, and eighteen synagogues offered praise to him and carved a niche for him in Beit Shearim, and the daylight stood until everyone returned to their homes his "The fact that Rabbi Yehuda haNasi was buried in Beit Shearim is considered one of the main reasons for the popularity of the necropolis in late antiquity. One of the catacombs (No. 14) was defined as his burial. Translated with Google Translate
The burial is a system of various caves united by corridors. Inside there are various elements of Judaica. For example, how this huge menorah is the menorah. In 1936, Alexander Zaid, one of the legendary personalities of the haShomer movement who worked as a watchman, reported that he had found a hole in the wall of one of the caves that led him to another cave decorated with inscriptions. In 1936 and 1955, the site was made by Benjamin Mazar and Nachman Avigad. Translated with Google Translate
Alexander Zayd, along with Israel Shokhat and his wife, Manay, again acted as organizers and inspirers of the Jewish self-defense organization, which was created, like Bar Gior, to protect Jewish agricultural settlements in the Jewish Ishuva of Palestine.
A huge number of well-known Jewish political figures passed through Ha-Shomer, for example, David Ben-Gurion, who was sent by the Guardians to Constantinople to study law. Subsequently, the first Prime Minister of Israel said about the first “Shomerians” who settled in the Sedger settlement, that these were the “happiest days of my life”. But the first fiasco of the future number one policy of the Jewish state was connected with the organization of Ha-Shomer: David Green (then he hadn’t taken the name Ben-Gurion yet) was not accepted into the organization of Ha-Shomer after his Ph.D. that he is an unsuitable man, a scattered dreamer, hovering in the clouds.
Around the same period, Alexander Zayd and his wife Zipora founded the Kibbutz Kfar-Giladi in Galilee, which became the center of the underground activities of Ha-Shomer.
In 1926, after the creation of the Haganah, David Ben-Gurion demanded that Ha-Shomer join her and transfer all his weapons. Zayd and his wife supported the merger with Hagana, but most of the members of Kfar Giladi were against it.
As a result, Zaida was forced to leave the kibbutz with four young children and moved to Sheikh Abrek in the Jezreel Valley, where he worked as a security guard, and also served as a keeper for the lands of the UNF. Among other things, fascinated by archeology, he invited from the Hebrew University archeologist Benjamin Mazar, who began excavations here of the beginning of the first millennium AD. e. Beit Shearim. Residents of the Arab village, which was located on the territory of the European National Fund, were evicted several years ago, when the Sursuk family, after selling these lands, went to live in Beirut. Translated with Google Translate
During the early Arab period (7th century AD), there was a small settlement here, and at the end of the 16th century, there was an Arab village of Sheikh Abrek named Sheikh Burek known in these places. Translated with Google Translate
The settlement of Zichron Yaakov is one of the first settlements that was supported by the Rothschild family. Jews from Romania settled here and began to grow grapes and produce wine. Zichron Yaakov - the birthplace of Israeli winemaking.
Old houses with tiled roofs and economic yards are left on the main street of the city. Translated with Google Translate
The Neely House Museum of Aronson is dedicated to the first underground organization in Israel - NILI (Netzah Israel Lo Ishaker) - “Israel won't lie in a strong one.” During the First World War, the lands of Israel were occupied by the Ottoman Empire, the situation of the Jewish communities was in a very difficult position. The NILI, of which the protagonists were the Aronson family, collected data on the whereabouts of the Turkish bases, as well as other spy information, and transmitted it to the British. In exchange, the organization NILI received money, medicines and other necessary things. In the fall of 1917, the organization was uncovered, and many residents of Zichron Yakov were arrested or executed, including the Aronson family. In the museum, located in Zichron Yakov, you can watch a film about the activities of LILI, get acquainted with interesting documents and photographs, as well as visit the house of Aronson and an armory. Translated with Google Translate
The synagogue was built during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans had a law on the demolition of houses: the building is not subject to demolition, if the roof was built. The builders of the synagogue took advantage of this law, and in the middle of the night all the members of the settlement secretly built a synagogue, and in the mornings they gave the building as a stable. Every time Turkish officials came to ask what they were building there, the villagers answered that they were building a stable. Finally, one night they built the roof of the synagogue, and the next morning the officials were surprised to see that there was a synagogue on the site of the stable. Another story connected with this synagogue is known from the rabbis' journey to the settlements of Baron Rothschild. When they reached the synagogue in Zichron Yaakov, they found that the prayer exaltation was in front of the hall next to the ark, as is common among Ashkenazi Jews. The rabbis, led by Rabbi Cook, announced that they would not go to the synagogue until they were sure that the dais would not be moved to the center of the hall in accordance with the traditional Jewish tradition. Translated with Google Translate
Moshav Kerem Makharal is so named because of its location on the slopes of Mount Carmel (kerem - vinogradnik) and after the name of the famous Prague Rabbi Yehuda Levi ben Betsalel, who was called Morena haGadol Rabbi Liwa or abbreviated: Maharall. The moshav was created in 1949 by a group of repatriates from the Czech Republic. among the creators of moshav, there were quite a few people who survived the Holocaust and came from the Jewish organization Czech Brigade, who took an active part in the war for the independence of Israel. A group of repatriates from the Czech Republic, wanted to create a joint settlement in Israel and its representative, Shimon Mine, arrived in Israel in advance with the aim of organizing a settlement. The moshav arose in the lands of the Arab village of Idjim, whose inhabitants left it during the war for the independence of Israel. The first years of its existence, the moshav suffered from a shortage of fertile agricultural land and suffered heavy losses. Residents left these places, and various attempts to increase the fertile lands of the settlement were not crowned with success. The neighboring Makura farm, which possessed fertile lands, fell into private hands. In search of alternative crops, the cultivation of which could bring profit to the moshav, residents of Kerem Makharal decided to cut down the olive grove, which caused losses. This event caused a great public outcry in 1967. One of the famous journalists who described these events and took a certain position was Amos Keinan. In the 1950s, Dr. Eliezer Yorman, who led the orphanage for children of Holocaust survivors to Switzerland before repatriating, decided to create a home for orphans suffering from mental retardation in the moshav. This institution received the name "Tel Shahar" (Hill of Dawn) and was supported entirely from the doctor's personal savings. After his death, 12 years later, the orphanage was closed, and the children were transferred to other similar institutions in the north of the country. Only in the second half of the 70s, the moshav underwent changes and economic revival. The abolition of the monopoly on the organized purchase of moshav products, gave every farmer an opportunity to independently sell their crops. In addition, as part of a state campaign to expand the land of moshavim, Kerem Maharal received additional plots. Today in the moshav there is a successful enterprise “Sdot Israel”, a winery and an oil mill. Translated with Google Translate
Winery "Amphora" grows its vineyards in the north of the Golan Heights, where the cool and dry climate allows you to cultivate special grapes. But not only this is based on the brand "Amfora". Winemakers Arkady Papikyan and Michel Roland they buy grapes from other parts of the country, personally checking almost every bunch. The most famous wines are Cabernet Savignon, Blend Shiraz and Merlot Cabernet Savignon, Blend Merlot and Barbara. Translated with Google Translate
Don't be afraid to get lost in new places!
