8 - Kfar Blum

Prologue:

I’d like to thank Grace Chapel and Camp Berea for arming me with a song for almost all occasions here in Israel

“Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho …”

“I looked over Jordan, and what did I see, coming for to carry me home …”

“Jesus fed the hungry thousands, fish and bread he multiplied …”

Introduction:

10 minutes walking to the Jordan drainage ditch, I mean the Jordan River, and 2-5 miles from Lebanon sits Kfar Blum, an historic Kibbutz that has capitalized on opportunities of capitalism and begun a profitable hotel business. With an Olympic sized swimming pool, tennis courts, and air-conditioning, this is the Kibbutz at which we are guests for two nights.

With a rented mini-bus (not a short bus), and amazing guide (how could he not be, he lived in Chevy Chase for eight years … we highly suspect his dad might be Israeli intelligence), we left Tel Aviv this morning and headed north. Our mission for today was to immerse ourselves in history, attempting to further understand the founding of the state of Israel and the fragile relationships that persist in this region.

Part 1: Atlit

Near the Mediterranean Sea and north of Tel Aviv (very near Haifa), Atlit stands as a bitter reminder of the early struggle of holocaust survivors after World War II, and also a celebration of the first remarkable Jewish offensive since the beginning of the Diaspora. As we learned at Independence Hall in Tel Aviv, the struggle for Jews to find a home in the years after World War II added a sense of urgency to the Zionist movement. Mandated by UN instruction to occupy Israel and moderate Jewish/Arab relations, the British enforced strict immigration quotas. As a result, most Jews, coming from Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, and other Middle Eastern Countries, were blocked from entering the Land of Canaan, and sent to detention camps, mostly in Cyprus and other islands, but also in Israel, including at Atlit. Though well fed and treated kindly by the British, re-entering facilities with double barbed wire fences, disinfecting rooms, and gender separation was a traumatic experience for these survivors of the Nazi concentration camps.

Although the maximum capacity was about 2,000, in 1945 there were about 200 refugees at Atlit. The Palmach learned that 40 of its inhabitants were aliens from Lebanon and Syria, and that they were soon to be deported back to their homelands, facing certain execution apon their return. Practicing the ideal of the “new Jew” that would not be led like sheep to slaughter, members of the elite striking force of Haganah, the Palmach, set to break into Atlit and bring the refugees to safety in Israel. Amazingly, future Prime Minister Itzak Rabin (whose memorial in Tel Aviv we visited last week) was second in command on this military mission (apparently, in a small country, most leaders wear many hats), and in a bloodless effort, the Palmach freed nearly 200 refugees and brought them to the nearest settlement. Greeting them at dawn were thousands of residents from Haifa gathered to help the refugees and Palmach soldiers blend in with the residents of the town and ultimately to avoid arrest.

Not that Kfar Blum in its current state is a good example of an historic Kibbutz, but even learning more about the history of the Kibbutz movement has helped me admire the passion and progressiveness of these communal arrangements. The Kibbutzniks, passionate “new Jews” who learned to farm land, share resources (not even a t-shirt would be personally owned), and defend, were pioneers in their day. They were integral to the success of Jewish settlements across Israel, and helped to redefine what it means to be a Jew. In the same way, the members of the Palmach, through heroic efforts like pre-emptively freeing Jewish brothers who were condemned to certain death through deportation, showed at Atlit that the “new Jew,” creating a new Israel was a force to be reckoned with. Glorifying stories like the Zealots at Masada, and drawing on stories of glory like the 6 Day War (which we will learn more about tomorrow at the Golan Heights), has helped the Jewish people in Israel, and in Diaspora, to understand their identity, see their identity in relations to their world neighbors, and draw much needed strength to realize their dream achieving and maintaining sovereign statehood.

Part 2: Bet She’arim

After the Great Rebellion of the 1^st Century, there was a second, and even larger, rebellion in the early 2^nd Century. Further defeated by the Romans, many Jews from cities like Jerusalem fled north. In this period, the graves at Bet She-arim were developed, and include the burial site of Rabbi Judah the Priest, as well as hundreds of other Jews, all in limestone sarcophagi in natural caves. One interesting aspect of these burial tombs is that many of them include engraven images, which are forbidden in Jewish law and are indicative of a changes in Jewish tradition in this period.

Intermission: Lunch

Fast food falafel is delicious J

Part 3: Zippori

Before making our way to Kfar Blum, we stopped at Zippori, one of the largest cities in the lower Galilee during the time of Jesus, and in fact just one valley away from Nazareth. Our guide tells us that Nazarene carpenters during the time of Jesus would have depended on residents of Zippori to commission work.

The ruins of Zippori, a tel (meaning a city or ruins that is not just one set of ruins, but ruins apon ruins apon ruins, as would happened when cities were conquered and reconquered over millennia), date back to the early Byzantine period, shortly after Constantine adopted Christianity. We visited the ruins of the Jewish temple, and also of one of the great homes on a hill, proudly known to house “the first Mona Lisa,” an all-seeing female visage in mosaic on the floor. Zippori was clearly doing well in the early 300’s, as seen through the beautiful mosaic’s in the Temple, and our guide stopped to tell us about the revolutions in Judaism after the fall of the 2^nd Temple in 74 a.d., and the rabbi’s who helped the Jewish people adapt to a Judaism that was portable and could be practiced anywhere.

Unlike Masada, where the Zealots chose to kill themselves rather than risk being tortured and killed or enslaved by the Romans, the Jews of Zippori took a very different approach to Roman domination. The residents of Zippori invited the Romans into their walls with open arms. Welcome to Zippori, we will not turn you away, we will live in peace with you, and adopt many of your traditions … the initial greeting may have gone something like that J

The evidence of the Zippori attitude to the Romans can be seen in the mosaic floor of the city’s temple, just as we viewed on the sarcophagi in Bet She’arim … next to the story of Abraham and Isaac is a zodiac with Jewish characters, and following that is the tradition menorah and rendition of the arc of the covenant. The Jews at Zippori integrated customs and decorative symbols, and through this effort they survived as Jews under Roman rule.

Sitting in the ruins of the Zippori temple, we had a family discussion about the different ways in which the Jews of the 1^st and 2^nd Centuries coped with aggressive Roman rule. One way was the Zippori way, embracing Roman traditions and adapting to a portable Judaism. A second way was the Zealots way at Masada, choosing death to Roman rule. A third way was completely inheriting Roman cultures and beliefs. And a fourth way was Christianity, receiving the Good News of Christ. Only a small sect of Judaism at the time, early followers of Christ lived in a very tumultuous time.

An additional note:

I’d be remiss not to mention that we saw beautiful scenery today. Thousands and thousands of shimmery olive trees (the olives taste much better in the jar … promise), Sabra cactus, pomegranate tree groves, and gorgeous dunes, rolling hills and cliff-sides. We also had the amazing pleasure of driving by a most beautiful blue lake … it was pretty far in the distance, but sure enough we were looking at the Sea of Galilee and for the first time I was able to envision Jesus on its shores. Today, I thought about Jesus of Nazareth feeding the hungry thousands, multiplying fish and bread for all who had come to hear him speak. I couldn’t help but also envision him walking a ways across the Sea, perhaps calming it during an abnormally rough storm, and also men like James and John mending their fishing nets on the shore.

In so many ways, northern Israel is a no-man’s land. We are in semi-desert, with tectonic plates slowly moving away from each other and emphasizing the large valley. Today, the Jordan River is nearly dried up (sooooooo much to say about water issues in Israel and the West Bank, more later), and the heat persists. For some reason, whenever I imagined James and Johns and their fishing nets at the Sea of Galilee, I didn’t imagine it being so warm (600 feet below sea level, the banks of the Galilee are especially hot). I look forward to changing how I visualize all of these Gospel stories, and I am confident that the next six days will continue to inform my understanding of both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

And another additional note:

Tonight I pray for peace in the Middle East. Being so close to a Christian country (Lebanon), just days after the controversial trade of prisoners for Israeli soldiers, I pray for the leaders of each of these countries, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian. God, please help them find commonality in You, and please lead them towards decisions that glorify You. Please soften their hearts and open their eyes so that they might lead their people in patience and hope towards a more peaceful region.