By Steve Kramer
SAFED, Israel — When school is out during the summer, Israel’s vacation spots are crowded and expensive, especially on the weekends. We managed to find the perfect weekend, between the first few days of the new school year and Rosh Hashana, the new year holiday. We located a reasonably priced boutique hotel in Safed (Zefat), one of Judaism’s four holy cities. With our traveling buddies in tow, we headed north for a three-day getaway.
Our first stop was at the Degania Alef kibbutz, located close to Israel’s largest lake, the Sea of Galilee, known locally as the Kinneret. Degania is the very first kibbutz established in the Yishuv (pre-state Palestine) in 1909, on land purchased from a nearby Arab village. (Degania Bet was built nearby about ten years later.) Before exploring, we had coffee and fabulous chocolates at the Galita Chocolate Farm in Degania Bet. Besides the cafe and small factory, Galita features activities for children, workshops, and a factory outlet.
“Degan” is the Hebrew word for grain, which was emblematic of the several grains that the kibbutz cultivated. The founders were part of the Second Aliyah, Jews who immigrated to Palestine mostly from Russia/Ukraine/Poland during the period 1904-1914, bookmarked by massive pogroms and the start of WWI. While millions of Jews emigrated to the West during this period, just 40,000 came to Palestine. Because of the extreme hardships encountered, only about half of the “olim” remained on the land. (Suicide was the leading cause of death!)
The Degania founders learned from the experience of other agricultural endeavors to build separate dwellings for people and animals and to construct their buildings in a fort-like configuration for security. The very nice original buildings are constructed around a courtyard of local basalt stone, with implements and equipment dating back to the early years scattered around the area. Degania Alef remains an important icon in the history of the Yishuv. Moshe Dayan, former general and defense minister, was the second child to be born on the kibbutz. In addition, three luminaries of the Zionist movement, the poet Rachel, the “prophet of labor” A.D. Gordon, and Joseph Trumpeldor, all worked at Degania Alef.
We next drove to the Bet Zayda Nature Reserve, located at the delta of the Daliyot Stream (Majrasa) and Lake Kinneret, where we had a fabulous hour-long hike through the stream. The water trail varied from ankle high up to our knees and part of it was suitable for floating. Along the way we enjoyed the flora typical of the region and the cool, shaded water, which was especially welcome that hot summer day.
Along the road, we paused for a splendid mid-afternoon lunch at a grill restaurant (grilled meat or fish and tasty salads) owned by Arabs from a nearby village famed for its cooking. After the complimentary Arab coffee and pastry, we drove up the windy road to Safed, which is situated 3200 feet above sea level in the mountains of the Upper Galilee. This small, ancient city retains much of its historical architecture and character and commands magnificent views east to the Golan Heights, north to Mt. Hermon and Lebanon, west to Mt. Meron and the Amud Valley, and south to Tiberias and the Kinneret. We had booked several small suites at the O-live Resorts’ Rimon Suites, just steps from both the center of town and the famous Artists Quarter.
“The city flourished in the 16th century, when many famous Jewish religious scholars and mystics moved to Safed following the Spanish Expulsion, fleeing from the horrors of the Inquisition. Safed then became the spiritual center of the Jewish world, where Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) reached the peak of its influence. Kabbalists, such as Rabbi Yitzhak Luria (Ha-Ari HaKadosh) and Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz (who composed the Lecha Dodi prayer) and Rabbi Yosef Karo (author of the Shulchan Aruch), just to name a few, made the city famous.
“It was here that the first printing press in the Middle East was set up, publishing in 1578 the first Hebrew book to be printed in Israel. At that time the town was also a thriving trade center. However, Safed suffered terribly during the ensuing years due to earthquakes, plagues and Arab attacks. In modern times, the liberation of Safed was one of the most dramatic episodes in the 1948 War of Independence.” (www.safed.co.il)
Following a satisfying breakfast provided for us at a neighborhood cafe, we went to Bet Hameiri (Hameiri House), a wonderful local museum founded by Yehezkel, a fifth generation native of this town who spent thirty years restoring the ruined building he knew from his childhood. In a previous article about Safed (March 29, ’13), I wrote about our visit to the fascinating Hameiri Cheese Dairy. The museum is located next door to the dairy, in a second multi-level house that reaches from one level of town down to the next, lower level.
Next: we explore the museum and the Artists Quarter, as well as take a side trip to Menara, next to the border with Lebanon.
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This article was previously published by the Jewish Times of South Jersey. Author Kramer’s works may also be read on the website, www.encounteringisrael.com