Congregation Ohav Sholom

Travel in Israel - Mt. Meron

Off the Beaten Track in Israel - Shvil Hapisgah, Mt. Meron

by Michael Rosenbloom (spidermr@aol.com)

Mt. Meron, in the upper Galilee, at a height of 1,208 meters, was the highest mountain in Israel prior to the Six-Day War. In fact, Mt. Meron is a group of mountains and not one peak. Its sides, lined with natural forest and plant growth, are green all year round.

My family and I visited Mt. Meron this past December and hiked along the Peak Trail (or Shvil Hapisgah, in Hebrew). The Peak Trail is a two-hour hike to the top of Mt. Meron and back to the parking area. It's a hike suitable for children nine years of age and older. The trail is well marked by the Society for the Preservation of Nature and is basically idiot-proof. It's virtually impossible to get lost, as there is only one trail with no deviations from it.

The hike to the top is not too difficult. It takes only about an hour. Most of the trail is in the forest thicket and therefore in the shade. As you are no doubt aware from past articles, all hikes should have a destination worth reaching. This one is no different. At the top is a magnificent view. Southeast is Zefat. Directly east, is a clear view of Mt. Hermon. When we were there, in the middle of a dry spell in December, the Hermon was barely dotted with snow, a seemingly ominous sign of sparse water run-off in the spring. To the north, are the mountains of Lebanon, and all around are the small villages and settlements of the Upper Galilee. Undoubtedly, the nicest time to hike this trail is in the spring, when wild flowers are in bloom. Even in December, due to an unseasonable heat wave, we saw several wild flowers beginning to bloom.

There are several attractions in and around Mt. Meron. One is the grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi). Rashbi was the student of Rabbi Akiva, the spiritual leader of the Bar Kochba revolt against Rome, which ended unsuccessfully in 135 CE. The Talmud tells us that Rabbi Shimon was pursued by the Romans and so took shelter in a cave, where together with his son studied Torah for thirteen years. Rabbi Shimon came to be regarded as the author of the "Zohar," the basis for the Kabbalah. While the Zohar itself attributes its authorship to Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, modern scholarship has dismissed this theory since many parts of the Zohar are thought to be from a later period. The "Zohar" became popular in the sixteenth century among the Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzchak Luria and his followers in Zefat. The tomb is extremely important to Sephardic Jews who flock to Mt. Meron in droves, especially on Lag B'Omer.

Only a ten-minute drive from Mt. Meron and a mere stone's throw from the Lebanese border is Bar'am. In Bar'am, are the remains of a beautiful synagogue from the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods, around the third century, CE. Particularly impressive is the synagogue's facade, which has three portals, one with carvings of grape clusters and a wreath. Another has a barely visible Aramaic inscription indicating who the builder of the synagogue was. The interior of the synagogue had two rows of six columns, the remains of which can still be seen. Only one ancient synagogue that I've seen in Israel is better preserved: the synagogue at Kefar Nahum by the Sea of Galilee. Bar'am was a Maronite Christian village until 1948, at which time the village was evacuated, during the War of Independence. One can still see remains of the village as well as a church on the site.

Bar'am is located off the road that runs along Israel's northern border. Depending on where you're heading next, you can take the northern road west to the coast (letting you off just south of Rosh Hanikra), east to the panhandle (Etzbah Hagalil) or south over the hills of the Galilee.

May 2000

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