Who are the Circassians?

In March, I visited Kfar Kama in the Jezreel Valley. Its residents are a people group I'd never heard of before. Have you ever heard of the Circassians?

The Circassians are from the northwest Caucasus Region. This Muslim people group suffered a genocide at the hands of Russia in the early 19th century and were exiled to Turkey and the Middle East.

Today, there are 10 million Circassians in the world. Though they are far from their homeland, their culture and language remain. Since I am learning Hebrew, I was fascinated to learn about their language, which is pictorial, using onomatopoeia, words that look like they sound, like "Meow". Like Hebrew, each letter has a meaning. Their language doesn't have gender; there isn't even a word for "he" or "she". They won't say, "My husband" or "my wife", because no one belongs to anyone. Because there are not enough consonants to complete the language, words have multiple meanings. For this, and many other reasons, context is key.

While in Kfar Kama, I got to tour the ancient town, see artifacts, and watch a demonstration of the cultural dances. It was so cool!

Today you get to experience this with me!

Can you see the basalt in the building materials? What a beautiful town!

Kfar Kama known as one of the cleanest cities in the world. But they don't have cleaning crew, because everyone in the town cleans the town.

This symbol on the building is from the Circassian flag.

Peek-a-boo!

Traditional clothes and artifacts:

Now for the dancing! It was so beautiful. The girl looked like she was floating. My favorite dance was the one about the eagle. 

The story goes that there was a guy who couldn't dance well, so he intentionally made up funny dances imitating different animals that made everyone laugh. And then one day he and his wife did a dance like a pair of eagles, and no one laughed. It was so beautiful that they said, "We aren't going to call this one 'the eagle dance', we are going to name it after you."

So fun!

Where the restoration of modern-day Israel began

Just 35 kilometers south of Haifa, still on Mount Carmel, is a town of great importance: Zichron Ya'akov, "Jacob's Memorial".

It was founded in 1882 with 100 Jewish pioneers from Romania came to Israel in what later became known as the 1st Aliyah. Unfortunately, the difficulty of trying to grow grapes, wheat, and olives in the rocky soil and the presence of malaria led many to give up and leave within a year. Every family lost a child that year. To this day, the founders are still buried in the cemetery.

A year later, Baron Edmond James de Rothschild became the patron of the settlement, helped establish it as a winemaking town, and gave it the name it still holds today.

By 1903, it was the most prosperous place in all of Israel. 

Zichron Ya'akov didn't appear to be much in 1882, and there are definitely bigger, more populated, and also important cities in all of Israel. But it alone has this distinction: it is where the restoration of modern-day Israel began.

Today, you can go to Zichron Ya'achov and tour the town. The original main street is there with its original buildings, as well as the cemetery and the synagogue. It's a cool tourist destination with some museums to learn about the moshave and then enjoy the local culture. 

(a photo of what the main street looked like)

the main street today

a pottery studio!

another museum, this time telling the heroic story of the Nili spy ring during WWII.

The cemetery

the synagogue. 

This beautiful town is an important place in Israel's history. I definitely recommend spending time here if you get the chance!

Can a nation be built in a day?

Isaiah 66:8 asks the impossible question: "Can a country be born in a day, or a nation be brought forth in a moment?"

On May 14, 1948, that's what happened when the nation of Israel was re-born in the Land.

While definitely the most clear example, that's not the only way this impossible question was answered by the rebirth of Israel. 

Beside Gan HaShlosha is the park of Tel Amal, which is an exact replica of the first Stockade and Tower Settlement of Tel Amal, which was built December 1936.

According to this site, Tel Amal was the first settlement of its kind. It was literally raised in a day, and became a model for 57 other settlements throughout Israel between 1936-1939.

The element of surprise was crucial, so that they couldn't be stopped. Everything was pre-fabricated and then constructed on-site in 1 day. The walls were filled with gravel that would stop bullets. And you can see from the map above, that these literally helped form the modern boundaries of Israel, as they were built along the borders, in Jewish areas.

Today, at Tel Amal, you can tour the settlement. Visitors go on a journey with characters in a film (based on the original settlers) as they prepare and then build the settlement.

Then, you can walk around and see:

The living quarters

The office

kitchen/laundry

You can also climb the tower and look around. It's an incredible view, with the kibbutz Nir David and the Amal stream on one side, Gan HaShlosha on another, and Mount Gilboa alongside.

Finally, have you ever heard the term, "Sabra"? It's the fruit of a cactus, and is a nation for Israelis who were born in the Land. It's hard and spiny on the outisde, but the inside is sweet. Here is some sabra growing alongside Tel Amal.

What do you think? Is this an additional meaning to the question if a nation can be born in a day? While I believe it was pointing to May 14, 1948, how amazing that these settlements literally went up on a day and formed the boundaries of modern day Israel? I definitely see a connection there as well!

Did the Ark of the Covenant rest here?

The thing about being in Israel is that you never know when you will see or learn something that will take your breath away. Tel Beit Shemesh definitely was one of those places!

In 1 Samuel, the Ark of the Covenant was stolen from Shiloh by the Philistines, where it began a tour of the major Philistine cities, as crazy things happened wherever the Ark was: statues of false gods fell over face first, decapitated and missing limbs, and all the people broke out in tumors to name a few. Eventually, the Ark was put on a cart led by two nursing cows, and they carried it out of Philistine territory to Beit Shemesh, where the Ark was eventually placed on a large stone.

Then, more tragedy struck. Because some Levites peered into the Ark, people died. Different versions of 1 Samuel 6 are unclear; some say it was 70 people and some say it was 50,070. The text also doesn't say how long the Ark was actually in Beit Shemesh, which means "House of the Sun". Either way, it was a hard-learned lesson.

Modern day Tel Beit Shemesh isn’t a national park; we literally parked on the side of the road and walked up, where we could see the modern city (below), and

and even glimpse Samson’s hometown (the far right peak in the distance).

There are ruins of a monastery, an amazing view towards the ancient Philistine territory, and a massive, cross-shaped cistern dating back to the Assyrian invasion.

But the coolest part is this place in the oldest part of the ruins dating to the Canaanite era, with the fields just beyond them. There are 3 flat, smooth rocks partially covered by grass in the photo below. They look a lot like places where sacrifices have been made, and tests of the ground around it reveal the remains of kosher animals used in sacrifices.

the 3 flat stones with the groove are in the center below, partially hidden by grass:

Behind those 3 stones is an unnatural wall, called “fill”. It was left after digging around it and now it acts as a wall, showing what the earth absorbed over the past millennia. On the edge of the “wall”, a bone is sticking out. Can you see it?

Can you see it?

We even found an animal bone lying just off the path where we were staying (bonus).

And behind that fill “wall”, is an even larger stone, also partially hidden in long grass. It’s flat, smooth, and almost the exact shape and size of what the stone holding the Ark needed to be.

Could that be where the Ark rested after returning from the Philistines?

I was pretty much speechless at that point, to be standing in this unprotected place, looking at a place that likely held the presence of God (as if He can be contained). Then it struck me, as incredible as that was, and is, even more so is that those of us who know Him have His Holy Spirit inside of us.

What a special place! The end of 1 Samuel says that after this, the Ark went to Kiriath Jearim, where it stayed in the house of Abinadab for 20 years.

He is Risen!

"He is not here; He is risen, just as He said. Come see the place where He lay.” Matthew 28:6

Praise the Lord, the tomb is empty!

📷from the Garden Tomb, 2017 #bestdayever

The wine press just in front of the Garden Tomb: proof it was in a garden!

Have a wonderful Easter!