Moshav Beit Chilkya©

Today Beit Chilkya’s elegant homes, with their verdant gardens that line well-paved streets with precise, multicolored, tiled sidewalks, belie the tremendous mesirus nefesh invested to conquer the mud and adversity and to set up the place.

When Rav Yosef Zimmerman lost his whole kehillah in the horror of the Holocaust, he vowed to re-establish a similar community in the Holy Land. He eventually reached Eretz Yisrael and approached the Sochnut (Jewish Agency) for land. He was given barren fields in the vicinity of other frum moshavim such as Yesodot and Yad Binyamin. The Rav wanted to call, his portion Nachliel (the nachalah [portion] of Keil) but that name was already being used in a different place. So he chose the name Beit Chilkya, the “home” that is the chelek (section) of Hashem.

The moshav was started in 1953, but people did not want to come to brave the wilderness. Rav

Zimmerman made his rounds to the different maabarot — transit camps for olim — and absorption centers to find members to join his community. He literally had to beg people to come along with him. He managed to convince mostly Holocaust survivors to join his endeavour.

But that was just the beginning of the unbelievable hardship he and they endured.

When the recruits arrived, they lived in tiny, square tin shanties that were broiling hot in summer and freezing cold in winter — not to mention the icy rain that poured in at that time of year. And the mud — the mud was everywhere and so, so deep. A true story is told of how one tall resident became very short within moments. He sank into the treacherous mud until his beard was level with it. He needed to be pulled out by donkeys …

The toilets were holes in the ground set away from the homes, among concrete blocks. It was scary to reach them at night. As there was no running water, they had to connect to the watering hoses of the fields when they wanted to shower. There was no electricity, and for years there was only one telephone in the moshav (later, a second one was added). People stood in line to use the phone. Once a week a truck selling vegetables came around and people needed to make do with what there was. So it was not surprising that people ran away. Rav Zimmerman used to run after them to bring them back.

Rav Zimmerman was the father they had lost in the dreadful years of the Holocaust. He married off those who had been bereaved of spouses in the nightmare of the previous years and were left as single parents. He guided and was an anchor to the residents of Beit Chilkya.

When Rav Zimmerman passed away in 1964, the moshav was considering taking a Litvish talmid chacham as its Rav. In the end Rav Shlomo Halevy Polak was appointed as Rav, as he was a chassid who had learned in Ponovehz. Thus, both the Chassidim and the Yekkes (misnagdim) in the moshav were satisfied.

The moshav adheres strictly to halachah, and over the years, they have kept eight Shemittos scrupulously. At the entrance to Beit Chilkya during Shemittah, visitors to the moshav were greeted with an atypical “Welcome” banner and sign that stated, “Shabbos Ha’aretz, Shabbos L’Hashem.” The “kerem” (vineyard) of the village was totally hefker during the sabbatical years.

All the laws pertaining to fields and agriculture are observed to their finest details. There are cowsheds, an esrog orchard and vineyards, all run according to Torah. The moshav has two shuls: Ohel Yosef named after Rav Zimmerman and Ohel Kalman named for a wonderful member of Beit Chilkya who had, among other things, a gemach for people to borrow money for Shabbos needs.

The moshav also hosts the Belz Yeshivah, located right near the entrance. The yeshivah gedolah, Shaarei Shemot, on the yishuv is a branch of Be’er Yaakov.

 

A lady who grew up on Beit Chilkya tells of the incredible “togetherness” and unity of the early residents of the moshav and the unlimited mutual help given to each other. The people lived in utmost simplicity. They had almost nothing and yet they lacked nothing, as they did not aspire to that much on a physical level. They lived plainly without many frills. True, in the beginning years of the state the entire country lived simply, but we can safely say this was much more pronounced in Beit Chilkya.

Today about 250 families live in Beit Chilkya. There are “tzimmerim” to be rented on Shabbos for those wanting a beautiful place to get away.

Directions to Beit Chilkya From Jerusalem

By car: Take Route 1 out of Jerusalem, turn right at the sign to Latrun and then left onto Route 3. Drive past Yesodot and Yad Binyamin, to your right, until you reach the sign saying Beit Chilkya. Turn right.

 By bus: Egged #451 or #450.

The Kosel Tunnels ©

 

Many mefarshim ask why in Parashas Emor, in the verses about the different chagim, there is an insert about the mitzvah of leket, peah and shichecha, inbetween the verses discussing Shavuos and the Yamin Nora’im. Rav Baruch Rosenblum saw in an old sefer the following explanation: The insert about these land related mitzvos alludes to the 9th of Av, which falls between the two aforementioned chagim. These three commandments instruct us to leave over produce in our fields. Hashem keeps Torah and His field is Zion (Har HaBayis) when Tzion (Har Habayis), was ploughed over, Hashem kivyachol left over the Kosel, a heavenly leket, peah and shichecha.

The Kosel is the biggest makom tefillah in the world, and millions of people from all walks of life visiting it each year. The Kosel (i.e., the open section, which people refer to as the Kosel) comprises only 60 meters of the 488 meters of the western retaining wall of Har Habayis.

The first section of the Western Wall runs from the south-western corner of the Temple Mount until the Mugrabie Gate and is found today in what is called the Davidson Center, and is part of the Southern Wall Excavations. Here the wall has been exposed to the level of Second Temple street (paved by Agripas II), which street runs alongside it.

The rest of the Western Wall is found within the vaults and arches of the Kosel Tunnels. In this column I would like to take you on a guided tour though these fascinating underground labyrinths. This will be an awe-inspiring journey through time; enthralling lessons in Jewish history will be learned, and the archaeology and topography of Yerushalayim will be studied.

The Donkey Stable

We enter though the arched doorway into a room that was built at the end of the Middle Ages, and that British explorer Charles Warren called “The Donkey Stable.” Here we stand around a half-circle model of the topography of ancient Yerushalayim (before it was called so), as it looked after Creation. The place of Har Hamoriah is represented. Here we find the even hashesiyah, the embryonic stone from which Hashem created the world. Here the first man was created. The place of the altar is in very close proximity to the foundation stone.

We are told by Chazal “Makom hamizbe’ach mechuvan b’yoseir.” The altar’s location must be exact, as this is the very spot on which Adam Harishon built his altar and sacrificed. Here Kayin and Hevel also brought their gifts to Hashem. It was here that Shem sacrificed an offering, in Noach’s stead, after the Mabul. Noach had been crippled by the lion when he had delayed bringing the animal its food and consequently was passul from being able to bring up korbanos. It was here that Avraham Avinu withstood the greatest of tests and was ready to sacrifice his beloved son Yitzchak, all for love of Hashem.

Shmuel Hanavi and Dovid Hamelech learned all night and discovered that this would be the place of the future Beis Hamikdash. Dovid captured the city from the Yevusim and bought the place of the Temple Mount for good money. Dovid was not allowed to build the Beis Hamikdash, but he prepared everything for its construction, down to its finest detail. He even wrote the songs the Levi’im would sing in it each day.

Shlomo, the son of Dovid, built the first BeisHamikdash, which stood 410 years. It was destroyed by the Babylonians. Seventy years later the Jews returned and rebuilt the second Beis Hamikdash.

Herod (born 73 or 74 BCE, died 4 BCE) reconstructed the Temple in a most magnificent fashion, as an atonement offering for having killed the chachamim. At that time he enlarged the area of the Temple Mount to the north and to the south and built strong retaining walls. As the Antonia Mount to the northwest of Har Habayis was in the way of the enlargement, he shaved it and rolled its stones downward to the south, where he used these stones to fill in the southern part of the area that sloped downward.

This splendid building of the Beis Hamikdash stood till 70 CE when, to our great pain, it was destroyed by the Romans, who built a pagan temple in its stead. The years passed and when the early Umayyad Muslims ruled in Jerusalem, they built the Dome of the Rock in 691 CE. The Crusader king Frederick II of Hohenstaufen was crowned as king of Jerusalem on 18 March 1229. At that time the city was divided in two.

When the Crusaders were eventually vanquished, the Mamelukes claimed that the reason the Crusaders were able to divide the city was because the upper city was separated from the Temple Mount by the Tyropoeon Valley (Cheese-Makers Valley). They therefore built a labyrinth of arches and vaults and raised the level of their homes so they could have close direct access to the Temple Mount. The Kosel Tunnels were dug beneath these arches.

The ‘Secret Passage’

We now enter the Secret Passage that is named for a fanciful Medieval legend that Dovid Hamelech used this underground walkway to travel unseen from his palace to the Temple Mount. The citadel that the myth claims as Dovid’s palace is actually a Crusader castle, even though it is now what we call Migdal Dovid.

The vault system you walk through consists of the arches the Arabs built in the latter part of the 13th century. At that time, the vaults were sealed in order to create water cisterns. Looking upward you see a huge arch with openings in the stonework so that those dwelling above could lower vessels into a water supply directly under their houses.

During the Second Temple times, there stood an arch that spanned 42 feet and supported a road (bridge) that ran 75 feet above the Herodian pavement and Tyropoeon Valley below, and is today called Wilson’s Arch (after Charles Wilson, a 19th century explorer of Jerusalem). The road atop Wilson’s Arch gave access to a gate that was level with the Temple Mount during Herodian times. The surviving top of this arch is supported against the Western Wall. (It is believed that Wilson’s Arch was the first of a series of arches that continued westward. A number of arches were subsequently discovered in recent years.)

Josephus mentions the bridge that this arch was part of and says it connected the Temple Mount to the upper city on the Western Hill, on the other side of the Central Valley. The bridge carried water, through an aqueduct, to the Temple Mount from Solomon’s Pools. Josephus

also claims that the Jews themselves destroyed the bridge in order to curtail the Roman advance to the Makom HaMikdash during the Churban.

In the 130s CE, tragically, the Roman tyrant Hadrian transformed Jerusalem into a center of pagan worship and renamed it Colonia Aelia Capitolina. The Romans rebuilt the bridge, using two parallel arches for support instead of the one original arch.

In 2005, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation under the Rabbi of the Kosel, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, initiated a major three-year renovation effort. The arch was strengthened so that people could come and use the Wilson area to pray in. Today there is a shul, with a women’s gallery, under the Wilson Arch.

Glass Window Showing Mikveh

Standing in the hall (dubbed the Bar Mitzvah Hall) that is under the Wilson Arch Shul, one senses being underground. However, if one looks down into the glass window in the floor — near the wooden steps one just came down — it will be seen that at least 12 meters had been dug out beneath, to reach ground level. At the bottom of this pit one can see a First Beis Hamikdash period mikveh. The laws of tumah and taharah were adhered to stringently when the Beis Hamikdash was in existence. Many mikvaos have been discovered in the area.

Two levels below is the Mikveh Hall, with remains of a keilim mikveh (whose water source is in Ir David) and  two other Second Temple mikvaos. One of them is full of water, and is used nowadays by many chasanim to tovel on their wedding day. The Islamic world has been denying that there was a Beis Hamikdash on Har Habayis, but the existence of literally hundreds of mikvaos in the area — and the ones seen here so close to the Temple Mount — disprove their spurious allegations.

These mikvaos show that we were here and kept all the halachos connected with taharah and tumah that were needed to enter and perform the avodah in the Beis Hamikdash which stood on Har Habayis. The Chashmona’im room is found on the same level as the Mikveh Hall.

The Chashmona’im Hall

The Chashmona’im Hall is part of a group of constructions from the Second Beis Hamikdash era, which are located very close to the Temple Mount. So far, three halls have been found and were numbered 8, 9, and 10, 10 being the Chashmona’im Hall. At the time they were built, it seems that they were all open to their southern side.

It is not known what function these rooms served, but for the reasons stated below it is thought by some that they were used for a kodesh purpose. Firstly, the outside wall (found in the Mikveh Hall) of the Chashmona’im Hall has beautiful, large, framed stones. These are found in only three other sites, all of which were used for holy purposes — Alon Mamre, Me’aras Hamachpeilah, and Har Habayis. Secondly, all the gates of the Beis Hamikdash had double (or triple) entrances and this hall has a double doorway.

Others say that because the bottoms of the walls of these three succeeding chambers were covered in waterproofing, it could be that they were part of a large bathhouse complex. Behind area 9, an enormous water cistern was found. On the back wall of this room are beautiful, square columns with intricately carved capitals that have holes in them, which might have served as fountains.

Although this room is called Chashmona’im Hall, it is actually from the Herodian period. The reason it is called the Chashmona’im Hall is that it was opened to the public on Chanukah. Another reason for this name is that Charles Warren named the hall “the Masonic Hall” since he was a Freemason and the Freemasons met in this hall. The name “Chashmona’im Hall” sounds similar to its English name.

The stones of the walls of these rooms have a unique dressing, consisting of Herodian frames of delicate “margins” and smooth “bosses.” On the back wall of the Chashmona’im Hall one sees a decorative cornice that originally ran the whole way around the room. It seems that this type of “shelf” was also part of rooms 8 and 9, as delineating marks are seen in them.

Above the cornice in the Chashmona’im Hall,behind glass, one sees ball-like stones. These are catapulting stones, the ancient equivalent of artillery, which were probably launched by the Romans during their attack on Yerushalayim in 70 C.E., and later against the Bar Kochba rebellion in 132 C.E.

Behind this glass one can also see the “heart wall” that runs through all three rooms and which supported the road leading up to the Wilson Arch. Viewed in the centre of the room is a Corinthian pillarthat was brought into the room during the Middle Ages to support the ceiling, which had been damaged during the course of time.

Also seen is a modern-day iron support. Golda Meir came to visit the Chashmona’im Hall and was fearful the ceiling would collapse on her head. So this piece of metal was installed before her visit to allay her fears.

The back wall of the Chashmona’im Hall is Roman. Right behind it is the Hall of Ages.

The Hall of Ages

This chamber is about 7 meters in length and 4 to 5 in width, and is more than three thousand years old. It was opened to the public in 2009 and is called the “Heichal Hatekufot,” or the Hall of Ages, because it contains archaeological finds from different ancient periods.

After the Six Day War, as the Kosel tunnels were being dug and investigated, safety experts and engineers warned that one small enclosed area adjacent to the Herodian Hall was in danger of collapsing and could cause all the tunnels to collapse. Consequently, this space was filled in with cement and areas around it were explored in its stead.

As work progressed, the whole system of the tunnels was strengthened, and eventually it was determined that the cemented area could be dug out. Window-like holes were made in its frontal wall … and the Hall of Ages was unearthed.

In the Hall of Ages, one encounters the historical timeline of Yerushalayim — spanning more than three thousand years until the current day. Standing on the wooden deck around the sides of the vault, you look over a waist-high bar into a large, gaping hole. The floor of this pit is a First Beis Hamikdash era street with asmall water hole, maybe from the time of Chezkiyahu, or even earlier.

On a slightly higher level in the cavity is a large Chashmona’im water pool that is 28 meters by 28 meters. (A similar one is found in Beit She’an.) One can also see a Herodian wall in the pit. The frontal wall mentioned earlier is from Roman times. On one of the side walls is the early Muslim period entrance. Toward the rear of the pit, one can see a Crusader arch balancing on the side and crowning the other findings. While the digging was in process, this arch disintegrated and had to be reconstructed.

Although most of the roof is modern-day 21st century cement, the section over the doorway is a Mameluke arch and holds up the Arab Macrmay (law court) building above it, which is seen from the Kosel and is now a police station. The back wall of this room is from the 21st century.

Second Temple Model

Returning to the Bar Mitzvah Hall level, one can see that the table and chairs in this area are transparent, in an attempt to make them as inconspicuous as possible so as to preserve the ancient atmosphere. Behind a false stone is a computer that shows what is going on at the Kosel Tunnels.

Entering though a grated iron gateway, continue walking along the narrow wooden boards to reach a model of the Second Beis Hamikdash created by Reb Zalman Menachem Koren. Here we will sit and we will view the model and hear an explanation on the whole area.

to be continued

Nidbach Raba

After the Second Temple model, descending the steps, one can see a row of four huge stones, the largest building stones ever discovered in Israel. Many claim that they are the largest building stones ever used in world history. These gigantic stones — with a Herodian frame of delicate “margins” and smooth “bosses” — are referred to as the “Nidbach Raba” or “Master Course.” They were built by Herod and lie nine rows above the bedrock.

The largest of the four, the “Western Stone,” is a solid piece of hewn limestone almost 45 feet long (13.6 meters) — the length of an accordion bus — and over 10 feet high (3.15 meters), and estimated from between 11 to 15 feet deep (3.5 to 4.5 meters). It weighs more than 570 tons, the weight of 67 large African elephants, and is one of the heaviest objects ever lifted by man without powered machinery.

The next-largest stone of the four is 40 feet (12.6 meters) long.

These master stones are covered in rectangular holes, as the enormous four-winged room where they were found (and in which they are now) had been turned into a large cistern prior to the 13th century. The whole area, including the retaining western wall of the

Temple Mount, had been plastered over so it could retain water.

As the smooth Herodian Kosel stones are not suitable to hold cement, these square holes were carved out of the wall of the Kosel, into which protruding square stone pegs were set. A thick, rough wall was built adjacent to the Kosel around these pegs, which acted as stabilizers. This “rough wall” was then plastered over.

Holy of Holies Shul and the Warren Gate

From the Nidbach Raba the Kosel Tunnel runs north for more than 1,115 feet [340 m] alongside the Western Wall and cuts its way under the shops and houses of the Arab section of the Old City of Jerusalem.

About 150 feet (46 m) within this tunnel lies a blocked gate. The gate was called Shaar Yehudah during Temple times and is now referred to as the Warren Gate, after 19th-century British archeologist Charles Warren, who conducted extensive explorations of the Wall around 1867.

During the Second bbais Hamikdash, the Temple Mount plaza was much higher than the street that ran along the western retaining wall. The Warren Gate led into an underground passageway that led up into the Temple Mount. (Even nowadays, on the other side of  this now-sealed gate are a tunnel and a staircase of 15 steps that lead up to the surface of Har Habayis.)

As the gate was 18 meters above street level, there was a terrace in front of it which was reached by steps. Today, the floor of this terrace is still composed of original paving stones from the Herodian street that ran parallel to the Western Wall (Wall Street).

When the Temple was destroyed, this gate was abandoned. Around the year 638, when the Muslims under Rashidun Caliphate conquered Jerusalem from the Byzantines, Jews were permitted to establish a synagogue near this gate.

It was the main shul of Yerushalyim of that time and was known as Ha’maarah or “the Cave.” There are documents in the Cairo Genizah, testifying about the use of the Cave.

In 1099 Crusaders captured the city and annihilated the local Jewish community by sealing them in this shul and burning them alive. The Crusaders turned the arch space into a cistern.

Around 1187, when Saladin recaptured the city, the whole area was covered over and became completely inaccessible.

For centuries Jews dreamt of returning once again to the site of Ha’maarah and being again able to pray at this entrance to the makom haMikdash, opposite the Holy of Holies. After the Six Day War, Rabbi Yehuda Getz, z”l, concretized this dream and opened a small synagogue, also calling it “the Cave,” opposite the sealed-off Warren’s entrance.

Nowadays the indented, sealed Warren’s Gate is viewed behind a waist-high glass fence. The top of the gate is covered in glass through which one can see the Chamfers (a shallow-cut edge, or groove, usually at an angle of 45 degrees to a corner) at the gates’ corners.

The Even Shesiyah, the place of the Kodesh Kodashim, is 14 meters long and is now found, to our great pain, under the golden Dome of the Rock. Slightly further down the Kosel Tunnels from Warren’s Gate, and up three steps, is the place where many come and pour their hearts out, since it is assumed by many to be (together with the Warren Gate), the closest point a Jew can get to the Kodesh Kodashim today. If one examines the wall at the back of this enclave carefully, a natural map of Eretz Yisrael formed by the moisture of the place, is seen. The stone in the middle of the archway is moist, as if Hashem is softly crying in sympathy for all the pain of Klal Yisrael and with those who daven in this place, which is literally at the gates of prayer.

1033 Earthquake

A letter found in the Cairo Genizah told of an earthquake in the year 1033 that destroyed 60 amos (cubits) of the Western Wall and asking for funds to restore it. It seems that this is the section where the wall was rebuilt.

The Tunnel

At this point, continuing along, one enters what is known as “the Tunnel.” This very long, straight passage was originally an open promenade (Wall Street) along the entire length of the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. Every effort was made to maintain the structural integrity of the buildings above, while revealing the full length of the Western Wall.

As you walk along, you will note that these stones were perfectly preserved by their remaining underground for hundreds of years. Each row of stones is slightly set back from the row beneath it. Thus, the illusion of a perfectly straight wall is attained. Paradoxically, had the stones been exactly aligned, the wall would have appeared to be leaning forward.

The modern-day iron pillars holding up the roof of the Kosel Tunnels do not touch the Western Wall because of their kedushah. Some say that the wall to the left is a First Temple wall from the days of Shlomo

Hamelech.

Walking along, you will reach a glass floor window. Looking down, your heart will contract in pain upon seeing the fallen stones from the Churban. Walking further brings you to a second glass window that showsthe bedrock below.

to be continued

Herodian Street Square

During the times of the Second Bais Hamikdash, the Herodian Street Square promenade ran the full length of the Western Wall (Wall Street!), with many shops on either side. Here people would buy animals and birds for korbanos, and other necessary items. Moneychangers were also found here.

On the wall opposite the Kosel are two columns that are presumed to be an entrance to a shop. The vault system above was built in the 14th century.

The well-planned, paved stone flooring beneath is from Herodian times. Why one huge paving stone was never incorporated into the floor is up for conjecture. The street had gutters to carry away rainwater.

Here the bedrock of the Western Wall that rises above the Herodian street level has been edged and chiseled to look like the building blocks used in building the Herodian Western Wall.

Quarries

Where did the original stones for the whole Wall come from? At first it was believed that Herod quarried his stones from Tzedekiah’s Cave, north of the Old City. But when the quarry to the left was discovered, it was immediately seen that the stones being carved out matched the average size of those of the Western Wall. Today, most historians conclude that most of the stones of the

Western Wall were taken from this area.

Cistern

Throughout the centuries, different aqueducts, pools and cisterns were made to divert, channel and hold water for the city and the Bais Hamikdash. On this tour of the Tunnels, one explores three waterways that brought and held water for the people, the Bais Hamikdash, and their needs. First, there is an ancient Chashmona’I water cistern. Next is a Chashmona’i aqueduct that brought water to the cistern near and under the Temple.

Chashmona’i Aqueduct

After the square, one turns left into the ancient Chashmona’i aqueduct. And finally, we reach the “Struthion Pool,” which dates back to Herod’s time. Continuing along the “Tunnel,” one approaches the Northwest Hill, where the street starts to rise upward. Here, at the end of the first Bais Hamikdash, a fortress called the “Baris” or “Tower of Chananel” was built. This fortress is mentioned in Nechemiah.

The Baris was used as a palace by the Chashmona’im. The waterworks underneath the fortress were praised in a 3rd century B.C.E. source. Underneath the fortress were cisterns used by the people in the fortress. When Herod enlarged Har Habayis northward, he levelled the Baris and actually dug into the bedrock, making it level with the rest of the Mount. Nothing was left of the Baris except the water cisterns underneath, which Herod used. Water is, obviously, a priority to enable living in any area, and maintaining a consistent water supply in Yerushalayim has always been challenging.

Herod kept part of the cistern as a reservoir for rain, but covered up the rest with the street that ran parallel with the wall. In order to ensure that people wouldn’t fall into the cistern, he installed a large guardrail. To one’s left is the cistern and the guardrail, and to the right is the original stairway leading down into the cistern.

The tunnel twists and turns, and at last, covered by a large stone arch, leads to a reservoir pool.

Antonia Fortress And the Struthion Pool

Before the pool that served as a moat for the north-western corner of the Antonia Fortress was

constructed, the aqueduct ran from the north into this area, servicing the city and Har Habayis. On expanding the Temple area, Herod blocked off the southern side of the aqueduct, and the pool was split into two parts. The southern section no longer had any function, but the northern section continued to bring rainwater into the pool.

The Bar Kochba revolt ended in defeat in 135 C.E. The Roman Emperor Hadrian turned the entire pool area into a marketplace. They covered the pool by first dividing it into two, with a wall along its length. They then placed two arches fanning out in opposite directions from this wall. A square platform which served as a marketplace was built on top of these arches.

In the 19th century, when the foundation for the Convent of the Sisters of Zion was being dug, they discovered the ancient pool and aqueduct. To prevent strangers and explorers from entering their convent from underground, the nuns had another wall built, splitting the pool again, width-wise,

Only the northern side of the Struthion Pool can be seen, as going into the convent causes halachic problems.

At this point, one will have reached the end of the excavations.

In September 1996, the exit through a small tunnel leading up to the Via Dolorosa was opened, thus affording thousands of additional tourists access to the Tunnels.

Days of violence followed, sparked by angry Palestinians claiming that this change in the

Tunnels had involved excavating under the Dome of the Rock. Tragically, many people on both sides died because of this lie.

The Tunnels are not located under the Temple Mount or any other site Muslims consider theirs.

As one leaves the dark developing calm of the Kosel Tunnels, one exits through the modern turnstile—so out of place among the history-laden ancient stones.

Now is the time to take a moment to consider the miracle of the survival of the Western Wall, the place about which Hashem promised that His Shechinah will always reside.

Hula Valley©

The Fascinating Hula Valley

By Vardah Littmann

 500 Million Birds

The crane is the king of the Hula Valley with welcoming squawks and shrieks of sheer delight from the thousands on the ground and the many hundreds of those who are incoming form the skies above. They are surely calling out “Shalom aleichem, my friends, alechem shalom, so glad you arrived,” for it is known that cranes inform each other of favorable domiciles.  

Eretz Yisrael is literally and figuratively the center of the world, located at the crossroads of three continents. All the eyes of the world are on Eretz Yisrael, whether during discussions at the UN, or in ancient times when Eretz Yisrael was on the trade route of all the nations.

Eretz Yisrael also plays a major role for the approximately five hundred million birds (390 different species!) who arrive annually by air. Following the example of their ancient migratory ancestors, these guests do not have to wait to pass through passport control or watch the baggage carousel make never-ending circuits until their luggage eventually appears. These storks, cranes, egrets, gulls, cormorants, and ducks (to name but a few) using main bird migration routes are heading for the Hula Valley Nature Reserve and the Hula Lake Park in the Upper Galilee’s Hula Valley. 

History of the Hula Valley

The Hula Valley once contained a lake that was thousands of years old and one of the oldest documented lakes in history. It is referred to in Chapter 11 of Sefer Yehoshuah as the Mei Merom (Waters of Merom). Here Hashem delivered intoYehoshuah’s hand an alliance of city-states of the Canaanim who were completely routed and destroyed.   

Pharaoh Amenhothep IV mentioned the lake in the Tel el Amarna Letters written in the 14th Century B.C, calling it the “Samchuna."

In Baba Bathra (75), its Aramaic name is “Hiltha” (in the Second Temple Period its locality was identified as Hulata or Ulata). There it states that there are seven seas (Tiberias, Sodom, Helath, Hiltha, Sibkay, Aspamia, and the Great Sea) and four rivers (Jordan, Jarmuk, Keramyon and Pigah) surrounding Eretz Yisrael. This name survived in Arabic as "Buheirat el Hule," which is similar to its modern Hebrew translation Agam Hula.

It’s also named in the Gemara where it’s called “Yam Sumchi”. Josephus Flavius refers to it as the Lake Semechonitis. Maps of Palestine throughout the first half of the 20th century show this Lagoon along the Jordan River, about forty miles north of the Kinneret.

Lake Hula Before the Drainage

Since ancient times this water body provided a natural habitat for many species. Before its draining and drying out, Lake Hula probably contained the richest diversity of aquatic biota in the Levant. It was also populated by a rich variety of flora and fauna. In the area were found panthers, leopards, bears, wild boars, wolves, foxes, jackals, hyenas, gazelles, and otters.

Since it lies along the Syrian-African Rift Valley, it was a major stopover point and feeding station for traveling birds. Hundreds of species of birds used the Holy Land’s airspace as a part of their migratory route. Today in the springtime, as has been happening ever since the time of Bereishis, the Holy Land’s skies are filled with millions of birds, on their way to Asia and Europe from their habitats in Africa. In October, they re-track their journey in reverse.

Since the swamps surrounding the lake were the breeding grounds for mosquitoes, Jewish pioneers in the early part of the 20^th century who settled in the Jordan Valley, suffered terribly from malaria emanating from the Hula swamps.  

The first modern Jewish settlement in the Hula Valley was Yesud  HaMa’alah on the western shore of the lake, established in 1883 during the First Aliyah. It was estimated that during the 1930s, 70% of local adults were infected with malaria. In most villages in the area, few, if any, children survived beyond the age of two.

From 1940, innovative measures were taken. Irrigation canals were flushed of their vegetation and the water was sprayed with kerosene. New improvements in health care were introduced, but it was only with the introduction of DDT in 1945 that the war against malaria could be won.

Before the drainage, the Hula Valley had a lake at the southern end and swamps in the north. The majority of the swamp consisted of dense impenetrable tangles of papyrus, with scattered channels of running water and pools. In deeper depressions within this papyrus "jungle" were open-water ponds covered with yellow water-lilies.

Transforming the Hula Valley
 

In 1948, it was decided by the fledgling State of Israel to drain the swamps and lake, which covered more than fifteen thousand acres, and convert the area into agricultural fields.

While this decision to drain the area could have put an end to the bird migrations, other considerations were more pressing. There was a critical need to create farmland for the budding Israelite agricultural society. In addition, a large number of unemployed olim had flocked to the Land at that time and needed employment.

In 1951, the Jewish National Fund began the colossal project of draining the Hula Lake and its surrounding swamps. The draining operations were completed by 1958. The project became the standard-bearer of the entire Zionist movement; it was a symbol of the re-establishment of the Jewish national homeland in Israel.

Nation-wide interest in the draining project was so enthusiastic that the drainage sites in the Hula Valley were major tourist attractions. So much so, that it was necessary to restrict sightseeing in order to prevent hindrance to the progress of the work.

Israel’s First Nature Reserve in the Hula Valley

Some scientists and nature lovers waged a vigorous battle to conserve at least part of the original landscape. As a result of their call to action, in 1953 the government agreed to set aside 800 acres for Israel's first nature reserve.

The impetus for the creation of the Society for Protection of Nature in Israel was the concern over the draining of the Hula. 

Although initially the draining had been perceived as a great national achievement for Israel, it soon became apparent that the “drying out” was ruining the region’s unique ecological balance. Part of the marine life disappeared, and the wildlife population declined. The Hula painted frog as well some rare fish species had vanished. Since 1996 the IUCN has classified the Hula painted frog as extinct as a result of the Hula marsh drainage. The restoration efforts have been successful, for in November 2011, park patrollers, saw the painted frog’s reappearance.

Also the rich indigenous flora was dying out, and strong winds (Sharkiyah in Arabic) in the valley blew away the soil which was now stripped of its natural foliage. The peat of the dry swamp ignited spontaneously, causing underground fires that were difficult to extinguish and dangerous caverns began to form within the peat. Plus, the weathered peat soils turned into an infertile black dust. This particular problem has been solved by keeping the fields watered by sprinklers that move along the fields on wheels.  

In addition, it was discovered that Israel’s main supply of fresh water, the Kinneret, was significantly deteriorating, since the Hula Lake was no longer there to serve as a natural filtration basin along the upper parts of the Jordan River. 

Due to these and other environmental considerations, the government, in an unprecedented move, decided to undo the damage by restoring a section of the Hula Valley to its former state. When the Hand of Heaven intervened in the early 1990s, part of the valley was anyway flooded in the wake of heavy rains. It was decided to leave the flooded area intact and develop the surrounding area into Hula Lake Park - Agamon HaHula. (Agamon is an affectionate diminutive from of Agam [Lake]). At the end of April, 1994, the waters of the Jordan River once again flowed into a restored section of the drained area.

The project continues into the 21^st century. Visitors can now visit the Agamon HaHula and spend a few hours enjoying the rare species of plants, birds, and fish that live there.

The beautiful magical Agamon is one fifteenth of the original Hula Lake before it was drained. Its lush vegetation, green fields, and flocks of birds that enchant the eye offer a picturesque scene of serenity against the grandeur of Mount Hermon.

 A Bird Watcher’s Paradise

The lake covers an area of one square kilometer interspersed with islands that serve as protected bird nesting sites, and the new site has become the second home for thousands of migrating birds in the autumn and spring. Several tens of thousands birds, fleeing from the Eastern Europe and Russia winters, visit Agmon Hula.

The nature conservation authorities even feed the birds in order to avoid damage to the fishing industry in the area. After the original Hula was drained, great economic losses occurred since many of birds were quick to discover commercial fish ponds as an alternative source of food in the valley. This is the reason that the managers of the Hula Restoration Project do not take any chances in case the new lake cannot support enough fish production to draw birds away from the fish ponds. They supplement the food supply by artificial stocking.

It’s amazing to watch the birds feeding.  The English saying, “birds of a feather flock together” comes to mind when seeing how each different species arrive to feed separately.   

The crane -- King of the hula Valley ©

After breeding in summer in northern Europe (even as far away as Russia and Siberia or nearer from Germany and Norway, as well as Turkey and the Caucasus region, the cranes wing their way to warmer climates.  Before twenty years ago, about 100,000 cranes would pass over Eretz Yisrael on their migration route to East Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia. Nowadays, from Elul to Adar over 30 thousand (with the numbers increasing yearly), of the 100 thousand cranes remain here to spend the winter Hula Lake Park. They stay behind in Eretz Yisrael, undeterred by the country’s rising inflation or the threat of a third intifada.

Before twenty years ago cotton was grown in the Hulla Valley. As this was not profitable it was decided to plant corn. The cranes who were migrating though uprooted the newly planted corn plants, posing a serious problem for the farms in the area.  The farmers decided that the solution was to supply their winged visitors with some real hospitality. Now they feed corn kernels to the cranes on a daily basis by using a feeding tractor to dispense the corn which adds up to six tons of corn per year.

When the vehicle approaches and scatters the kernels, the cranes run towards it. They call out loudly, and their shrieks can be heard at a distance of four kilometers. In this way, they notify other cranes that it’s feeding time. They never fight with or trample each other for the corn kernels.

    

I witnessed how the tractor came into the field and sprayed around the corn. The birds were calling to each other to come eat. They didn’t trample each other but acting politely, calling to each other: “Come, take.”

In some cultures, the crane is a symbol of fidelity and good family life, in the same way that we regard doves. Cranes are family oriented, and they travel in family units of three, or sometimes four individuals. The adults, who have white/black heads, are very faithful to each other; once they “marry,” they stay together unless death parts them. In this way, they are similar to doves.

The young crane with its brownish head lives with its devoted parents for over a year in their winter quarters. For birds, this is a long time. The young crane then joins a bachelor or spinster group for a few years until it matures and is able to bear young.  At this point it will find a mate. The red crown on the top of its head appears when it matures. The rangers have taken note red varies in shade in different individual cranes. The more intense the red the more temperamental that particular bird is!!   

        

The wings of cranes are over two meters long and they are about one and a quarter meters high. They weigh approximately five and a half kilos, yet their hollow bones and their feathers make them light and able to fly. In the rain, the cranes all face towards the rain so the rain should slide off them. They appear to be as an army; all heads facing in the same direction.

Every evening the cranes sleep in the shallow (40- 80  centimeters deep) Agamon HaHula. It’s warmer inside the water than out of it. In the Hula Valley at night, it is so cold that ice can appear on the ground. Also this protects them from animals who may try to harm them. 

The corn that is fed to these cranes costs the farmers a lot of money, maybe even a few million shekels, and in order to cover this expense, they’ve made a whole enterprise out of this crane colony. People are attracted to this bird watching sanctuary from all over the world, and they pay good money to stay in nearby hotels and observe the cranes, as well as the other migratory birds that are flying overhead. 

Park Gilo and the Gilo Neighborhood©

By Vardah Littmann

One of Jerusalem's finest parks nestles at the western end of Gilo, the southernmost neighborhood in the city. Park Gilo on the slope of small mountain covered with fragrant pine trees, is loaded with recreational activities scattered all over the area. These include a Rollerblade rink, tennis and basketball courts, a bike track, and hiking paths. A stunning walking track overlooks the Malcha neighborhood and the Gilo forest.

Park Gilo also features separate playgrounds for babies/toddlers and older kids.  These have shoots and ladders that offer climbing challenges, as well as swings. Many tables with oversize chessboards and picnic tables offer places to enjoy family time. From the observation points, you can see Malcha, the Zoo, the Refaim Valley, and the Jerusalem-Bet Shemesh train line. The western outlook affords you a panoramic view of the Jerusalem hills

In the 1970s and ‘80s, the Gilo Park was a rambling collection of wooden jungle gyms, slides, rickety bridges, rope ladders, and tire-tunnels - set up in a forest among the pine trees. As many of you may remember, it was a fantastic destination for family outings.

Then the Municipality deemed the park dangerous and replaced the old playground installations, with modern equipment. The only things that were not changed were the many picnic tables, and of course, the trees. Although relatively unknown, many consider the shady wonderland of Park Gilo the best park in Jerusalem, and perhaps even in all of Israel.

The suburb of Gilo was established in 1971 after the Six Day War on land that had been legally purchased by Jews before World War II during the 1930s. When the area was captured by the Jordanians in 1948, the Jewish landowners did not relinquished ownership of their land. Today Gilo is enormous and has over 45,000 residents. Its 882 meters above sea level make it the highest point in Jerusalem.

 

A deep gorge separates Gilo from Beit Jala. On the east, the Gush Etzion Tunnels Highway runs underneath it, and the settlement of Har Gilo is visible on the adjacent peak. Bethlehem is to the South, while Beit Safafa and Sharafat are located north of Gilo.

Gilo has formed a wedge between Jerusalem and Beit Jala/Bethlehem. From the year 2000, Beit Jala was a Fatah Tanzim base used by gunmen to launch sniper and mortar attacks against Gilo. Concrete barriers were built by the Israeli government and bulletproof windows were installed in the homes and schools on the periphery of Gilo, facing Beit Jala.

After Operation Defensive Shield the attacks on Gilo subsided, with the rate slowing to three incidents of gunfire that year. Nearly a decade after its construction following years of relative quiet, the IDF started dismantling the concrete barrier on August 15, 2010.

The Book of Joshua (Joshua, 15:51) mentions a town called Gilo. In the Book of Samuel (II Sam, 15:12) we are told of Ahithophel "the Gilonite" whose birthplace and home was Gilo and who supported Absalom’s in his rebellion against his father King David. Later on, we learn that  Ahithophel committed suicide (17:23) in his home city.

The name of this modern suburb was chosen because of its proximity to Beit Jala, whose Arab name may be related to the word “Gilo.”

Above the shopping center on Rehov Haganenet, during the construction of Gilo, archaeologists discovered agricultural implements and a fortress from the period of the First Temple period. They also unearthed the remains of a farm and graves from the Second Temple period between Givat Canada and Gilo Park. Roman and Byzantine remains have also been found in the area.

During the 1948 War, the Egyptian army positioned its artillery at Gilo, heavily shelling West Jerusalem. An attempt by Arabs to advance on Jerusalem from Gilo was beaten back in a fierce battle. Although Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, located just north-east of Gilo, changed hands three times, it ultimately remained part of Israel.  Unfortunately Gilo stayed beyond the Green Line on the side held by the Kingdom of Jordan until 1967.

Gilo has 35 synagogues. The hostel for autistic young adults, Beit Or (Home of Light), was opened in Gilo in March 2008. The Ilan home for handicapped adults is situated in Gilo.  In 2009, the Gilo community center, introduced a new hybrid water heating system that saves energy and greatly reduces pollution. 

Due to its location beyond the 1949 Green Line, the United Nations, the European Union, and Japan refer to Gilo as an illegal settlement even though Gilo is an integral part of Jerusalem. Plans to expand Gilo have drawn criticism from the United States and United Kingdom. In 2009, 900 new housing units, approved for construction in Gilo by the Jerusalem Planning Committee, sparked a fresh round of global criticism.

Directions to Park Gilo: From Pat Junction, travel south on Ya`akov Pat Street whose name will change to Dov Yosef Street after the first traffic light. Continue up hill towards the Gilo neighborhood, then take a right at the top of the hill onto Haganenet Street. Haganenet runs straight into the park.

From Hebron Rd.: South towards Bethlehem, then right on Rosemarin Street (last turn before Bethlehem, follow signs to Gush Etzion). Travel straight on Rosemarin which turns into Haganenet Street and leads straight into Park Gilo.

Gilo is on the 31, 32, 71, and 72 bus lines.