Tourist Review
Tourist Review
“Adom Lavan” is situated in one of the most beautiful spots in Israel, at the edge of a picturesque holiday village called “Amirim”. Its 3 luxurious self catering suites offer peace and comfort combined with stunning views.
The village of Amirim is known also as the “Vegetarian & Vegan Village” of the Galilee, due to the fact that its entire community is based on strict vegetarian and vegan dietary principles and a healthy life style. It is a popular tourist attraction owing to its cool and mild weather conditions all year round, the scenic views of “The Kinneret” (known also as the Sea of Galilee) and the beautiful gardens, orchards, and natural woodlands that surround its houses.
The village of Amirim is situated at the heart of Upper Galilee, making it one of the best starting points for excursions around the district. Whether you wish to visit religious holy sites, or nature reserves, or take a horse ride, or a Kayak ride on the rapids of River Jordan, or simply relax in a boat trip on the Sea of Galilee, the journey from Amirim village to any one of these, is in most cases not more than half an hour driving distance, or perhaps one hour in some cases. Also there are beautiful hiking routes within reasonable distance from here, and the majority of them have canyons with fresh streams, which is typical for the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights landscape (The Golan Heights is the eastern border of the region).
All these points gave Amirim a very good reputation over the years as a holiday village.
GENERAL BACKGROUND ON THE AREA
The Galilee district is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. The word Galilee ( Hebrew: ha-Galil ), means lit: “the province”, ( Latin: “Galileia”, Arabic:” al Jaleel” ).
The region is a very popular destination for vacationing Israelis from other parts of the country who enjoy its scenery, recreational, and gastronomic offerings. Numerous festivals are held throughout the year, especially in the autumn and spring holiday seasons. These include The Acco festival of alternative theater (English: Acre), The olive harvest festival, and music festivals featuring Anglo American folk festival, The Kleizmer music festival in the ancient town Safed (located 20 minutes drive from Amirim), and also Renaissance and Chamber music festivals.
The streams and waterfalls, mainly in Upper Galilee, along with vast fields of greenery and colorful wildflowers, as well as the numerous towns of biblical importance, makes this area especially attractive as a holiday destination for tourists from around the world.
Most of the district consists of rocky terrain, at heights of between 500 and 700 meters. There are several high mountains including Mount Tabor and Mount Meron in the region, which have relatively low temperatures and high rainfall. As a result of this climate, flora and wildlife thrive here. For instance Mount Meron, (which is only 10 minutes drive from “Amirim”) has an elevation of 1,000-1,208 meters and 900-1200 mm rainfall. Also many birds that annually migrate from colder climates in Europe to Africa (and back) pass through here, along the Red Sea and the Jordan River corridor.
HISTORY
According to the Bible, Solomon rewarded Hiram I for certain services by giving him the gift of an upland plain among the mountains of Naphtali. Hiram called it “the land of Cabul”. In Isaiah (8:23/9:1), the region is referred to as “the District of the Nations” ( lit:. Glil Ha-Goyim ), with much of this name being retained in its present name of Galil orHaGalil. According to one view, during the Hasmonean period, with the revolt of the Maccabees and the decline of the Seleucid Empire, Galilee was conquered by the newly independent state of Judaea, and the region was resettled by Jews. However, according to another view there were not particularly large-scale population movements during this period, the Galilee became Jewish because its population decided to recognize the authority of the Jerusalem temple rather than the Samaritan temple.
In Roman times, the country was divided into Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, which comprised the whole northern section of the country, and was the largest of the three regions. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, ruled the Galilee as tetrarch
The Galilee region was probably the home of Jesus during at least 30 years of his life. The first three Gospels of the New Testament are mainly an account of Jesus’ public ministry in this province, particularly in the towns of Nazareth and Capernaum. The Galilee is also cited as the place where Jesus cured a blind man.
After the Arab caliphate took control of the region in 638, it became part of Jund al-Urrdun (District of Jordan). Its major towns were Tiberius — which was capital of the district Oadas, Baysan, Acre, Saffuriya, and Kabul. The Shia Fatimids conquered the region in the 900s; a breakaway sect, venerating the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, formed the Druze religion, centered in and to north of Galilee. Eastern Galilee, however, retained a Jewish majority for most of its history. During the Crusades, Galilee was organized into the Principality of Galilee, one of the most important Crusader seigneuries.
The Jewish population of the Galilee increased significantly following their expulsion from Spain and the welcome from the Ottoman Empire. The community for a time made Safed an international center of cloth weaving and manufacturing, as well as a key site for Jewish learning. Today it remains one of Judaism’s four holy cities and a center for Jewish Mysticism – The Kabala.
In the mid 18th century, Galilee was caught up in a struggle between the Bedouin leader Dhaher al-Omar and the Ottoman authorities who were centered in Damascus. Al-Omar ruled Galilee for 25 years until Ottoman loyalist Jezzar Pasha conquered the region in 1775.
In the early 20th century, Galilee was inhabited by Arab Christians, Arab Muslims, Druze and Jews, whilst the Ottomans also settled minorities from elsewhere in their empire including Circassians and Bosniaks. Two Circassian villages exist in the Galilee region today. The Jewish population was increased significantly by Zionist immigration.
After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war nearly the whole of Galilee came under Israel’s control. A large portion of the population fled, leaving dozens of entire villages empty; however, a large Israeli Arab community remained based in and near the cities of Nazareth, Acre, Tamra, Sakhnin and Shefa-’Amr, due to some extent to a successful rapprochement with the Druze. The kibbutzim around the Sea of Galilee were sometimes shelled by the Syrian army’s artillery until Israel seized the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War.
During the 1970s and the early 1980s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) launched several attacks on towns of the Upper and Western Galilee from Lebanon. Israel initiated Operation Litani (1979) and Operation Peace For Galilee (1982) with the stated objectives of destroying the PLO infrastructure in Lebanon and protecting the citizens of the Galilee. Israel occupied much of Southern Lebanon until 1985 when it withdrew to a narrow security buffer zone.
Until the year 2000, Hezbollah, and earlier Amal, continued to fight the Israeli Defense Forces, sometimes shelling Upper Galilee communities with Katyusha rockets. In May 2000, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak unilaterally withdrew IDF troops from southern Lebanon, maintaining a security force on the Israeli side of the international border recognized by the UN. However, clashes between Hezbollah and Israel continued along the border, and UN observers condemned both for their attacks.
The 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict was characterized by round-the-clock Katyusha rocket attacks (with a greatly extended range) by Hezbollah on the whole of Galilee, with long-range ground-launched missiles, hitting as far south as the Sharon plain, Jezreel Valley, and Jordan Valley below the Sea of Galilee.
Places of interest in the area
The Town of SAFED Ancient Center of Jewish Mysticism and Jewish Law
( 20 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
The history of the city of Safed dates back more than 2,000 years. This was a city occupied during the time when the 2nd Temple of Jerusalem stood, and it is a city that has been continuously occupied by various people and communities throughout the centuries.
A Center of Kabbalah Study
Safed has always been an important center for the Jewish people and is considered the most mystical town in all of Israel. It is also known throughout the world as the “city of Kabbalah”. Many well-known Rabbis lived in Safed in centuries past. Rabbi Karo, Rabbi Cordovero, Rabbi Vital, Rabbi Beirav, and Rabbi Luria. It has some beautiful historical synagogues, and was a home to one of the most famous Kabbalists, The Ari, who was an important Jewish figure in connection with Jewish Mysticism – the Kabbalah. His interpretations and practical use of this ancient Jewish system are still studied and practiced today.
SAFED – A Jewish Center of Arts & Crafts
In addition to its title as the city of Kabbalah, Safed is also known as a city of art. Many creative souls are attracted to and inspired by the winding, narrow, cobblestone streets of Safed’s Old City, home to a bustling artist’s quarter, and feel at one with their creativity in the crisp mountain air of this city in the sky. Due to the city’s reputation as a haven for the creative soul, visitors from both near and afar frequently flock to the city in order to enjoy the showings of Safed’s many artists and their galleries. Each summer the city of Safed hosts a world famous Kleizmer festival. Kleizmer musicians come from around the globe to participate in the festivities, and every open space, concert hall, and gymnasium in the city becomes a possible venue for the many Kleizmer performances that go on day and night. This is a festival not to be missed.
Holy Jewish Grave Sites in the area
The ARI, Rabbi Isaac Luria, the great Kabbalist, identified scores of graves of these great rabbis when he lived in Safed in the 16th century, and his findings are generally accepted by religious Jews today, who flock to the North to pray at these tombs. Among the best known are:
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai grave site at Mt. Meron ( 15 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
There are several sites on Mt. Meron that visitors come to see. The graves of the famous rabbis, Hillel and Shammai, are located near Meron, and a third century C.E. synagogue is situated near the base of the mountain. Meron is famous, however, as the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
Rabbi Shimon was a Jewish commentary rabbi of the third century C.E. He is frequently quoted in The Tamud, (main commentaries of Jewish Law) as a revered expert who was highly regarded by the scholars of the day. Rabbi Shimon spoke out against the Roman rulers, and they decreed a death sentence against him. Together with his son, Elazar, Rabbi Bar Yochai fled to a cave in the nearby town of Peki’in, and there they hid for 4 years, nourished, legend tells, by a carob tree that grew at the entrance to the cave. While in hiding, Jews believe, Rabbi Shimon was visited by God’s Divine Inspiration, which taught him the secrets of Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah. Kabbalah means “to receive” and one who studies Kabbalah receives the wisdom of the secrets which are hidden in the Torah. Understanding these secrets allows one, it is believed, to strengthen one’s relationship with God and with one’s fellow man. After the Romans reversed their death decree against him, Rabbi Shimon left his cave and traveled throughout the area, teaching the secrets of Jewish mysticism that he had learned while in hiding. During this time, he wrote the Zohar, The Shining, which is the basis of Kabbalah study until today. When Rabbi Shimon died, he was buried on Mt. Meron, cementing the reputation of the area as that where Kabbalah study was born. When Jews returned to Israel after the Spanish Expulsion of 1492, many Kabbalists made their way to nearby Safed because of its proximity to the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon – this is where Safed got its name as “City of Kabbalah”.
Hundreds of thousands of visitors come to visit the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon yearly. They come to pray, to beseech his spirit’s intervention in the heavens for good health, to make a living, for a good marriage, peace in the home, and a variety of other requests that believers hope can be achieved by asking for the Tzaddik’s, Righteous One’s, intervention. The anniversary of Rabbi Shimon’s death, Lag B’Omer, is an especially auspicious day to visit his grave, and upwards of a quarter of a million people make their way to his gravesite every year during this 24-hour period. Another custom, established by the Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria, the ARI, in Safed in the 16th century, is to bring 3-year-old boys to Mt. Meron for their first haircut.
Yehonatan Ben Uziel ( 20 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
Yehonatan Ben Uziel was a well-known Kabbalist and commentator, who translated the Book of Prophets into Greek. Yehonatan Ben Uziel never married. which is rare and disapproved of among Jews. Perhaps this is the reason that the gravesite of Yehonatan Ben Uziel, in Amuka on the outskirts of Tzfat, is a traditional spot for unmarried men and women to come to when praying to meet a marriage partner.
Benaihu Ben Yehoyada ( 20 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
Benaihu Ben Yehoyada’s gravesite is also on the outskirts of Tzfat, right next to the main northern entrance to Tzfat. Benaihu Ben Yehovada was a warrior during the time of King David, but also a great Torah scholar who headed the Great Court, the Sanhedrin. Many stories are told about his prowess as a fighter, but he is best known as a righteous man, a “tzaddik” and for this reason his gravesite draws many petitioners who ask for his intercession in the heavens for assistance.
Honi HaMa’agal ( 35 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
Honi HaMa’agal – Honi “The Circle-maker” is buried near the western edge of the town of Hatzor, along the Rosh Pinna-Kiryat Shmoneh road. A well-known story about Honi casts him as the original Rip Van Winkle. Honi saw a man planting a carob tree and asked the man why he was planting the tree. The man declared that he was planting the tree for his grandchildren. Honi then fell asleep, and upon awakening, saw the tree fully grown, with a young man picking carobs from it. Honi asked him “did you plant that tree” to which the man replied “no, my grandfather did”. Honi realized that he had slept for 70 years. Honi’s gravesite is connected to prayers for rain, as he is remembered for drawing a circle during a dry winter and declaring to God that he would not leave until God sent the rains. God sent a drizzle, to which Honi said that the drizzle wasn’t sufficient. God then sent a torrent, and Honi again refused to leave his circle, saying that the rush of water was also destructive. Finally, God answered Honi’s request and sent proper winter rains.
Yehuda Bar Illay ( 15 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
Yehuda Bar Illay was a prominent sage of the Talmud and was a revered arbitrator among Talmudic scholars and commentators. His decisions, when a disagreement arose between two other sages, were accepted by all. Despite his knowledge and scholarship, R’ Bar Illay was best known for his humility and the emphasis that he put on honoring his fellow man. His gravesite is on the side of the Tzfat-Meron road.
Rabbi Tarfon ( 15 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
The gravesite of Rabbi Tarfon is located off to the south of the Tzfat-Meron highway. Rabbi Tarfon is mentioned in the Passover Hagaddah, the guidebook to the Seder ceremony which accompanies the first night of that holiday, as one of the commentators whose explanations of the Seder, the ceremony which accompanies the first night of the holiday are repeated until today. R’ Tarfon was quite wealthy, but he is best remembered for his generosity to the poor and needy.
Christian Sites of Northern Israel
For Christian tourists, Northern Israel has a large number of the sites that make their visit to Israel one which connects them to their heritage. Some of these sites are:
Tabgha ( 25 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
At the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee, two churches sit at the site where Jesus is believed to have performed the miracle of the loaves (where he fed a multitude of people) and where he appeared after his resurrection. The Church of the Multitudes was reconstructed on the site where a Byzantine Church once stood, and has been built as a replica of the original 4th century A.D. Church. Nearby, the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter was built on the site where Jesus is believed to have appeared to Peter the Apostle in his third resurrection and bestowed the primacy of the church on Peter.
Capernaum ( 35 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
Capernaum is called “Kfar Nachum” in Hebrew. It sits on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee and together with the Christian sites sits the ruins of an ancient synagogue. It’s importance to Christians is considerable; Christians believe that Jesus preached many of his sermons at Capernaum and much of his Ministry took place here. Also many of the miracles recounted in the Gospels took place at Capernaum. Throughout the years, various branches of Christianity have built here, and today, visitors can see St. Peter’s Catholic Church, a Greek Orthodox Church and a Franciscan Monastery.
Mount of Beatitudes ( 40 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
No one is certain where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount, but most Christian scholars believe that it was at the site that is known as Mount Eremos on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee. A Byzantine Church from the 4th Century A.D. was built on the site, and its ruins are visible, as are the remains of a monastery which was built there. According to Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount was the first of Jesus’s five discourses in which he sets out the moral principles of his teachings – many Christians see this sermon as Jesus’s commentary on the 10 Commandments. Today, a Catholic Church, the Church of the Beatitudes, sits on the site and many Christian visitors come to experience the spiritual atmosphere of the sites.
Bethsaida ( 30 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
Bethsaida is the home of the Apostles Andrew and Philip and is also known as the “House of Fishing”. It is located on the Northeast side of the Sea of Galilee. This is the site of the famous miracles where Jesus cured a blind man and fed the multitudes with loaves of bread and fish.
Banias/Panias ( 1.5 hour driving distance from AMIRIM )
Today, the Banias is a National Park with hiking trails and streams of water flowing through it. It is also the site of an ancient Greek city where the god Pan was worshiped, giving the site its name, Panias (known in Hebrew as “Banias). Christians believe that at this site, the northernmost location that Jesus traveled to, Peter identified Jesus as the messiah.
Gennesaret ( 30 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
Gennesaret is also called the Sea of Galilee and Lake Kinneret. Gennesaret is revered by Christians as the sea where many of Jesus’s greatest miracles occurred. In addition, Jesus is believed to have appeared at Gennesaret after his resurrection to instruct his Apostle Peter to spread his ministry. Many Christian tourists spend a good amount of time at the lake, sailing it, walking around it, and visiting the various sites surrounding the lake where they believe Jesus walked.
Jordan River ( 30 minutes driving distance from AMIRIM )
Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, and it is a popular spot for Christians to visit. Many Christian visitors baptize, or rebaptize themselves at the river, usually at the southern edge of the Sea of Galilee, near Kibbutz Kinneret where the lake empties into the river.
Recommended Foot Paths, Hikes and Nature Reserves in the Area:
these hikes are between 1 hour to a full day hiking
1. The Amud Valley & Stream Hike (approx. 5 minutes drive from “Amirim”)
2. The Betzet Valley Hike (approx. 1 hr. driving distance from “Amirim”)
3. The Meshushim stream Hike in the Golan Heights (approx.11/2hour driving distance from “Amirim”)
4. The Zaki river Hike, in the Golan Heights (approx.11/2 hour driving distance from “Amirim”)
5. Tel Dan Nature reserve (approx.11/2 hour driving distance from “Amirim”)
6. The Yehudiah Stream & Nature Res, in the Golan Heights (approx.11/2 hour driving distance from “Amirim”)
7. Baniyas Nature Reserve (The Mount Hermon Stream), (approx.11/2 hour driving distance from “Amirim”)
8. Hachula Birds Sanctuary (approx. half an hour driving distance from “Amirim”)
9. The Achziv Hike (approx.11/2 hour driving distance from “Amirim”)
Please consult with Adom Lavan Management for further details. We can send you more information by e-mail or by post on each one of the above outings.