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Yad Hashmonah:
Don't Miss It on Your Next Trip to Israel!
by Josa Bivin
photos by Todd Bolen
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Nestled in the Judean Hills, 12 miles west of Jerusalem,
and only a 10-minute drive from where David and I live, is
Yad
Hashmonah, a unique community of believers. At Yad Hashmonah Finnish
and Israeli believers live communally in a "moshav," a
collective settlement. Yad Hashmonah was founded in 1971 by Finnish
settlers as a memorial (yad) honoring the memory of the eight (hashmonah)
Finnish Jews who perished in the Holocaust. |
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Yad Hashmonah is located in north Judah on a hilltop surrounded
by deep wadis. |
Click here for large version
or click on circle for closeup (with red arrow on home of Natan, Liat,
and Aviad Bivin)
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Click on photo for large version
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Yad HaShmonah from northwest. |
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To provide income for the settlement, members of Yad Hashmonah
established a furniture factory and a tourist center that includes hotel
accommodations and a "Biblical
Garden." In addition, the moshav's members cater weddings, bar
mitzvahs, birthdays and other celebrations. |
| The wooden guest houses are
visible in center. The Biblical Garden is partly visible at left. |
Click on photo for large version. Click
here for a close-up of one of the guest houses (constructed of
Finnish pine).
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The Biblical Garden brings the Bible to life. For visitors, it's a
hands-on experience. The garden includes authentic reconstructions of a
watchtower, threshing floor, wine presses, olive presses, a rock-hewn
burial tomb that contains ancient sarcophaguses and ossuaries, a mikveh
(ritual immersion pool), and more. |
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Click on photo for large version
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The Biblical Garden
includes several winepresses and these olive presses. |
| The crowning jewel of the garden is a
fourth-century Galilean synagogue that was dismantled stone by stone and
moved to the moshav by Israel's Antiquities Authority.
It's the only ancient Galilean synagogue outside the Galilee!
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| The ancient Galilean
synagogue overlooks the coastal plain of Israel. |
Click on photo for large version
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| Since our son, Natan, and daughter-in-law, Liat,
and grandson, Aviad, live at the moshav,
we are often invited to the many public functions that are held there.
For example, on a recent Saturday afternoon, the moshav held an open
house for members of surrounding settlements and other friends. The
guests were welcomed in the moshav's beautiful dinning hall where they
enjoyed special Finnish Christmas pastries. Later, they were given a
tour of the Biblical Garden, and then invited to listen to choirs
performing in the moshav's log auditorium. (Three Israeli choirs from
various parts of the country hold an annual workshop at Yad Hashmonah.) |
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Click on photo for large version
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Visitors can see how people
in biblical times buried the dead. |
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On your next visit to the Holy Land, be sure to visit Yad Hashmonah.
Perhaps spend a few nights in one of the moshav's lovely mountaintop
cabins -- the view is breathtaking! And while you're there, be sure to
take a guided tour of the Biblical Garden, a step into the past.
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| The watchtower affords a
splendid view of the entire area. |
Click on photo for large version
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