Beit-El & Shiloh

I'd like to preface my adventures in Tzfat with Rav Ami's prediction that I'd be "running around Israel like a drunken gazelle."  Although I haven't achieved this kind of euphoria yet, I am doing my best to enjoy myself.
We made our first archaeological outing on Sunday!  We got up early (well, not quite as early as we were supposed to), and drove to pick up Professor Chaggai Ben Artzi.  Just so everyone knows, "we" is five other students (Adam, Ben, Shmuel, Jordan, and Pinchas), Rabbi Eli, the driver (also named Eli), and I.  Professor Ben Artzi is an Israeli archaeologist, and happens to be Benjamin Netanyahu's brother-in-law.

Our first stop was Beit-El, located in the West Bank.  The interest in this site arises from the belief that it was here that Jacob had his famous nighttime vision of angels ascending and descending, and God's promise of the land to his offspring, whom He will not abandon.  The narrative concludes with the statement that "Jacob arose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had placed at his head, and he set it up as a monument, and he poured oil on top of it.  And he named the place Beth El, but Luz was originally the name of the city" (Genesis 28:18-19).

There is a funny-shaped rocky outcropping in the shape of a bed (for an eight-foot-tall person), which has a long oral tradition among local Arabs as being the rock on which Jacob slept, and even the name of the site, in Arabic, sounds like a corruption of "Beit-El."  There seems to have been a history of Abrahamic religions treating this as a holy site: there is an incredibly old mosque on the site (7th- or 8th-century), as well as a Christian church.  For several hundred years, people have considered this as a holy site.

More interesting than the rock itself (in my opinion) is the nearby ruin of a temple-like structure, several thousand years old.  The dimensions match those of the Tabernacle described in the book of Exodus, and there is an altar with the bones of kosher animals (archaeologists can often find evidence for Jewish presence in the absence of pig bones).  This is especially interesting, because the Tanakh mentions the erection of a Temple in Beit-El, following the division of David's kingdom of Israel into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah: "the king [of Israel, Yirovam] took counsel and made two golden calves, and he said to them, saying, 'It is far for you to go up to Jerusalem; here are your gods, O Israel, that have brought you up from the land of Egypt.'  And he placed one in Beth El and the other he placed in Dan" (Kings I 12:28-29).  (I visited the ruins of the temple in Dan on Birthright: it is located in one of the most beautiful places in Israel.)  The ruin dates from the correct period, and, rather than pointing towards Jerusalem, it is oriented to the nearby tomb, as one might expect a sanctuary to point towards a holy place.  Nearby are the ruins of a factory for the production of olive oil, presumably made for the lighting of the menorah in Yirovam's temple.  Furthermore, there are Jewish burial caves dating from the Second Temple era, another sign that the site might have been considered to be holy.

In other words, the tradition of Beit-El as being the site of Jacob's dream may go back as far as the era of the divided kingdoms in Israel.  However, one could easily say, for instance, that upon entering the land, the Israelites happened across a bed-shaped rock, and guessed that it was in that place where their ancestor had had his dream.  However, the evidence for the presence of the temple, in my opinion, is much firmer.

Back in our car, we drove off to Shiloh, not far from Beit-El.  Whereas there was nothing more relevant to tourism in Beit-El than a simple sign, there was a gift-shop and some basic facilities at Shiloh, the city where the the Tabernacle first rested.  It was here that the prophet Samuel worked for the high priest Eli, and where Saul, before he became king, brought news of a Philistine victory.  There are ruins old houses, and ruins of a temple, again with the dimensions of the Tabernacle found in the book of Exodus.  Professor Ben Artzi, pointing to the black tarpaulin that covered part of the site, stated that he believed that it was there that Hannah stood and prayed for a child, and where Eli rebuked her.  The conception and birth of the prophet are one of my favorite parts of the entire Tanakh, but for better or worse, I could not be so certain of the exact place.

Our last Biblical site of the day was to Mount Kabir, site of one of Abram's altars to God (Genesis 12:6).  There is a 4000-year-old oak tree, Elon Moreh (אֵלוֹן מוֹרֶה in Hebrew, meaning something like "oak guide," "elon" meaning "oak," and the Guide for the Perplexed translated into Hebrew as Moreh Nevukim) still standing there.  For millennia, the tree has stood as landmark to orient travelers in the region.  From it, one can see numerous sites of biblical significance: the two mountains and the valley in which the series of curses were recited in the book of Joshua (as commanded in Deuteronomy), a proposed burial site of Joshua, and even a stream-bed associated proverbially with beauty in the Song of Songs.  There was an excellent view from all directions, and one could even see across the Jordan River.  The guide also mentioned that the hidden grave of Moses was somewhere on the horizon, which very much excited Rabbi Eli.

The last stop for the day was at a goat farm where some of the other students had visited the last time they were in Israel.  It sells organic local goat yogurt and ice-cream; the proprietor is a fervent Zionist.  I didn't buy anything (so much for stimulating the Israeli economy), but it was good to stay in the shade.

Unfortunately, I left my camera at home, so I can't take any pictures.  You're going to need to rely on my blog then: I'll try to write more vividly in the future.  Right now, it's 2:30 in the morning, and I need to go to bed.  Coming soon: details of my daily life in Tzfat.  And also something about one of my friend's blogs.

I love you all and miss you all; really, I do!  But a special shout-out to Rav Ami, Eliana, and Noveya!  Thank you so much for encouraging me to visit Israel again!

~JD

"Personal prayers are not supposed to be spontaneous outbursts of emotion, and indeed there is no place for such outbursts" (Adin Steinsaltz, The Thirteen-Petaled Rose p. 158).