Peki'in
There are
some places where time seems to have stopped
still. Such is Peki’in, an intriguing
picturesque village in the Upper Galilee where
modern development has not changed much of
the old homes and alleys.
Peki’in is a story of harmony, a village where
Christian Arabs, Druze and
one ancient Jewish family have lived peacefully
together for centuries. Peki’in was a farming village
since the time of the Second
Temple 2,000 years ago.
Since that time only one Jewish family has stayed in
place. Arab settlement in Peki’in started in
the 11th century CE with Arab Christians who were joined
a century later by Crusaders. In the 18th century Druze
families moved into the village and another 10 Jewish
families have moved there during the past few years.
The heart of
the village is a warren of narrow alleys
that lead to the old center of Peki’in, the village
spring. In the center there is a synagogue built in
1873 which has in its walls two stones reputedly taken
from the walls of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The
synagogue is locked but can be visited with prior coordination.
To the south
of the village one can find the Rabbi
Simon Bar Yohai cave,
where Bar Yohai, according to Jewish legend,
hid from the Romans with his son Elazar.
A carob tree grows at the entrance to the
cave, which also has a spring. Legend has
it that Bar Yohai and his son ate the carobs
and drank the spring water during the 12
years in which they hid in the cave. A
later tradition says that it was here that
Bar Yohai wrote the Zohar,
the foundation of Kabbala,
the Jewish mystic discipline.
The village is
also home the second largest Greek Orthodox
church in Israel, which was built in 1894
on the ruins of an older church and is open
in Sundays and Christian holidays.
Peki’in
has accommodation in guesthouses, special
restaurants, colorful shops, a factory that
makes soap from olive oil and many friendly
people. The countryside around the village
is also interesting with beautiful nearby
nature reserves such as the Mount Meron,
Nakhal Meron, the Mitlol Tsurim reserves
as well as tourist attractions such as the
Monfort Lake,
the Open Museum at Tefen and the rock park
at Kisra-Samia.
Sources: Copyright © 2001 Gems
in Israel All rights reserved. Reprinted
with Permission. |