Tel Hai
Tel Hai is a historic site
that commemorates the heroism of the Hula
Valley pioneers
who stubbornly defended their homes to the
death. Nearby Kiryat
Shmona is
named after the eight (Shmona in Hebrew)
pioneers who perished here.
Tel Hai was founded in 1916 by a group of Hashomer guards.
Hashomer was an organization that believed
that only Jews should guard Jewish settlements.
After the First World War, Tel Hai and other Galilee settlements
were transferred to French rule and suffered
in the Arab revolt against the French. In
January 1920 two Tel Hai members were killed
in an Arab attack, and on the 11th of Adar,
5680 (March 1, 1920), six more died when
hundreds of Arabs attacked the settlement.
Among the fallen was Yosef
Trumpeldor, the guards’ young
commander.
Tel Hai was abandoned, but the battles did
not end for another few months, after which
the settlers returned to rebuild their homes.
Since then, Tel Hai has been a symbol of
heroism. Each year, on the 11th of Adar,
an official memorial ceremony is held for
Trumpledor and his comrades at the cemetery
in nearby Kfar Gil’adi, where the young
fighters were buried in a common grave. A
statue of a roaring lion stands in the cemetery,
sculpted by Avraham Melinkov in 1926, as
an expression of their strength.
Tel Hai remains just as it was. The buildings
are made of basalt stone, with red tiled
roofs, preserving the settlement that thrived
here in the early years of Jewish settlement
in this region. The courtyard houses a museum
hat reconstructs the life of Tel Hai’s
founders and an audiovisual program in seven
languages portrays the battle and the heroism.
Children can solve historic riddles and try
on period costumes and all around the courtyard
are sculptures and antique farming equipment.
Near the Tel Hai courtyard is Tel Hai College
and a youth hostel that overlooks scenic
Hula Valley. West of Tel Hai is a sculpture-lined
path featuring stone and bronze sculptures,
and to the east is Tel Hai Industrial Park,
which houses an interesting photography museum
and an amusing antique car museum.
Sources: GoIsrael |