(First Blog Entry of the 2019 Fall Semester)

Tiyul to Sataf JNF Park in Judean Mountains

by Daniel Wellerstein,     12^th grade,       Northern California

This past Wednesday we went on our Tiyul to Sataf, a JNF park with an ancient biblical farming village located just a short walk away from Kibbutz Tzuba where Heller High is. While there, we learned about the method of farming known as “terrace farming” where different levels of crops are separated by walls of small stones used for irrigating water. This allowed for an easily regulated amount of water trees without constant management. to flow down the levels and properly hydrate crops without rains and constant management.

classmates walking on an ancient agricultural terrace at Sataf JNF Park

During our first stop at Sataf, we read pages out of the book of Joshua in the Tanach, and learned about his siege on the city of Jericho to continue conquering the land of Israel. There, they were instructed by God to march around the city walls for six days, before the seventh when they would sound their shofars and the city’s walls would fall before them and allow them entry. Once inside they were told to slaughter the population, but leave just the concubine Rahab and her family, as she was the spy assigned to gather information for the Jewish people about the city. Following the book of Joshua, the book of Judges recounts the internal struggles of the Jewish people, and the problems in leadership they were dealing with. After Moses’ death, the issue of who should be the next person to lead the people came into question. We learned about the progression of the Israelite kings, specifically Saul and David. An important quote of our class was “yes repentance tshuva, no foreign worship,” which denounced the practice of idolatry amongst the Jews.

remains of an ancient village at Sataf that we "made fall" like the wall of Jericho.

At the second stop, we learned about the many different types of agriculture that were prevalent during the time (1200 BCE); those being: grapes, olives, dates, pomegranates, wheat, barley, and figs. Additionally, the Tanach recounts the “land of milk and honey,” but as we learned, the honey referred to in the phrase actually implies the honey of dates instead of bees. Moreover, the reason so many Israelites are said to have become farmers is due to the rain that is believed to have been the result of their prayer to the Canaanite god Baal. The heavy showers led to the theory that if trees had more water, they would produce much larger and better produce. This gave way to the addition of man-made water irrigation systems coming from a large cistern fed by a cave system.

Me with a water jerrycan and my classmate Gavin at Sataf JNF Park

At our third and final stop, we learned about the conquest of the Jewish people against the army of Sisera. Deborah, a prophet in the book of Judges, instructed Barak to lead a fight against a commander of the Canaanite army known as Sisera, as well as giving him knowledge of the 900 chariots of iron the Israelites would be struggling against. During the battle, Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Yael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Sisera and Heber. In the night, while Sisera was asleep, Yael brought with her a mallet and tent spike and drove said spike into Sisera’s temple, killing him, and effectively winning the battle for the people of Israel. We were also given the opportunity to venture into the cave that the ancient Israelite farmers drew their water from.

My classmate Max inside the Sataf water cave (mayan in Hebrew)