KFAR YASIF

Jews have lived in Kfar Yasif, on and off, for centuries. Many times, it had had to deal with natural disasters, most notably, the locust invasion of 1707. But it was renewed 40 years later by Rabbi Solomon Abadi who not only made the town a Torah center, but also a burial place for the Jews of nearby Acre. For Acre Jews, burial in Kfar Yasif became a time-honored custom. In 1841, the last Jew left Kfar Yasif, but the burial custom continued. This custom was forced to cease during the Arab riots in 1929.

part of the Jewish cemetery in Kfar Yasif

photo taken from IsraelLandFund.com

LOD (LYDDA)

The Jewish community of Lod has existed, on and off, for thousands of years. In the 19th century a small Jewish community existed in, what was then called, Lydda.

Lod (Lydda), 1904

In 1921, the Arab riots compelled the last of its Jewish inhabitants to leave. Further attempts to reestablish the community during the British Mandate failed because of ensuing violence but after Israeli independence, Jews once again, were able to settle in Lod and Lod became a mixed Jewish and Arab city. Today, the local Jews have to constantly contend with local Arab violence. The situation doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon.

MOTZA

Motza is an ancient village that has been resettled as a Jewish farming area since 1859. A permanent community was established in 1894. In the 1929 Arab riots the village was largely destroyed and seven of its inhabitants were murdered, including the parents and siblings of village native Mordechai Makleff, the lone survivor of his family. (He later became IDF Chief of Staff after Israel’s independence.)

The parents of Mordechai Makleff along with a friend of the family, 1929

 

The village was soon restored and in 1933 Moẓa Illit ("Upper Moẓa") was founded as an adjacent moshav.

PEKIIN

Pekiin was the home of an indigenous Palestinian community – the Mustarabi Jews – descendants of Jews who had never left Israel.

 

During the riots of 1929, groups of Arabs from outside the village began to make trouble. The Jews of Peki'in were compelled to abandon their village out of fear of the Arab gangs. Many returned back to the village, but were forced to leave again during the Arab riots of 1936-39. This period was known as the Hadera exile since most of the Jews sought refuge in Hadera (and also in Haifa and other places in the Galilee). After the riots in 1939, one Jewish family returned. Today, of the original Jewish inhabitants in this, now, Druze village, only one of the original families remains.

RAMLEH

Ramle was established around 716 and was the only town founded by Arabs during the 1400 years of Arabs living in the country. From the very beginning and in the early part of its history, Ramle had thriving Jewish, Samaritan, and Karaite communities. It was also one of the stopping points for the Radhanites, convoys of Jewish merchants who crossed the land routes from Europe to Asia and back again. A period of expulsions took place during the Crusader era and in the 12th century, only 3 Jews lived there. The community was, eventually reestablished, but often went through periods of prosperity and decline between the 14th and 17th centuries. By the end of the 19th century, the town’s Jewish population was about 66.

Ramleh, c. 1875

The Arab riots in the 1920s forced some Jews to leave the town. In the 1930s Ramleh still had five Jewish families; even this small population bothered the Arabs and they were forced to leave during the ourtbreak of new riots in 1936.

 

Today, Ramle is a town where 80% of its population is Jewish, but many anti-Jewish incidents still occur among the 20% Arab minority.

SAFED

Jews have lived continuously in Safed since the Middle Ages. It was briefly destroyed during the Crusader period, but revived again in the early 13th century. From that point, it began to flourish and by the end of the 15th century, the local Jews were said to be trading chiefly in spices, cheese, oils, vegetables, and fruits. Many of the Jews who were expelled from Spain in 1492, settled there. The community reached its zenith in the 16th century when the town gained a reputation as a center of Kabbalah and was later considered as one of the four holy cities of Judaism in the Land of Israel (the other three being Jerusalem, Hebron, and Tiberias). Toward the end of the century and the beginning of the next, the Turkish administration began to decline and with it, Jewish prosperity. This was especially exacerbated due to the constant Arab civil wars in the area as well as an uprising by the local Druze. The community was augmented somewhat with the arrival of Hasidim from Europe in the 18th century, but in the 1830s, wars between Arab and Druze, and Arab intifadas and pogroms further depleted the community. But the situation stabilized by mid-century and the community grew again.
 

In 1929, the Arab population, instigated by the nationalists, assaulted the Jewish quarter and killed several of the inhabitants. During the British Mandatory period, a slow stream of Jews fled for their lives due to Arab hostility and the community stagnated.

Some of the Jewish buildings destroyed in Safed during the 1929 Arab pogroms

 

Mass funerals after the Arabs pogroms in Safed, 1929

Since Israeli independence, the community regained its strength and is, today, a flourishing city.

SHECHEM (NABLUS)

Shechem, called by the 7th century invading Arabs “Nablus” (after the Roman name Neapolis), was home to a Jewish community since Biblical times, as well as to the Samarian community (the only indigenous Palestinians aside from the Mustarabi Jews). For centuries, religious life for both Jews and Samaritans was centered around the Tomb of Joseph just outside the city, and for Samaritans, Mount Gerizim on the city’s southern flank where their Temple is situated. Since the end of the Crusader period in the 13th century, both groups have suffered from persecution at the hands of the local Arabs and Shechem/Nablus had become a center of Muslim fanaticism. The pogrom of 1855 forced many into Islam.

 

Tomb of Joseph, early 1900s. Jews and Samaritans have prayed here for thousands of years.

Members of the Samaritan community of Shechem (Nablus), c. 1905.

from the Jewish Encyclopedia

 

By 1904, the Jews finally abandoned the city leaving only the Samaritan community who often lived in a precarious position. After World War I, some Jews returned and attempted to reestablish the community, but they were driven away by the Arab pogroms of 1929. Jews still visited the city, though, especially when there was a major event among the Samaritans.

 

After the War of Independence in 1949, Shechem found itself under Jordanian occupation and Jewish pilgrimages to the Tomb of Joseph were banned. Since the city was reunified with the rest of Israel in 1967, Jews, once again, were able to visit the Tomb of Joseph and a yeshivah was eventually established on its premises. However, Jews were still forbidden from actually living in the city, but in 1983, the community of Har Bracha was established just outside the city on the southern ridge of Mount Gerizim. During the Oslo War, otherwise known as the “2nd intifada” beginning in 2000, Jews were again banned from entering the city and the Tomb of Joseph and its yeshivah was destroyed.

Tomb of Joseph after the Arab bloodbath, 2000

photo by Nathan Scheider

 

In 2002, the intifada forced the Samaritans to leave the city as well and the Israeli government, therefore, built them the new village of Kiryat Luza on Mount Gerizim around their holy Temple, and next to Har Bracha.

 

Today, the Israeli authorities, together with the local Arabs, still forbid Jews from entering Shechem, and praying at the Tomb of Joseph, except once a month, late at night and in the wee hours of the morning. The yeshivah that once existed at the Tomb is now banned from entering the site as well and is now located in the nearby Jewish community of Yitzhar. As of this writing, it is under Israeli military occupation.