These gates will soon usher in an era we’ve been dreaming about for centuries
Photos: Menachem Kalish | Video: Menachem Kalish, Gil Mezuman
Perhaps Hillel Hazakein could teach the entire Torah while standing on one foot, but to cover the entire 120-kilometer Sanhedrin Trail — the various stations of the Sanhedrin in the Galilee after it was forced northward following the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash — takes at least two Mishpacha articles. In Part I, we visited Usha and Shefaram, where the Sanhedrin first moved after the Churban, and davened by the grave of Rebbi Yehuda Ben Bava, who ordained the generation of Tannaim in the aftermath of the debacle of the Bar Kochva revolt.
Today we’re going to move southward to the Sanhedrin’s next station, and start our tour in the quaint yishuv of Kiryat Tivon at the National Park of Beit Shearim. I’ve guided groups to Beit Shearim often (back in the days when tourists actually came to Israel in person), and what not everyone knows is that besides being a UNESCO-recognized World Heritage site — which generally doesn’t interest most tourists anyway — it also served as the central burial place for Klal Yisrael for hundreds of years after the Churban, when the Jews no longer had access to Har Hazeisim. The ancient burial caves are an incredible place to learn about the various ancient minhagei kevurah that are mentioned in the Gemara. As well, the inscriptions on the burial caves of those that came from all over the Middle East, and even Europe, are a testimony to the significance placed on kevurah in Eretz Yisrael even in ancient times.
Accompanying me once again is Dr. Chagi Amitzur, the visionary who developed this trail and, together with the Ministry of Antiquities, brought it to fruition in 2018.
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