The Northern Shomron: Israeli History

Target group: 5th – 8th grade.Activity length: about 1 hour.Goals: • Learning about archeological findings from the Northern Shomron.• Learning the historic value of the Northern Shomron.• Understanding the reasons behind establishing settlements in the

Northern Shomron.• Learning about the Northern Shomron communities.

Teaching aids:• Historic sources• Personal stories• Poster of the Northern Shomron• Posters of the 25th of Shvat.

Introduction

This lesson aims to teach students the great historic value of the Northern Shomron region. This area of land was the cradle of the Israeli nation, the land where our ancestors dwelt, and a location which remained influential throughout history. The soldiers during the Emek Dotan battle were very aware of this, as were the settlers who later established communities in the Northern Shomron.

Activity: Stage 1Read the following piece about archeologist Adam Zartal from kibbutz Ein Shemer:

Adam ZartalAdam was injured badly during the Yom Kippur war and spent a year recuperating in hospital. After he was released from the hospital he dedicated himself to archeology studies. He currently serves as prof. of archeology of Israel and the ancient East at Haifa University. In most of his research he focuses on the Menashe region; he has physically covered this area by air, car and foot. Doing so he has discovered over 1,500 sites of various historic age. 450 of them have been dated to the first Iron age which is considered to have been when the 12 tribes first settled Israel. His most famous discovery is the stone alter on Mt. Eival

which he found in the 1980s .

Stage 2: Young Archeologists

One of the basic aims of an archeologist is to identify a location. There are three yardsticks: the name of the site matches the sources, archeological findings match the period and the name, and the given name of the place by local residents is similar.

Divide the class to workgroups. Each group receives a mixed stack of cards (see appendix a) . There are 16 matches to be found; the first group to complete them correctly wins.

Stage 3: Settling the Northern Shomron

Use the poster to help discuss the renewal of Jewish communities in the Northern Shomron in the 1980s. An old British structure in Sa-Nur is where the families gathered into community groups before going on ground. The Israeli Government established soldiers’ communities in Homesh, Ganim and Kadim which became secular Jewish communities. Sa-Nur became an artists’ villiage and later became a religious community.In August 2005 as part of Ariel Sharon’s Disengagement Plan theses 4 communities were destroyed, but remained under Israel’s military rule.Distribute to the students personal stories (see appendix b), ask them to read their piece out loud, and then explain the character’s motives.

Conclusion:

The Northern Shomron played a central and important role in Israel’s history. Through the days of Avraham our forefather; the 12 tribes conquering and settling the land with Yehoshua; the Israeli kingdom; the Hasmonian period, and ancient Rome. These all left their traces on the place. When the State of Israel resettled the Northern Shomron, it was utilizing its natural historic rights to return to its heartland.

Appendix a.Historic source

Where Yosef

was sold

A city given to Chefer from

Menashe

A biblical city and a city during the II

Temple: Aruvot

Nervata

Ein Ganim, a

city of Leviim

Bezak, a meeting point for saving Yavesh Gilad

Geva: Israeli acc. to

the Samarians

and Gentile acc. To

our sages

Tevetz, where

Avimelech fell

Tirtza – the

capital of Israel,

and the name of

one of the Tzlofchad

girls

Tur Luza – a place

mentioned by the Sages

Machola is where

the prophet Elisha comes from

Mecher, where

the hero David Hefer comes from

Shoresh, from the tribe of

Menashe

Peresh, from the tribe of

Menashe

Bedan, from the tribe of

Menashe – a

Samarian place

mentioned by the Sages

Shomronthe

capital of Israel.

Retains the

name Sebastia

from Herod

Yatzit, an Israeli place

noted by the

Samarians

Tel Dotan

Hirbat Muchpar

Arabeh Jenin Ivzik Jeva Tuvas

Tulcha Tel-elHilo

Mircha Siris Parsin Bedan Sebastia

Name given to the ruin/ the village

Pharoh

Yatzid

Appendix b. Personal Stories

Gershon Blumberg, resident of Ganim, made Aliyah from Argentina“I felt I was walking on the land of my ancestors, I said to my wife come on, let’s move already. We made Aliyah in the end of 92 and lived there until the Disengagement. It was good, it was fun, it was bad, it was painful, it was moving…”.

Morad Naftali, resident of Kadim, made aliyah from Egypt“We were excited about the place, in every aspect, including the Zionist one. We lived there for 22 years until the Disengagement.”

Marina Madorski, resident of Kadim, made Aliyah from Russia“I made Aliyah from white Russia in 1979 and lived in Nitzrat Elit. In 93 I searched for a place near distant relatives of mine who’d made Aliyah, and saw prospects for a community in the Shomron called Kadim. I wasn’t scared; I was curious. I went there and fell in love with the place at once. These were the happiest 12 years of my life, thanks to the diverse community.”