Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz revisits the sites of ancient battles and triumphs 

Photos: Menachem Kalish

Miraculous battles didn’t start or end with the Maccabees — Hashem has been fighting our wars from the time Yehoshua led the nation into the Holy Land until today. As we retrace the ancient trails where some of the most famous battles took place, we’ll say Al Hanissim just a bit more fervently — because the miracles are still happening

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Eretz Yisrael, Chanukah’s actually been in the air since the beginning of Cheshvan, when for some reason the bakeries already begin to sell doughnuts. And once the shops begin to fill up with the sales on oil, wicks and menorahs, we really start to feel it, especially as the little gold glass boxes begin to appear outside of homes in anticipation of this special holiday. Perhaps the Chanukah spirit is so all-pervasive here, as it’s the only Jewish holiday where the backdrop took place in Eretz Yisrael, as opposed to all of the others that commemorate events outside the Land. And what better way to celebrate than a tour that will bring to life the wars and miracles that took place bayamim haheim bazeman hazeh.

Although the ancient city was leveled, the huge, complex underground water system built by Shlomo Hamelech is still intact and safe enough for us to climb through

From Strength to Strength

Our tour today begins right outside one of the fastest growing cities in Eretz Yisrael, a place that many cynically refer to as mini-America due to the influx of tens of thousands of Anglo olim: the burgeoning city of Beit Shemesh. If you thought there’s another place where that famous tour guide joke about the national bird of Israel being the “crane” is more applicable, the huge construction projects on every surrounding hilltop — with original and creative names like Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimmel 1 and Gimmel 2, Daled 1-5, and Hei 1 and 2 —  will change your mind. With over 150,000 residents and a growth rate of about seven percent per year, it’s the fastest growing city in the last decade, and many speculate it’s just getting started.

But our tour is not in the modern city of Beit Shemesh, but the ancient city upon which it is built. We’ll head out to the newly expanded Highway 38 that cuts right through the ancient city, and go back about 2,900 years to the original Jewish town.

Climbing up the ancient tel, we come across the walls of the former strategic city from where we have an incredible view of the border between the portions of the Tribes of Yehudah and Dan. To the west of us is the coastline, which was in ancient times the stronghold of the Pelishtim. The five coastal Philistine cities of Gat, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Aza and Ekron were constantly attacking the Jewish residents in these parts.

Not far from here to our east, along this highway, are the modern hamlets of Tzorah and Eshtaol, built near the remains of the ancient cities of the same names where Shimshon HaGibor dwelled and from where he would come down and fight against Pelishtim — terrorizing them and giving them back a taste of their own medicine. In fact, an ancient seal was found here at the tel with an embossed image of a man with long hair fighting off a beast. Yet after Shimshon’s passing, the Philistine threat forced the Tribe of Dan — whose parcel of land abutted their territory — to leave, and so they moved up north to the area of Tel Dan, on the border of the Golan Heights.