Hiking Time Has Come

An upcoming hike, from Qiryat Netafim across from Revava north to Nofim nearYakir

and visiting some Second Temple grave caves:

Eretz-Yisrael.

Jewish Eretz-Yisrael.

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Pictures of a Tiyul Amona-Ein Samia

Pictures of the hike from Amona to Ein-Samia, like this one:

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Hiking Through the Land of Israel

A group of 30 hikers traversed the Sartaba range a week ago.

The route taken (orange line) from east to west (r to l) in a new view: -

and the topographical map:-

From the Sartaba peak they went west and met up with a group from Itamar, on a two-day hike, coming from the other direction after visiting Aromah. From the Gichon, they went on the black-marked path north to Wadi Koorazliyah to the spring and finished, going east, at Masuah in the Lower Jordan Valley.

a real cool interprative view:

Some pics:

More here and here

Walking through Eretz-Yisrael is a mitzvah:

said R. Jeremiah b. Abba in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, "And spirit to those who walk in it" [Isaiah 42:5] - "Whoever walks four cubits in Eretz Yisrael is guaranteed entrance to the World to Come." (Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 111a)

which has been considered so -

Because of the intrinsic Holiness of the Land of Israel, a person gains spiritual merit by merely walking here.

Who Dem 'Settlers'?

Could they have been on this tour?

"They"?

Them:

Armed Israeli Settlers Parade in West Bank Town Date : 30/12/2011 Time : 10:37

BETHLEHEM, December 30, 2011 (WAFA) – Around 200 armed Israeli settlers paraded in the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem Friday morning and walked around the convention center and nearby Solomon’s Pools, said local activists.

Awad Abu Sway, member of the local anti-settlements committee, said the settlers, protected by Israeli soldiers, took pictures of the convention center and the pools and held prayers in the area.

The settlers then left the area and went to another neighborhood of al-Khader, where a settlement outpost was erected.

Maybe connected to this?

Or this?

I think from here:

'עמיתים לטיולים' לא להחמיץ את ההזדמנות לביקור בבריכות שלמה + טיול למעיינות סביב ביתר עלית - בהדרכת עמית הורן

ערש"ק פרשת ויגש, יום שישי ד' טבת תשע"ב (30.12.11)

הטיול מאושר ומאובטח ע"י צ.ה.ל

חלק ראשון - מותאם גם למשפחות מיטיבות לכת

נקודת המפגש בשער הצפוני של אפרת(ה)

תפילת שחרית בשעה 6:15

תחילת ההליכה בשעה 7:00

משפחות מיטיבות לכת: מוזמנות להאריך את חופשת החנוכה ולבוא עם הילדים לחוויה בלתי נשכחת סיור בבריכות שלמה המפוארות.

נדון במנהרת דהר דקו, נבקר בעין עיטם ונמשיך לעין פרוג'ה ולבריכות שלמה המפוארות, שלצידן עין אל בורק, עין אל קלעה ועין צלח, ומהן הוליכו אמות מים לירושלים של בית שני, לבית המקדש, ולמבצר ההרודיון שבמורד נחל תקוע באמה פחות מוכרת.

סיום משוער בשעה 8:30.

חלק שני - מיועד למיטיבי לכת

לאחר סיום הביקור בבריכות שלמה נעלה על הרכבים וניסע לכניסה לביתר עלית - עיר התורה והחסידות בהרי יהודה.

בערך בשעה 09:00 נצא לטיול מעיינות סביב ביתר עלית.

נרד דרך עין אל מסיר לכיוון עין אל בלד והעיר נחלם המקראית, נמשיך למנזר הביזנטי א-דיר ולעין פרס, נספר את סיפור הקרב שהיה במקום במאה ה7 לספירה בין המוסלמים לביזנטים, נמשיך למצודה מבית ראשון ונרד לשלל בריכות השחיה והמעיינות התחתונים של ואדי פוכין. משם נעלה לעין א-טקה ולחמשת המעיינות של זעבוב ופיקיה.

המסלול למיטיבי לכת 14 ק"מ (קובץ עם מפה מצורף).

שעת סיום משוערת 13:30, ניתן לפרוש במספר נקודות באמצע.

נשמח על כול נשק שיובא לטיול, בעיקר נשק ארוך.

and using Google Translate:

"Hiking Peers", do not miss the opportunity to visit the Solomon pools + a trip to the springs around Beitar Illit - under the guidance of Amit Ararat.

Vayigash, Friday Wednesday Tevet Tsha"b (30/12/11)

Part One - also suitable for families
The meeting point for the North gate of Efrat (e)
Shacharit at 6:15
Beginning of the walk at 7:00
come with children memorable grand tour complete pools.
visit Ein Etam and will continue to eye Perugia and pools complete luxury...aqueducts to Jerusalem's Second Temple, the Temple, and the fortress Herodian downstream.
Estimated end at 8:30.

Part II - Designed for serious walkers


After the visit to Solomon pools superior to the vehicles and drive to the entrance of Betar Illit - City of Torah and Hasidism in the Judean Hills.
At about 9:00 we walk springs around Beitar Ilit.

Descend through the spring...continue Byzantine monastery we will tell the story of the battle was instead century 7th century between Muslims and Byzantines, we will continue the fort from the first and go to many swimming pools and springs in the bottom of Wadi Fukin. From there we will view a - Tekoa and five springs of Zabov and producers.

Route for serious walkers 14 km (with map attached file).
Estimated end time 13:30, you can retire the number of points in between.

Bring log-barreled weapons.

 
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What I Did & Where I Was Friday

I led a walking tour through downtown Jerusalem, from the King David Hotel to the Russian Compound and around, visiting sites of pre-state underground operations:

Photo credit - Meir Elipur

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What To Do During The Pesach Holiday

Come to Shiloh

and visit also Binyamin Region sites:

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Wadi Al-Maliach - Hiking

To see more pics like this, go here:

The area is just east of Tubbas down to the Lower Jordan Valley.

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Anti-Yesha Media Attack on Hikers

At Ynet, one Akiva Miller decides to paint the reality black in his writing an article that begins:

Fearless in the West Bank

Special: Jewish hikers ignore security warnings, go on trips throughout Judea and Samaria

It even has typos like

For the wonderers, almost no spot is out of bounds

That should be 'wanderers'.

But he has to admit the truth:

Each tour begins with five or six trekkers who are generally familiar with the region and are armed with a gun or an IDF rifle that belongs to their unit. More travelers, mostly religious ones, join the tour through Facebook. A member of the Observation Unit, a group of volunteer photographers, accompanies most of the tours. The photographers aim to document violence perpetrated by the police or by Palestinians, and collect evidence for court – in case one of the hikers ends up on trial after the trip.


The routes are chosen especially for the landscapes and their historic significance. Many of the heritage sites are found next to or in hostile Palestinian villages, which is where the problem begins; the law does not prohibit trips in the region as long as they avoid official Palestinian territories, and the IDF order to coordinate each such trip is not enforced [but read this letter, in Hebrew].

This theme is a recurring one.  In 1988, a group of teenagers from Elon Moreh who had gone hiking near the village of Beita were attacked with stones. One of the teenaged girls from Elon Moreh, daughter of Menachem Felix was killed by shots fired by the security guard who joined the group and was attacked by several Arabs. A year later, I was involved in an incident at Qarawat Bani-Zeid.  In 1995, an additional two teenaged boys were killed in Wadi Kelt.  And there have been many other terror acts including the stabbing of a Christian hiker in December.


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For Background:

a story from 2007.

a  year earlier.

on the most recent incident.


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If you are looking for sites on these hikes, in Hebrew though, try

Tiyulim B'Ertz Yisrael

Tzeida Laderech


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Scenes From Eretz-Yisrael

From friends and acquaintances who walk the hills and valleys of the Land of Israel:

These are from the Tekoan Desert area:

These from near Shiloh, to the east:

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If Lost, Ask The Way

A group of hikers were in the area of the Charasha [חרשה] community [*] (no, not this "settlement"). This one named in the Bible, Ezra 2:59: "And these were they that went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsa...", in the Talmonin district. It's just east of Talmon on this map and right in the middle in this one.

Everyone, almost is looking at a map:


But, it seems the map needs a human touch, especially as no one wants to go where they need not, so some locals are asked:


And help is on the way:


Didn't anyone hear about a construction freeze in Yesha? -



[*] (on Charasha in Hebrew)


(Kippah tip: Ella)

Ever Heard of Aruma?

Aruma is an historical site in Samaria, south-east of Itamar. A fortress of Avimelech ben Gideon and upon its ruins the Hasmoneans and Herod rebuilt for themselves a fortress. Six cisterns of 5,000 cube meters.

Judges 9:41 And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah; and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem.

In this map, it is located almost in the middle of the map, east of Beita El-Fukka (Upper Beita):



Some friends of mine walked through the area to Aruma and saw, on the way:




However, the IDF decided to "close the area"


and the hike came to a fairly abrupt end, including detention for a short period of some of the participants.

If you read Hebrew, here is a detailed explanation from a previous hike.

Pictures from a Hike to Jebel G'dir

Here's a map of the general area.

Courtesy of Ella Koblentz

New Hiking Guide Book Out

In memory of their brothers, killed in terror attacks, two young residents of Shiloh have published a hiking guide book for the specific region around Shiloh, the Southern Samaria area.

It's in Hebrew and entitled: "This Goodly Mount: Routes and Sites in Southern Samaria".

The cover:

The back cover with pictures of Yonatan Eldar killed inthe Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva incident last year and Shmuel Yerushalmi, killed in a suicide bombing attack at the French's Hill Junction in the summer of 2002:

The page of thanks and appreciation:

And I'm in there, 6th line in the yellow section, second name:

I'd Like To Walk Freely, Too

...Because when I do walk, I get shot at, stones are thrown at me and it's otherwise extremely dangerous.

But this guy gets literary praise for it:-

There is an Arabic word for Raja Shehadeh’s pastime.

“Sarha is to roam freely, at will, without restraint,” he writes in “Palestinian Walks: Forays Into a Vanishing Landscape,” an account of six walks in the West Bank,

And what does he see, or wish not to see, on his walks?

Spilling around the southernmost ridge in Mr. Shehadeh’s line of view were also orderly rows of red-slanted rooftops, unmistakably those of an Israeli settlement. Asked the name, Mr. Shehadeh’s voice fell.

“Beit El,” he said, adding, after a pause, “On walks, I try not to see those.”

Finding walks in Ramallah on which an Israeli settlement cannot be seen is nearly impossible. There are roughly 130 settlements and outposts in the West Bank and about a dozen in the Ramallah area. They remain one of the most contentious matters of the conflict, and for Palestinians who hike, a source of considerable vexation. Mr. Shehadeh, a Christian, says he cannot count the number of times his hikes have been halted by settlers, some armed, who will not accept as an explanation for his presence in the hills that he is simply on a walk.

But Beit El was far enough in the distance that one could make out neither its bunkers nor its coils of razor wire.

And see the lovely Land of Israel.