Gil Gertel and Noam Even operate The "Didactic Team",
which specializes in planning and developing methods,
which bestow educational messages to, designated
communities. Its specialty is working with museums,
theme parks and outdoor learning.
The Zvi Monument
Andartat Hazvi – The Monument of
Beauty
(zvi = deer = beauty)
A short walk of about 600 feet (200 meters) will
bring you to a monument erected on the roof of an old
lookout post in the center of the woods east of Kibbutz
Ma’aleh Hahamisha.
The old concrete guard post, on which the monument is
erected, tells the story of the three stages during the
armed struggle in The Land of Israel. The first stage:
Jewish inhabitants of the isolated settlements guarded
their homes from posts within the fenced-in village. The
second stage: toward the end of the 1930’s, when Yitzhak
Sadeh (soon to be the Commander of the Palmach)
developed a method of defense called “The Exit Beyond
the Fence” (Hayetzia Mehagader). This consisted of
patrols and guard posts in open areas outside the
settlements (this post is one such example and was used
to guard Kibbutz Ma’aleh Ha’hamisha). The third stage:
took place during the War of Independence (1948) when
heavy armaments such as cannon and mortar entered the
arena, and the guard posts intended only as defense
against rifle bullets, were again not suitable. Damage
to the guard post from cannons can be seen to this day.
Israel Shapira, who commanded his corps at this guard
post, was killed in one of the battles with the
Jordanian Army in the War of Independence. Israel’s wife
and children initiated the erection of the statue, which
was built by the sculptor Michael Katz.
In this moument, beauty is represented by the deer
(Zvi) and is taken from David’s lament to Saul and
Jonathan, (Samuel 2; chap.1; verse 19) “Thy beauty, O
Israel, is slain upon thy high places; how are the
mighty fallen!” In Hebrew Zvi can also mean beauty.
To get to the Zvi Monument , you ascend the road from
the center of Abu Gosh village in the direction of
Kibbutz Ma’aleh Hahamisha. On the side of the hill you
pass four junctions: to Nataf; to Kibbutz Ma’aleh
Hahamisha; to Kibbutz Kiyrat Anavim and to the
guesthouse of Ma’aleh Hahamisha.
The road (which is marked) continues directly to Har
Adar. One hundred and fifty feet (50 meters) after the
last junction, on the right, there is a descent on an
(eastward) path to a pine tree wood and a signpost
leading to the Zvi Monument. You can park at the
beginning of the path and walk through the trees, 600
feet (200 meters) to the monument.
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