Julie
Baretz is a licensed tour guide who lives with her
family in Jerusalem.
Mount Tabor rises softly, but
powerfully, from within the verdant triangle of the
Jezreel Valley. A uniquely
rounded mountain at an altitude of about 1800 feet, its
contours may be viewed and unmistakably identified from
miles in any direction. The gentle curve
of the summit is crowned by an oblong edifice known as
the Church of the Transfiguration. This church, built
over the medieval remains of an earlier building,
commemorates the New Testament story from Matthew
17:1-9, where Jesus is recognized as the Son of
God in the company of Moses, Elijah and three of his
disciples.
Despite a dispute about the actual location of
the events from the text, a visit to
Mt. Tabor is a highlight on many
Christian itineraries - its spiritual significance, the
madcap ride to the top and the stunning view from the
summit attract multitudes of pilgrims. However, the
site is less familiar to Jewish tourists who regularly
bypass it, unaware not only of the breathtaking view but
also of the Biblical significance of
Mt. Tabor.
According to
Judges 4:13-16, the scene of the battle of
Deborah and Barak versus Sisera took place very close to
Mount Tabor, near a tributary of the
Kishon River, no longer visible
today.
Approach the
ascent to Mt. Tabor from the Bedouin
village of
Shibli; as you wind your way
through the village keep an eye out for the
Bedouin Museum on the right. The residents of
this village are all members of a nomadic tribe which
has settled permanently here at the foot of
Mount Tabor. They have
adapted their lifestyle to the twenty-first century,
leaving behind many of the ancient Bedouin customs. The museum,
located in the yard of an extended family, preserves the
traditional Bedouin culture through a display of
authentic tents and artifacts. A visit includes
traditional Bedouin hospitality of coffee and herb tea,
pita bread and a fascinating explanation about this
curious culture (visits must be booked in advance - be
sure to mention you would like an English-speaking
guide).
A short drive up
the road from the museum you will find a large parking
lot and rest stop adjacent to the turn-off which leads
up the mountain.
You may continue to the top in your own car, or
you may leave your vehicle in the lot and ascend the
road in a Mercedes stretch taxi leaving the navigation
of the road’s sixteen hairpin curves to the driver. Near the
top you will pass the entrance road to the Greek
Orthodox Church (not usually open to the public) and
then proceed through a magnificent stone Crusader
gateway, renovated by monks in the nineteenth century.
Straight ahead
you will find the Church of the Transfiguration,
designed by the Franciscan architect Antonio Barluzzi
and completed in 1924. The impressive
stone façade hints at the splendor of the ornamentation
inside, complete with enormous vaulted arches, peacocks
and a dazzling mosaic of gold and white tiles depicting
Jesus' Transfiguration. Smaller, hidden
chapels on either side of the entrance commemorate the
company of Moses and Elijah during Jesus' sojourn at the
summit.
After visiting
inthe church, make your way up the stairs (on your left
as you come back outside) to a section of the church’s
roof covered with terra cotta tiles to
encounter a breathtaking view of the
Jezreel Valley to the east and south. You
can also see the Hill of Moreh, Kfar Baruch reservoir,
Mt.
Gilboa the Jordan Valley,
Nazareth, Zippori
the city of Afula, the villages of Tamra and
Naoura as well as the mountains of
Gilead in
Jordan.
Bringing the
stories of the Bible to life amidst the dramatic
landscape is easy
-
just take out your copy and begin to read (out loud,
if possible).The battle here between Deborah, Barak and
Sisera is played out against the background of the book
of Judges, sometime during the
10th century BCE. During this
period, after the conquest of the
land of
Israel by the Israelites, the
twelve tribes had no king. They were ruled by a series
of charismatic leaders (called judges) who emerged in
times of trouble to vanquish the enemies of the
Israelites.
At the beginning
of Judges 4 the Israelites suffer at the
hands of Yavin, a Caananite king ruling from the city of
Hatzor, in the northern
Israel. Yavin has hired
Sisera as his army commander, a military mercenary of
Hittite origin
(Turkey of today) whose job is to
make life miserable for the Israelites. Sisera has nine
hundred chariots equipped with state-of-the-art Hittite
military technology in the form of iron wheel
fittings.
This gives him a significant advantage over the
Israelites, who are still clueless in the realm of
metallurgy.
He has cruelly oppressed them for twenty
years.
At this time
Deborah the prophetess was leading
Israel; she held court and mediated
disputes under a palm tree in the hill country of
Ephraim, south of Mount Tabor. One day she
summoned Barak ben Avinoam from the tribe of Naphtali in
northern Israel and said to him,
“The Lord, the
God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take
with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulon and
lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure
Sisera, the commander of Yavin’s army, with his chariots
and his troops to the
Kishon River and give him into your
hands.’” (Judges
4:6-7).
For reasons we can only try to imagine, Barak was
not terribly enthusiastic about his mission; he told
Deborah that he will only go if she comes along with
him: no Deborah – no Barak. Deborah agreed
to accompany him, but not without a catch: she informed
Barak that his attitude problem would cost him the glory
of victory.
He
would receive no credit for defeating Sisera –
instead, the honor
would go to a woman.
Barak
gathered ten thousand men and went up to
Mount
Tabor; when
Sisera heard of their activities he took his nine
hundred chariots and his soldiers and set off to meet
them.
Deborah gave Barak the
go-ahead:
“Go! This is the
day the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the Lord
gone ahead of you?” (Judges 4:14)
The
Biblical account goes on to explain that Barak and his
men went down from Tabor into the valley, where Sisera’s
army was routed by the Lord; all of the Canaanite
soldiers abandoned their chariots and fled on foot. The
Song of Deborah, in Judges 5,
gives us
a better idea of what
happened:
“O Lord, when
you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land
of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds
poured down water.” (Judges 5:4)
A
torrential downpour in the heat of the battle turned the
Jezreel
Valley into a
huge mud bath. Sisera’s fancy iron chariot fittings
turned out to be useless; the soldiers found their
vehicles stuck in the mud as the Israelites
advanced.
Barak’s army chased down the Canaanite soldiers
until they killed every last one.
Only Sisera himself escaped, and fled to the tent
of Hever the Kenite. (The Kenites
were a nomadic tribe who lived in peace with both the
Israelites and the Caananites.) Yael, Hever’s
wife met him , and warmly welcomed him into their tent.
She entreated him not to be afraid and offered her
warmest hospitality: She made up the guest-bed, covered
him with a blanket and brought him a nice, cool glass of
milk.
Before the exhausted Sisera went to sleep he
instructed Yael to stand in the door of the tent and
make sure no one found out he was inside. No sooner did he
begin to snore then Yael took up her hammer and nailed a
tent peg straight through Sisera’s temple into the
ground, killing him. And so, when
Barak arrived a little while later in pursuit of Sisera,
he found his enemy defeated by a woman, just as Deborah
prophesied.
How to
get there:
From Golani Junction – Take Rte. 56 south. Continue along
the road for a while, passing through the town of
Kfar
Tavor. Pass Gazit
Junction (to Ein Dor) on your left, and then turn right
at the next turnoff. Drive up through
Shibli, staying on the winding main road, until you
reach the large parking area for buses and taxis. Park your car
there to proceed in a taxi (not always available). Otherwise,
continue through the parking lot and make the first left
to the summit road for
Mount
Tabor.
From Afula – Take Rte. 56 north. Pass Movenpick
on the left and continue a few kilometers to the next
turnoff on the left. Turn left
towards Daburriyah and follow the road through the
village to the bus/taxi parking lot, which will be on
your left.
Note: the roads through the Bedouin villages are
winding and confusing, with no signs pointing to the
Tabor road.
You will probably take a few wrong turns but just
keep asking directions from people along the
way.
Church
opening hours: 8:00-12:00,
2:00-6:00. Closed
Saturdays.
Modest dress required (no shorts or
sleeveless).
Some of
the other Gems you can combine with your visit to
Mt.
Tabor, include
Dvorat
Hatavor, , Mt.
Gilboa and Zippori.
