Specializing in Private Tours of Israel and Israel's Lesser Known Tourist Attractions, the Gems.
Specializing in Private Tours of Israel and Israel's Lesser Known Tourist Attractions, the Gems. 

The Zvi Monument - Andartat Hazvi – The Monument of Beauty

by Gil Gertel and Noam Even 


(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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