The aspirations of our people to return home and re-establish Jewish independence in the Land of Israel, preserved tenaciously through 2,000 years of galut, came to a dramatic climax in a small museum… Read more
Peter Abelow
On and Off the Beaten Track in…the Har’el Lookout
During Israel’s War of Independence, the construction of the Burma Road, a bypass to Jerusalem through the mountains, was an extraordinary feat that allowed Jewish soldiers to avoid the dangers of the… Read more
On and Off the Beaten Track in … Gush Etzion
There is no area in Israel that more symbolizes the flow of Jewish history than the Gush Etzion region, situated just fifteen minutes south of Jerusalem. And as Israel prepares to celebrate its… Read more
On and Off the Beaten Track in . . . Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu
A religious kibbutz that is a world leader in the technology of organic farming “God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it” (Bereishit 2:15). In Israel, the… Read more
On and Off the Beaten Track in . . . The Golan
A well-preserved and partially reconstructed synagogue in Katzrin Archeological Park, one of the many batei knesset in use when Jewish life thrived in the Golan Heights during Mishnaic times. Photos:… Read more
On and Off the Beaten Track… The Menorah—Official Symbol of the State of Israel
The Knesset Menorah stands about fifteen feet high across from the main entrance to the Knesset. Photo: www.sasson-photos.com Upon the founding of the State of Israel, the menorah was chosen as… Read more
On and Off the Beaten Track in… the Af-Al-Pi-Chen Museum
The Af-Al-Pi Chen was one of the ships that participated in the struggle to bring Jews to Eretz Yisrael clandestinely during and after WWII. Today, it serves as a museum that dramatically tells the… Read more
On and Off the Beaten Track in . . . the Carmel Forest
The Carmel Forest: before and after the devastating fire–the worst in Israel’s history–that claimed the lives of more than forty people. Photos: www.sasson-photos.com “And the fire… Read more
On and Off the Beaten Track in . . . the House of Dona Gracia
A cultural center, hotel and museum all rolled into one,the House of Dona Gracia, complete with renaissance-style decor and elaborately dressed actors, transports visitors back to the sixteenth… Read more
On and Off the Beaten Track in . . . Sataf
Overlooking the terraces at Sataf Photos: www.sassontiram.com Growing up in New York in the 1950s, my connection with the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemet L’Yisrael) was a little blueand- white tin… Read more















