Shuvoo Sights & Sites
Journeys Through Photo & Word
People & Places from the Past
and the Present by Ashirah Yosefah
Issue No. 2, May 11th,
2006
ANCIENT BOUNDARIES
"You shall not move your
countryman's landmarks, set up by previous generations,
in the property that will be
allotted to you in the land that
YHWH your G-d is giving you to
possess."
(Devarim 19:14)
On the far right
of the above photo, you can see a corner portion of a boundary wall constructed
at Shiloh during the time of Yehoshua. Highlighted in the yellow box to the left is
a Chatsav plant. Tradition says these
perennial flowers that push their way through the dry hard soil of summer were
first planted in Israel
at the time of Yehoshua as a means of marking tribal boundary lines. (© Ashirah Yosefah Photo)
Tanach
records that it was at the entrance of the Mishkan in Shiloh that Yehoshua ben
Nun, Eleazar the High Priest and the tribal leaders assigned by lot allocations
of land to seven Tribes of Israel, namely Benjamin, Simeon, Zevulun, Issachar,
Asher, Naphtali and Dan (Yehoshua 18-19). The Tribes of Yehudah, Ephraim,
Manasseh, Reuven and Gad had received their land allocations earlier, prior to the
setting up of the Mishkan at Shiloh (Yehoshua
13-17).
On a trip
to Tell Shiloh during 2004, archaeologist Yair Shalev revealed a part of the
area I had not visited previously. En route to the site where the Mishkan
once stood, one can still find the former exterior walls of ancient Shiloh, dating to both ancient Canaanite and Israelite periods.
The Community of Shiloh has labored for years to excavate and restore these
ancient remains that tell so much about the period when the Children of Israel
first entered, divided and settled the Land promised to Avraham and his
descendants forever. The Community has
done these excavations and restorations primarily at their own expense in terms
of time and resources.
During the
month of August each year, a peculiar plant seems to "pop up" all
over Israel.
Tall and spiky with no leaves to mention and a large bulbous root, the tall,
slender, pointed spikes boast whitish flowers similar to Russian sage or very
skinny lupines. They are a bit of an annual event here in Israel. The plants just suddenly appear, as if on
cue, right before the High Holy Days. Yair Shalev revealed that these
botanical marvels, called Chatsav, are very ancient. Jewish
tradition holds that they were planted throughout Israel during the days of Yehoshua
as a means of marking and defining the tribal boundaries once the Land had been
allocated. The photo above captured a Chatsav plant standing proud
sentry next to a corner section of a westerly boundary wall of ancient Shiloh. Archaeologists
have determined that the section of wall shown in the photo was built by the
Israelites during the time of Yehoshua ben Nun and Israel’s early settlement of Eretz
Yisrael.
The photo which
follows shows another section of boundary wall, this time located to the west
of the Mishkan site. It is also known to
be of Israelite construction from the time of Yehoshua. Shiloh
existed as a sizeable Canaanite city prior to the entry of the Children of
Israel into the Land. Remarkably, it was
a city which Yehoshua and the armies of ancient Israel did not have to acquire
through battle. Although ancient Canaanite ruins reveal Shiloh
to have been a heavily fortified city, there is no record in Tanach of Yehoshua
and the Israelites fighting to take the city. The historical record would
appear to indicate that the Canaanites who had been living in Shiloh simply
vacated the area in advance of Israel's
arrival, the fear of the G-d of Israel
having come upon them as the news of Yehoshua's conquests spread throughout the
Land. The tribes of Israel
camped at Shiloh (Yehoshua 18-19) until the
Land had been fully allocated and then they traveled to their respective
territories. After a temporary period of time at Gilgal, the Mishkan was
relocated to Shiloh were a semi-permanent
structure of wood and stone was built for it.
Shiloh became the annual pilgrimage
site where the Children of Israel celebrated Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot as
commanded in Torah.
A section
of an exterior boundary wall constructed at the time of Yehoshua. The wall indicates the expansion made to Shiloh after the Children of Israel took possession of
the city. (© Ashirah Yosefah Photo)
Today,
modern Shiloh sits adjacent to the site of the
ancient city. A beautiful synagogue commemorating
the design of the Tabernacle sits high atop the hill upon which modern Shiloh was built. As one drives by, the
"Tabernacle" synagogue is easily visible and has become a landmark in
its own right.
Shiloh is one of the communities now designated for evacuation
under the current appeasement plans being pushed forward in futile efforts to
gain peace. Knowing its history and the
significance of this area to the history and people of Israel, one is easily struck numb
in disbelief. Each time I drive through
the thriving Jewish communities and towns in the “disputed territories”, I
cannot help but recall the warning Hashem gave us when He instructed Moshe how
we were to observe the Yovel (Jubilee Year) ...
"But the
land must not be sold beyond reclaim, for the land is Mine;
you are but
strangers resident with Me. Throughout the land that
you hold, you
must provide for the redemption of the land."
(Leviticus
25:23-24)
May the G-d
of Israel
strengthen and provide for His people who daily giving their hearts, souls,
minds, strength ... and, in too many cases, lives ... to establish and redeem
His land.
Shuvoo
Ashirah Yosefah
info@shuvoo.com
