Sataf


Yesterday (September 6th, 2017) my fellow classmates and I went on a Tiyul to Sataf, which was a Palestinian Village before the establishment of the state of Israel and is also a site of biblical agriculture. Instead of taking a bus, we walked to the site from Tzuba which was about 30 minutes of a walk. When we arrived we split into our Jewish History classes, Ariella picked us figs and made us tea and coffee to enjoy while taking notes. We read the Tanakh about how one of the ancient cities were destroyed and we mimicked playing the shofar with Israeli candy.






In order to get to the other sites in Sataf we had to do a short hike, which overlooked a large part of the Judean Hills and parts of Jerusalem. The hike was so beautiful, and it was nice to see a park with very little litter. Some challanges that the Jewish people faced entering Eretz Yisrael were going from being nomads and roaming in the wilderness for years to finding careers and farming to sustain themselves. A term that you may be familar with that is similar to this concept is Neolithic and Paleolithic. In order to cope with these challanges they grew many different crops that were indigenous to Israel. The two different types, Ba'al agriculture and irrigated agriculture. When we finished our hike we came across a Maayan, which was their resource for having water which made farming work because without water agriculture would be unsuccessful. The Maayan was also used for bathing which made everyone stay happy and clean :) Right next to the Maayan was a tunnel that lead to a cave, when we got through the tunnel we formed in a circle and turned all of our lights off so that it was pitch black and we sang Hine Ma Tov. After this we performed our skits that were based on different portions of the Tanakh, and we ate dried dates which was a great end to an awesome day!

My question that I would like you guys to answer: Would you rather be exploring and hunting or settled down in a village and spend the day farming in order to survive, and please explain why! Also, I would like to know what the prettiest thing you saw was.

-GOLDIE ELKINS

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 7, 2017 at 10:39 PM

    I enjoyed this tiyul a lot. The most interesting part of the trip was when we learned about how the massive terraces were built into hilltops as far as the eye can see 3000 years ago with very limited techology.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 8, 2017 at 3:37 AM

    I really enjoyed this Tiyul, the best one so far in my opinion. I would rather be settled down, because even though it might be boring staying in the same place, you have stability and know that there will always be a next meal. My absolute favorite part was going into the spring. It was just amazing how deep in we got and we could hear the water trickling. I thought it was so cool when all of our flashlights when off and we sang, it became much more spiritual and made me realize how lucky we are to be here in Jerusalem, the land of our people.

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  3. UnknownSeptember 8, 2017 at 6:19 AM

    I think I would like a nomadic lifestyle better than a farming lifestyle. I think this would be better for me because I like travel a lot and this way I would get to see more of the land. Although I don't think I would be a good hunter, I like to explore. I think I could gather fruits and berries instead. By far my favorite part of the tiyul was the maayan or spring we saw. I felt a beautiful spiritual connection to everyone in the cave when we sang together in the dark.

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  4. Jeremy FaustSeptember 8, 2017 at 6:47 AM

    I think I would want to live in a village farming. Life might be hard sometimes but at least I know food will come reliably. The prettiest thing we saw was the view of the Hebrew letters saying, "agriculture will prevail" on the mountainside. Very pretty and meaningful.

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  5. Dani GottliebSeptember 9, 2017 at 3:50 AM

    Even though I enjoy traveling, hiking, and exploring overall, I do not think that the hunter/gatherer life style will be for me. It all comes down to security. It's nice to know where your next meal is coming from. Plus, I don't eat meat so I think a farming lifestyle will be much better on my diet, and I'll have a better chance for survival. I loved going inside of the cave, I will never forget how dark it was in there, and it was probably the darkest I have seen anything. Period. I also enjoyed the view looking over the terraces. Overall, it was an amazing tiyuul.

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  6. Katherine MurphySeptember 9, 2017 at 6:13 AM

    I would prefer to be settled down rather than a hunter gatherer life style because as farmers people were able to obtain a surplus and then make technological advances, which is necessary to keep up with the many challenges they faced such as war and natural disasters. Although, if this was in the context of the present day, I would much rather be exploring. The views at Sataf were absolutely gorgeous, but at the end of the day, I'll never forget how inspiring and powerful being surrounded in darkness with the people who will eventually become family while singing Hine Ma Tov.

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  7. Nina SachsSeptember 9, 2017 at 7:02 AM

    I would rather be settled in a village. I would like this because of the safety of knowing where I am going to get food, water, and that I will be safe. I think that being hunter- gatherer would be more fun but to survive settling is better. I thought the prettiest thing was being in the cave and seeing everyone smiling, but then turning off the lights and singing. It was a very beautiful moment.

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  8. UnknownSeptember 9, 2017 at 9:22 AM

    I would prefer to be a farmer and be settled. If you are a farmer, you are guaranteed food and money and a shelter. Sure the commute may suck but at least you have guarenteed food. The prettiest thing I saw on that trip was the view. When we were walking through all of the fig trees, it was such a view.

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  9. Beca ZSeptember 9, 2017 at 1:44 PM

    I would personally rather settle down because it is much more sustainable and reliable (at least most of the time). Also I think the prettiest thing was the inside of the maayan when we turned off all lights.

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  10. UnknownSeptember 10, 2017 at 4:20 AM

    Settling down allows for a constant food source with significantly less work than running around hunting stuff. Because of this, there is time for settled populations to make scientific advances and improve technology. Also I thought the maayan without the lights was really cool.

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  11. Sara GrinSeptember 10, 2017 at 4:33 AM

    I would rather be settled down in a village, because I don't like to hunt, and prefer to know where my next meal is coming from. Plus, I like when it's quiet and peaceful, which I will never get from hunting. My favorite part of the tiyul was when Zach and I climbed down a terrace to pick some figs for everyone. That was so fun!

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  12. UnknownSeptember 10, 2017 at 8:51 AM

    That's a difficult question Goldie...I would much rather be hunting and exploring because that's basic human instinct right? But then again if I were to settle I would at least know that I'm going to get food even if it means having a bad harvest. I would say hunting would be more my thing. Also the most beautiful thing was when we all entered the cave and turned our lights off and sang together...i couldn't see but I could feel how everyone was connected.

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  13. UnknownSeptember 10, 2017 at 9:48 PM

    I would rather be settled down in a village. Although I know that hunting for survival is very different than hunting for sport, I am still not a huge fan of it, and why do it if you don't have to? Also, I feel that living in a village creates an environment where you can become closer to the people around you, and personal relationships are very important to have in my opinion. Even though I could not see this, my favorite part of the tiyul was when everyone turned off our flashlights in the caves and sang. It was probably the darkest place I've ever been in but it was such a comfortable experience because I was surrounded by so many great people

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