Page 12 - Discover Israel Magazine - 2015 Edition
P. 12
Lush grape arbors shade Peki'in rooftops. Photo: Hanan Issachar
Good Neighbors
An old synagogue, a sacred cave and
a rare human mosaic are attracting a
new wave of visitors to the ancient
village of Peki’in.
Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
E
lisabeth van der Berg and Gabriel
de Jong, who immigrated to
Israel from the Netherlands in
2001, are some of the newest
Jewish residents of Peki’in. Margalit Zenati
is the oldest, with family roots going back
to before the destruction of the Second
Temple. The Zein al-Din family, Elizabeth and
Gabriel’s neighbors down the hill, are among
the leaders of Peki’in’s Druze community.
Together with a small number of Christians
and Muslims, they are part of what makes
the mountain village of Peki’in so special.
It might be an exaggeration to say that
this town of 12,000 – of which 70% are
Druze, 20% Christians, 9% Muslim, with
the Jews represented by the Van der Berg-
de Jongs, Zenati and four other families
– is a study in co-existence. But humming
in the background is down-to-earth good
neighborliness that crisscrosses ethnic
lines. It means, for example, that when
the youngest of Elisabeth and Gabriel’s
two sons, Rafa, was born, the Zein al-Dins
showed up bearing cooked Druze delights
for the family, and that the younger Zein al-
Dins came to the synagogue to celebrate the
bar mitzvah of Gabriel's brother.
It also means that visitors, both local and
foreign, feel comfortable touring the city,
Good Neighbors
An old synagogue, a sacred cave and
a rare human mosaic are attracting a
new wave of visitors to the ancient
village of Peki’in.
Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
E
lisabeth van der Berg and Gabriel
de Jong, who immigrated to
Israel from the Netherlands in
2001, are some of the newest
Jewish residents of Peki’in. Margalit Zenati
is the oldest, with family roots going back
to before the destruction of the Second
Temple. The Zein al-Din family, Elizabeth and
Gabriel’s neighbors down the hill, are among
the leaders of Peki’in’s Druze community.
Together with a small number of Christians
and Muslims, they are part of what makes
the mountain village of Peki’in so special.
It might be an exaggeration to say that
this town of 12,000 – of which 70% are
Druze, 20% Christians, 9% Muslim, with
the Jews represented by the Van der Berg-
de Jongs, Zenati and four other families
– is a study in co-existence. But humming
in the background is down-to-earth good
neighborliness that crisscrosses ethnic
lines. It means, for example, that when
the youngest of Elisabeth and Gabriel’s
two sons, Rafa, was born, the Zein al-Dins
showed up bearing cooked Druze delights
for the family, and that the younger Zein al-
Dins came to the synagogue to celebrate the
bar mitzvah of Gabriel's brother.
It also means that visitors, both local and
foreign, feel comfortable touring the city,
