One who sees olives in a dream will see his business increase…and gain a good name. One who sees olive oil in a dream can anticipate being illuminated by the light of Torah.
Berakhot 57a
Asher was the second birth son of Zilpah, and the sixth of Leah’s progeny. Upon his birth, Leah ceased her battle. For the first time, she felt true joy, a sense of sheer fortune. “Said Leah: ‘Happy am I [alternatively: Such fortune have I]! Now the women will call me blessed.’ And she called his name Asher” (Genesis 30:13).
Leah birthed four of her own children for Jacob. Then she added two more to her tent, fully matching the two that her sister Rachel brought into the world by giving Bilhah to Jacob. This sixth son was…pure abundance. Dumb luck. A bonus not of Leah’s own devices, a spontaneous gift for which she did not plan – a gift from God.1The midrash, as quoted by Rashi (Genesis 30:10), picked up on the oddity that with Gad and Asher, no mention was made of Zilpah’s pregnancy, but only of their births. The midrash explained that Zilpah was too young to show overt signs of pregnancy through the gestations (BR 71:9). The function of this midrash was to highlight how these sons appeared so spontaneously that the pregnancies passed almost unnoticed! Both Gad and Asher were named after this unexpected but lucky turn of fortune.
This son was destined to thrive and succeed.2Explanation of the root a-sh-r by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Genesis 30:13. He represented the culmination of Leah’s force of will and outgoingness – not in battle with others, but as a connector and source of relationship. And indeed, this abundance of blessing was felt most keenly in his naĥalah.
Fruitful Shevet, Fruitful Naĥalah
What a pleasure it is to take in Naĥalat Asher. The large swath of the north, encompassing most of the western Galilee, is lush year-round, with abundant foliage and ample water sources. The land always makes me think of that lovely psalm sung under my marriage canopy, a beautiful German (yekke) tradition that I hope my children embrace when their time comes:
Ashrei (fortunate, happy) are all who fear the Lord, who follow His ways…
Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;
Your children will be like olive saplings around your table.
Psalms 128
These were the words that gladdened the hearts of the groom and his bride, providing a vision of a future laden with promise and productivity. The most blessed son of Jacob, named for fortune, was appropriately gifted with a thriving naĥalah that dripped with olive orchards and well-watered ground, a portion that the whole nation collectively treasured. Consider how the blessing of Moses contained not a trace of animus – only benedictions for this Fortunate Son:
Blessed are you, Asher, from all the sons!
He shall be the best liked among his brothers,
And shall dip his foot in oil.
Deuteronomy 33:24
Jacob bestowed a blessing on Asher that foreshadowed the blessing Moses gave. Jacob blessed Asher with the richest land in Eretz Yisrael: “From Asher shall come rich bread, and he will provide kingly delicacies” (Genesis 49:20).
Different regions of Eretz Yisrael are amenable to olive growth, but none so much as the northwestern Galilee, the territory of Asher. This prized fruit was an essential commodity in the ancient world, used for light, hygienic and cosmetic applications, cooking, and medicinal purposes. Thus, Asher was prized, for from his land oil flowed like a spring:
Once the Lacedonians were short on oil. They instructed an appointed agent to secure one million maneh of oil. He traveled to Jerusalem, but they told him there to go to Tyre. He traveled to Tyre, but they told him to go to Gush Halav [in Naĥalat Asher]. He traveled there…and purchased more oil than he had set out to buy. It is said that no animal – neither horse, nor mule, nor camel, nor donkey in the Land of Israel – was not hired to carry back all of this oil.
Menaĥot 85b
The flag of Asher was a fiery red, alluding to the light of the olive’s oil, and it was emblazoned with an olive tree, the symbol of Asher.3BaR 2:7. His stone on the priestly breastplate also reflected the plenitude of the tribe: the tarshish (aquamarine, or beryl) was said to aid digestion and bring well-being to its handler, in consonance with the blessings of the olive.
This blessing of land extended to promises of healthy children and large families.4Sifrei, Deuteronomy 355; Midrash Tannaim 220; Targum Yerushalmi, Rashi, Ramban on Deuteronomy 33:24. See also I Chronicles 7:40. The daughters of Asher, especially, were praised for their beauty, with the envious gift of appearing young even in their old age.5Tanna de-Vei Eliyahu, 9. As per the midrash, these fine women were sought after by kings and high priests.6BR 99:12; Tan. VeYeĥi, 13; ER 9:52. It is interesting that both kings and high priests were dedicated by being anointed with oil. How appropriate that they would desire women who were raised amongst the olive groves!
Perhaps we can find a deeper connection between the prized women of Asher and the olive oil that symbolized their tribe. Consider these verses from Ecclesiastes that juxtaposed the “wife you love” with the plentiful presence of oil in the description of the path to joy in a life that is inherently limited:
Let your garments always be white, and your head never lack for oil. Enjoy life with the wife you love through all the fleeting days of your life that He has granted you beneath the sun, all of your futile existence; for that is your compensation in life and in your toil which you exert beneath the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:8–9
As oil smoothes and balms the skin, an intimate and loving relationship soothes and comforts the tired soul. The qualities of the land of Asher inspired the qualities of its inhabitants. The women of Asher bore the warm and gentle, healing and health-giving character of the olive. These Asherite women would smooth over the rough edges of the nation’s leaders, partnering with them to provide the necessary support that powerful men needed and craved.
Asher the Illuminator: To Speak and Not to Speak
Interestingly, Asher’s otherwise delightful personality was complicated by certain indiscretions on his part. The midrashic literature, expanding on Asher’s personal story, reveals a personality who was practically compelled to shed light on truths that were meant to stay in the shadows. Any characteristic, when expressed in full, is a force that can be both good and bad. Asher clarified and illuminated, but he also overexposed – there are times when secrets are meant to stay hidden. He sometimes cast an unforgiving light into dark corners.
First, Asher was the one who told his brothers that Reuben had sinned with Bilhah. For this, they excommunicated him for “breaking code” and informing on his kin, only reconciling with him after Reuben confessed his guilt.7Sifrei, Deuteronomy 355; Midrash Tannaim 220.
Second, before the sons of Jacob could break the news to their father that Joseph was alive and well as an Egyptian viceroy, Asher’s daughter Serah informed him. Since she only could have known the dread secret of the brothers’ involvement in selling Joseph if her father had told her, the enraged brothers excommunicated Asher again, for betraying their confidence.8Hadar Zekeinim Baalei Ha-Tosafot, Deuteronomy 33:24.
This need to communicate, to illuminate, also served to comfort and console. Serah was the only one who could ease Jacob into the knowledge of Joseph’s survival without him dying from shock.9Sefer Ha-Yashar, VaYigash, 109b–110a. She was the embodiment of the wise women of Asher, possessed of that special ability to enlighten gently, without traumatizing, like soothing oil smoothing rough skin.
Serah’s skill in disclosure was legendary. It was to Serah that Asher revealed the specific mark that would designate the redeemer of Israel.10This mark was a specific communication that the future leader would deliver to the nation (in Exodus 3:16): ״פקד פקדתי אתכם״ (I have surely remembered you). Many years later, when Moses returned to Egypt and uttered the code, Serah affirmed to the nation that he was indeed the redeemer.11SR 5:13; PRE 48; MHG II, 42; Midrash Shir 76. This assurance, delivered as it was by Serah, convinced the people to put their trust in Moses. Serah also informed Moses concerning the whereabouts of Joseph’s sepulcher, smoothing the way for the nation to leave Egypt with the bones of their forefather.12Mekhilta Beshalaĥ (פתיחתא), 24b.
Communication, with all its dangers of speaking too much, is a gift, the lubricant that allows people and families to live together. It can be damaging, certainly, but we can assume from what we can piece together of Asher that he never intended to cause strife. The illuminating Asher, blessed and beloved, loved his family in return. Asher was unique in being “ratzui eĥav” – favored by his brothers. Ultimately, the brothers made peace with Asher and forgave (or were grateful for) his well-intentioned indiscretions.
Naphtali and Asher, both second-born sons of the maidservants, shared the ability and desire to bind the nation together. Naphtali wove disparate elements together through his abundant enthusiasm and goodwill, and Asher connected through communication. As Naphtali was a counterpoint to Dan, promoting harmony rather than isolation, Asher was a counterpoint to Gad, building relationships rather than cutting them off. They were linked by Jacob in his blessings, Naphtali directly following Asher, with a shared focus on both “giving” and the “mouth.” Both employed their talents to unite the shevatim in bonds of fraternal love. No wonder, then, that they were presented with the entirety of the north – expansive naĥalot, side-by-side, lush and fruitful.
Naĥalat Asher – He Who Seeks Wealth, Head North!
Asher’s blessings rang with bounty, and the lushness of the region within his naĥalah was everything we might have expected from this favored shevet. Even a casual familiarity with their territory makes clear why the Sages advised one who sought wealth to head north,13Literally, to face north in prayer. “הרוצה שיחכים ידרין ושיעשיר יצפין” (Bava Batra 25b). for Asher’s land was always fertile and relatively secure (with little threat from neighboring Phoenicia during most of biblical history). Asher was exiled by Assyria in the second part of the eighth century Bce along with the other northern shevatim, but their naĥalah was spared the raids and threats from neighboring enemies until that time, unlike all of the other naĥalot.
Naĥalat Asher took up the entire western Galilee. Its southern border was the Carmel Mountain and Jezreel Valley with an uneven southeastern border shared with Zebulun (imagine Zebulun as a boot kicking into Asher’s southeastern corner, leaving a shoe-like impression). Its western border was the Mediterraean Sea, all the way up to Phoenicia, and its eastern border was shared with Naphtali on an approximate straight north–south line. Asher’s northern border is indeterminable, but was ostensibly deep into Lebanon, far north of the Litani River. Identification of most cities in Asher (twenty-two of them, as listed in Joshua 19) is still inconclusive.
Visiting Naĥalat Asher
Itinerary: Tel Qashish, Ushah/Shefar’am, Tel ‘Avdon, Nahal Kaziv
The best way to see Naĥalat Asher is by driving north on Route 70 from Yokne’am. The southernmost cities of Asher, clustered together more tightly than the scattered urban centers in the north, sit along the Kishon River as it winds its way northwest skirting Mount Carmel.
Our first stop to view this southern swath of Asher is from the Mukhrakah, the Carmelite monastery on Keren Ha-Carmel (“Horn of the Carmel,” the southeastern tip of Mount Carmel). From the roof of the monastery facing southeast, you can easily see the pronounced Tel Yoqneam, the border city of Manasseh located just east of modern-day Yokne’am. A bit north on Route 70 is Tel Qashish, which marks the southern border of Asher.
Tel Qashish is identified as either Beth-dagon or Helkath,14Helkath, a city in Naĥalat Asher (Joshua 19:24–25), was assigned to the Levites and served as a city of refuge (Joshua 21:30–31). both of which were southern cities in Naĥalat Asher. The tel juts out from the otherwise flat Jezreel Valley. This location most likely appealed to the founders of the city, built long before the Israelites conquered Canaan, because of the abundant local water sources (note the wadi belting the east of the tel – this was once the flowing Kishon River) and because the city sat at a key juncture of the Via Maris, the ancient trade route running from the port of Gaza to various northern destinations.
The tel got its Arabic name al-Kassis (Tel of the Priests) from the site’s association with the biblical story for Elijah’s showdown against the prophet-priests of Baal. All three faiths identify this southeastern tip of the Carmel where we are standing as the likely site where Elijah challenged his ideological enemies, to demonstrate to the nation “sitting on the fence” – including the indigenous tribe of Asher – that loyalty to Baal was meaningless, that this god was not a god. After convincing the Israelites that Baal was powerless, Elijah drove all of the Baal prophets down the mountain and killed them by the Kishon River. This is why the Carmelite monastery, where we are standing, is called Mukhrakah, Arabic for “slaughter.”
The vista spread out before you may have been the location of another famous biblical showdown:15Yoel Elitzur makes a compelling argument against this consensus opinion. He claims evidence dating back to at least the Middle Ages of another Kishon River much closer to Mount Tabor. Elitzur believes that the geographical references throughout Judges 4–5 point to a more centralized battle which took place in the southern Naphtali and eastern Zebulun region. Issachar was also involved – but no mention was made by Deborah of Asher (unusual if indeed the battle centered around the Kishon River in Naĥalat Asher, but understandable if the battle was elsewhere, as he claimed). He also deals with the references in Shirat Devorah to Taanach and Megiddo (western cities in Naĥalat Menasheh) by positing that the tribe of Manasseh were prepared to battle the Canaanites in these cities, but were spared by the miraculous salvation in the east (Elitzur, 112–27). the battle between the Canaanites and the Israelites in the days of the prophetess Deborah, hundreds of years before Elijah challenged the priests of Baal. The army of Canaanite king Jabin and his general Sisera was routed here. Deborah and Barak pushed the enemy army from Mount Tabor west to the swampy terrain of the Kishon River. The iron chariots of the Canaanite army could not ascend to the Israelite encampment on higher ground. It is therefore possible that the Israelites could have held out until that strategic moment when the rains and floodwaters streaming down from the Carmel and Ramat Manasseh just to the south swelled the Kishon and made the Canaanite defeat inevitable. Deborah then called: “Arise! For this is the day that God will deliver Sisera into your hand. Behold, God has gone forth before you!” (Judges 4:14).
Sisera’s defeat was sealed by the rains, for which Deborah thanked God: “The heavens trickled, even the clouds dripped water. Mountains melted before the Lord” (Judges 5:4–5).
The stretch of Route 70 between Routes 75 and 79 gives little indication of the numerous tels scattered deeper to the east and west. Many of these tels were surveyed and have strata dating to the biblical period, making them likely cities of Asher, though which cities they were exactly requires further exploration. Tel Regev, Tel Pha’ar, and Tel Alil may have been Helkath, Beten, and Hali, respectively.
Upon reaching the Somekh intersection, turn left and enter Kiryat Ata. At the first traffic circle, make a left on Menachem Begin Way and take that road all the way eastward, under the 70 overpass, until you get to the first lot of picnic benches. Park your vehicle and follow the signs south toward Khirbet Ushah, the remains of the ancient town of Ushah. Ushah is best known as one of the locations where the post–Temple-era Sanhedrin convened – twice, actually – before moving on to its next location (Shefar’am).16The Sanhedrin met in Ushah during the years 80–116 CE, and then again between 140 and 150 CE. Ushah was the perfect, quiet, and unassuming location for the Sanhedrin to function, since the rabbinic body had a vested interest in staying under the Roman radar during those periods following Jewish revolts. Such illuminaries as Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel, Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai, and Rabbi Judah bar Ilai (who was actually from Ushah) taught and legislated at Ushah.
Though a biblical-era town has not yet been ascertained, an eighth-century Bce seal in Hebrew was found in the vicinity.17The Israelite seal reads on one side “Elzakar b. Yehohil” and the other side “Shobai b. Elzakar.” Encyclopedia Judaica, s.v. “Usha.” The water cisterns, mikveh, and wine and olive presses, all surveyed in the 1960s, are what remain of Ushah, though the Israel Antiquities Authority is currently renewing excavations on the site and hopes to uncover further evidence of a vibrant Roman-era Jewish city.
In the late nineteenth century, when the land was under Ottoman rule, a Muslim Arab town was built here, appropriately named Hushe. The townspeople made use of the ample stone on site to build, resulting in the current ruins of Arab Hushe18The village was destroyed after a fierce battle against Israeli forces in the Independence War of 1948. exhibiting some interesting Roman-era finds in secondary context. One example is a building stone with an incised slot for a mezuzah parchment.
Return to the parking lot and continue along the dirt road on foot, following the signs to the Roman road. This road was built by the Romans around 67 CE, as they invaded the Galilee from the Port of Acco. The route itself was actually in use for thousands of years, and was one of the main arteries connecting the Mediterranean to the inland cities of the Galilee. The Romans required large, obstacle-free roads to move their armies and equipment efficiently throughout the region, so they built an impressive network of roads. This particular segment passed between Ushah and Shefar’am (visible off to the northeast).
One fascinating find was discovered just off the road.19There is no sign indicating the exact point, but it is worth hunting for. The marker is around five hundred meters (approx. one-third of a mile) northeast of Ushah, on the south side of the road, at the edge of the hillside. A Greek inscription on a rock reads “CAB… ” [partial] and “GOYMCBA,” interpreted as a Shabbat marker (CAB = Shabbat and GOYMCBA may refer to the particular zone). A Shabbat marker was an indicator of teĥum Shabbat, or the limits a Jew is allowed to walk outside of a residential area on Shabbat. This marker (assuming it has been interpreted accurately) warned Roman-era residents of Ushah that they were not to walk beyond that point on Shabbat.20Another Shabbat marker, this one inscribed in Hebew with the word Shabbat, was discovered recently near Tel Shimron (a city in Naĥalat Zevulun on the shared border with Asher). That Shabbat marker was dated to the Roman or even Byzantine period.
This stretch of road and the Shabbat marker discovered alongside it are the perfect context to tell the famous Talmudic tale of one of the renowned sages, Rabbi Judah ben Bava.
The evil empire [Romans] enacted oppressive decrees against Israel: anyone who conferred ordination would be killed, anyone who received ordination would be killed, any town in which ordination was conferred would be destroyed, and the teĥum boundaries [the boundaries as demarcated by the Shabbat markers] of a town within which ordination was conferred would be eradicated. What did Judah ben Bava do? He went and sat between two large mountains, and between two large cities, and between their two Shabbat teĥum boundaries, between Ushah and Shefar’am, and he ordained five Sages there. And these are they: R. Meir, R. Judah, R. Simeon, R. Yosi, and R. Elazar ben Shamua. (R. Aya added R. Nehemiah as well.) When their enemies discovered them, [R. Judah ben Bava] said, “My sons, run!” They said to him, “Our teacher, what will become of you?” He responded, “I am placed before them like a rock that cannot be turned.” It was said that the [Roman] soldiers did not leave until they had driven through him three hundred iron spears and made him like a sieve.
Sanhedrin 14a
The tomb identified as the burial site of R. Judah ben Bava is located nearby, in southern Shefar’am. And in modern-day Israel, the busy intersection that sits between Ushah and Shefaram was named after R. Judah ben Bava, the Jewish hero who refused to cave to Roman decree. It is called Tzomet ha-Somekh, or the “Intersection of the Ordainer.”
Continue your drive up north on Route 70, and you will be cutting straight up through Asher’s naĥalah. This is a happy ride, with expansive plains and green-blanketed hills on your right, prosperous seaports on your left. You will naturally be hoping to spy some olive trees, since that is, after all, the tribal symbol, and the naĥalah does not disappoint. This lush region seems saturated and rich, with evergreen and olive groves in abundance. It is no stretch to describe the land as “pleasing,” virtually “dipped in oil.”21Deuteronomy 33:24.
Two minutes north of the Cabri intersection is a turnoff to the village of Avdon. As you drive toward Avdon, you will cross a small bridge (spanning the Keziv River). Park after the bridge and explore the adjacent Tel ’Avdon, one of the only sites within Naĥalat Asher for which we have a positive identification. Both the Arabic name for the side, Khirbet Abde, and the Crusader assignment of the city as “Rasabde” assist scholars in concluding that this tel was the biblical city of Abdon (Joshua 21:30, I Chronicles 6:59).
Remains spanning from the Early Bronze period through the Crusader period were discovered during surveys of Tel ’Avdon; Crusader-era structures sit at the top. Abdon was one of the forty-eight cities scattered among the naĥalot that were given to the Levites. The Levites living here surely ministered to the surrounding Asherite cities and hamlets, serving as teachers and providing refuge for the downtrodden.
Continue your journey up Route 70. Turn west at Hanita Junction onto Route 899. Soon, you will turn off into Goren National Park. Follow the signs to the Montfort Lookout. Here is one of the most breathtaking vistas that Eretz Yisrael offers, with the flowing Keziv River below girded by lushly forested mountains. Opposite are the impressive remains of the German Teutonic knights’ stronghold Montfort (“Strong Mountain” – the knights themselves called the place Shtarkenberg). The Germans acquired the property, originally a French farming estate, in the 1220s and, forced out of Acco by the Hospitaler and Templar orders of knights, developed it into their headquarters. The fortress eventually fell to the Mamluk Sultan Baybars in 1271.
A picnic in this cool serenity, with grand vistas surrounding, is the ideal setting for allowing the mind to wander to thoughts of the naĥalah’s namesake, Asher. His gifts, so lauded by Jacob and Moses, are ripe for the taking, for the whole nation to enjoy. The ideal feast for the occasion? A rich loaf, some good wine and, of course, olives.