Tribal Lands, Chapter 7; Zevulun

On that day, I will respond, declares the Lord
I will respond to the sky,
And it shall respond to the earth;
And the earth shall respond
With new grain and wine and oil,
And they shall respond to Yizrael,
Ve-zar’ati Li ba-Aretz – and I will sow her in the land
as My own.
Hosea 2:23–25
Those that descend to the sea in ships, plying their trade in the mighty waters;
They have seen the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.
Psalms 107:23–24

Zebulun was so intertwined with his older brother Issachar that it is difficult to tease apart an individualized portrait.
Rejoice, Zebulun, in your journeys,
And Issachar, in your tents.
Deuteronomy 33:18
His one consistent marker was the theme of plenty, of overwhelming success.
They draw from the riches of the sea,
And the hidden hoards of the sand.
Deuteronomy 33:19

From Jacob to Moses, this was the theme of his bountiful blessings.

This is not really surprising, as “abundance” is the meaning of the name given to the sixth and final son of Leah. Looking at the unexpected gift of yet another child, Leah was profusive in her wordplay:

God has given me a choice gift [zevadani Elokim oti zeved tov]; now my husband will exalt me [ha-pa’am yizbeleni ishi], for I have borne him six sons. So she named him Zebulun.”
Genesis 30:20

The alliteration in this verse heightens our awareness of this rare phoneme zv – zevadani, zeved, yizbeleni, Zevulun. The root zav indicates an abnormal, pathological flow – a curious abundance.¹Hirsch, Exodus 3:8. He brings Psalms 79:20 and Lamentations 4:9 as corroborating prooftexts. Leah’s poetic turn highlighted the unexpected, even extraordinary occurrence of this baby’s birth. She herself bore Jacob half of the sum total of his sons. That this was not meant to be was highlighted in the midrash:

The matriarchs knew that each was to produce three. When Leah bore a fourth son [Judah], she exclaimed: This time I will praise the Lord.
Genesis Rabbah 71:4

At this point, when she had given birth to number six, Leah’s fortune seemed almost…abnormal, as reflected in the nuance of that phoneme zv.

If the meaning of the root z-v-d is widely agreed to imply “give, bestow,” the second rare root in the verse is less clear. Z-v-l occurs only six times throughout the entire Tanakh.²Genesis 30:20; I Kings 8:13; Isaiah 63:15; Habakkuk 3:11; Psalms 49:15; II Chronicles 6:2. It was understood by most traditional commentators³Onkelos, R. Saadiya Gaon, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, Bekhor Shor. to mean “dwelling place,” in which case the meaning of the second half of the verse is “now my husband will dwell with me.” In the simplest sense, Leah followed the agenda she established with her firstborn, and continued to use with every subsequent son: the children were a means to secure a relationship with Jacob. One commentator, though, read a more profound significance into the solid and secure connotation of z-v-l: with the birth of this son, Leah secured for herself the ultimate, eternal dwelling – a grave next to her husband in Me’arat HaMakhpelah.⁴Alshikh, Genesis 30:20.

Another implication of the root z-v-l is “fertilizer.” This again highlights the extraordinary fecundity of Zebulun’s birth: I have become fertile yet again. The midrash that chose to interpret in this vein read the verse: my husband has fertilized (yizbileni) me yet again.⁵BR 72:6. “As long as you fertilize and hoe a field, it produces fruit.” Also MHG, VaYetze 30:19–20.

Moshe Held of Columbia University offers yet another understanding of the root z-v-l. Pointing to the link with the Ugaritic cognate z-b-l, he argued it means “to elevate or raise up.” A related noun in Ugaritic is zbl, meaning “prince.” It is then possible to translate the verse as “this time, my husband will exalt me.” Further application of this meaning also renders z-v-l as understandable in its five other contexts throughout Tanakh.⁶I must thank David Curwin for directing me to Held’s article “The Root ZBL/SBL in Akkadian, Uggaritic and Biblical Hebrew,” JAOS 88:1 [1968]: 90–96. Note especially that the basis for understanding z-v-d as “dwelling place” as cited by Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Rashbam, and Bekhor Shor is I Kings 8:13: “beit zevul.” The clear redundancy of bayit and zevul is solved if we understand z-v-d as “exalted.” That leaves beit zevul meaning “stately home or manor,” certainly appropriate for the context of the verse in Kings.

Zebulun’s birth was an unexpected blessing for Leah. This new baby secured her an eternal existence with Jacob. Now, he would not only cede to her vision (as with Issachar), but would also honor it. Taking off on the theme of fecundity, the pseudepigraphal Testament of Zebulun suggested that Zebulun brought fortune to his father as well, since Jacob’s wealth multiplied enormously upon this son’s birth.

Jacob indeed focused on fortune in his blessing to Zebulun: Zebulun was to be a successful and astute businessman, harvesting his wealth from the seas, trading with other nations:

Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore;
He shall be a haven for ships,
And his flank shall rest on Sidon.
Genesis 49:13

Zebulun was given control of the ports, heading up the most dynamic aspect of Israel’s wealth: trade.⁷Even today, 90 percent of the world’s trade is maritime. The farming and herding life of the other shevatim was relatively serene and unsurprising. Zebulun’s destiny was electrified with the unpredictability of the trader’s life. It was no wonder that his stone on the priestly breastplate was the pearl, or quartz (yahalom) – both because it came from the sea, and because its roundness symbolized the fickleness of wealth.⁸Rabbenu Baĥya, Exodus 28:17. Batnadiv HaKarmi-Weinberg suggests another quality of the pearl: it is reflective, implying change and inconsistency (hallmarks of the trader’s life). Also of note is Zebulun’s flag: white, emblazoned with a ship, a testament to the tribe’s devotion to seafaring (BaR 2:7). Even the tribal prince was named with allusions to their association with the sea: Eliav (“the ship”) son of Helon (“the sand”) (Midrash Aggadah, Numbers 1:9).

Zebulun and his linked brother, Issachar, represented two opposing approaches to life, the far poles of the spectrum:

Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore;
He shall be a haven for ships,
And his flank shall rest on Sidon.
Issachar is a strong-boned ass,
Crouching among the sheepfolds.
When he saw how good was security,
And how pleasant was the country,
He bent his shoulder to the burden,
And became a toiling serf.
Genesis 49:13–15

Issachar was defined by stability and plodding single-mindedness. He was rooted in his “security” amongst the “sheep folds,” standing on the land. In contrast to the steady donkey, Zebulun was an agile ship, always seeking new initiatives, dwelling by the ever-changing sea. He was the entrepreneur of the family, comfortable with the excitement of the unexpected.

Like all entrepreneurs, Zebulun was unusually mindful of potential partnerships and mutually beneficial arrangements. Seeing in his older brother tremendous potential for the depth and knowledge that can come only through many hours of diligent study, he suggested that they capitalize on their respective strengths.⁹BaR 13:17. Zebulun, the astute businessman, would act as Issachar’s agent, selling the produce gleaned from his brother’s fertile fields.¹⁰Sifrei, Deuteronomy 354. He was also to provide any additional funding. In return, Issachar would apply himself to his studies and become the tribe of national scholars.

With their arrangement, Zebulun secured something of the eternal, while Issachar procured something of the dynamic. Like all true partnerships, both sides were enriched by the other’s strengths.

As per their agreement, Zebulun received a share in the spiritual benefits, or the World to Come, derived from his brother’s Torah. Zebulun made a “leap of faith” – after all, he signed on to an eternity of philanthropy, with no insurance that he wouldn’t have to surrender his personal wealth to support his brother. He received no tangible benefit from the exchange, while Issachar saw a marked material advantage. Thus, in the blessings of both Jacob and Moses, Zebulun was extolled before the older Issachar. This was appropriate not only because he initiated the arrangement, but also because he took on the more precarious and challenging role of committing to another tribe that he would always “take care of business.”¹¹BR 99:11, 72:5; VR 25:2; BaR 13:17; Zohar, Genesis 675.

This was not an easy commitment to make. Zebulun was no trust fund baby. He had no concrete assets over those of his brothers. In fact, some had naĥalot that were far richer than his! The difference was one of attitude. The seas, Zebulun understood, belonged to no one – they could be harvested only by charisma and savvy. To be consigned to the water meant a life of constant danger, constant alertness. Yes, there was much to be gained, but also everything to be lost. Control over ports did not equal a regular cash flow. Zebulun was fully aware that his was a difficult destiny:

Zebulun was dissatisfied with his lot, as it is said, “Zebulun is a people that felt remorse in its soul to the death” (Judges 5:18). Why did he feel this way? Because [as the verse in Judges continues] “Naphtali was on the high places of the field.” Zebulun said before the Holy One, blessed be He, “Master of the Universe, to my brothers You have given fields and vineyards, but to me You have given mountains and hills. To my brothers You have given lands, but to me You have given seas and rivers!”
Megillah 6a

The Maharsha, the master commentator on the aggadah,¹²Commentary on Megillah 6a. noted that when the tribe of Zebulun was summoned to Kedesh of Naphtali by General Barak, they saw those fertile fields and vineyards firsthand. In Naĥalat Naphtali there was bounteous, rooted wealth. There was the satisfaction of bonding with the steady earth – a connection absent for those who ply the moody sea. Faced with the reliable serenity of the fecund earth, the tribe of Zebulun felt “remorse in its soul to the death.” This was something that they, slated to travel far and wide to earn fortune, however substantial, never had.

God comforted Zebulun with an additional gift: “All of your brothers will need you for the ĥilazon [sea creature that produces the indigo dye]” (Megillah 6a). The indigo dye secreted by the ĥilazon was the source of the costly tekhelet color, necessary for certain priestly garments as well as for the petil tekhelet, the single blue thread that was tied with the other tzitziot on each corner of four-cornered garments. The straightforward intent of this midrash was that Zebulun would always be wealthy, no matter how fickle the seas, because he provided the prized ĥilazon snail to the rest of Am Yisrael. This snail was harvested from the northern shores of Israel, an area that fell under the purview of Zebulun’s naĥalah.

I suggest that God’s response to Zebulun addressed more than the anxiety over his capricious naĥalah. Zebulun was a trader, acting primarily as an agent, facilitating others’ fortune. He was the middleman who regularly entered dangerous waters with no promise of a happy outcome. He provided for others’ well-being – whether Jacob’s wealth, Leah’s security, or Issachar’s freedom. He was always involved in pragmatiah, always looking for the next hot deal, never sitting still. He was the ultimate worldly shevet, immersed in the here-and-now. When God gifted Zebulun with the ĥilazon, He was gifting him with another dimension.

Why was tekhelet selected from all other dyes? Because [the color of] tekhelet resembles the sea, and the sea resembles the sky, and the sky resembles the Throne of Glory.
Sotah 17a

The tekhelet on the tzitzit, noted Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik,¹³Abraham R. Besdin, Reflections of the Rav, vol. 2, Man of Faith in the Modern World (New York: Ktav, 1989), 25. represent the metaphysical, a thin strand of unattainable heaven that throws the clarity of the other, white, tzitzit strands, into even sharper focus. These white strands are the sum of our mundane lives, to be lived in holiness, shot through by an awareness of the unreachable Divine, symbolized by the single strand of tekhelet. Even though Zebulun was busy with matters of pragmatiah, to his lot fell the tekhelet, the symbol of the otherworldly. When Zebulun felt rootless and uncertain, God gently reminded him that his calling was in no way inferior to that of his brothers. They turned to you not only for your worldly acumen, God said, but also for the inspiration to exalt the mundane by infusing it with a higher purpose. It was not Jacob and Moses alone, God intimated, who took note of your overtures to Issachar. Do not be discouraged, Zebulun – to you alone, who compromised your personal safety, relinquished serenity, and toiled selflessly to help others realize their destinies – is dominion of the tekhelet, and to you alone are the material and spiritual blessings of the blue, mysterious seas.

To gaze into the depths of tekhelet is to fathom the rolling expanse of the sea, to ride the waves of creativity, pondering elements that might have seemed disconnected, as a successful merchant does. It was not only Zebulun’s sacrifice that made him worthy of the tekhelet; it was his very unrootedness, his dynamism and creativity, that allowed him to leap from sea to sky, and on to the Kisei Ha-Kavod.

One final note on the matter: we have much to learn about Issachar’s appreciation for Zebulun from a famous example of such an arrangement – the relationship between Maimonides and his younger brother, David. In assuming the “Zebulun” role, David supported his older brother, allowing the natural scholar in the family to produce prodigiously and focus on intellectual pursuits. Upon learning of David’s death at sea while on a trading voyage in the Indian Ocean, Maimonides lamented:

The worst disaster that struck me of late, worse than anything I had ever experienced from the time I was born until this day, was the demise of that upright man, who drowned in the Indian Ocean while in possession of much money belonging to me, to him, and to others, leaving a young daughter and his widow in my care. For about a year from the day the evil tidings reached me, I remained prostrate in bed with a severe inflammation, fever and mental confusion, and almost perished. From then until this day, that is, about eight years, I have been in a state of disconsolate mourning. How can I be consoled? For he was my son; he grew up upon my knees; he was my brother, my pupil. It was he who did business in the market place, earning a livelihood, while I dwelled in security.
Maimonides, Correspondence, January 1185¹⁴Joel L. Kramer, Maimonides: The Life and World of One of Civilization’s Greatest Minds (Doubleday: New York, 2008), 243–58.

Maimonides mourned the loss of a beloved brother, yes, but he also voiced his despair over losing a certain measure of freedom that his brother’s commitment had granted him those many years. David had realized his older brother’s scholarly potential, understood well his own strengths and business prowess, and committed to the classic Yissakhar-Zevulun arrangement. Let us carefully note two things: David himself apparently studied Torah under his brother’s tutelage, and Maimonides was a scholastic giant, whose promise and achievements benefited generations. The model presented by the house of Maimon therefore served as an excellent application of a successful and appropriate relationship between two people who understood each other’s potential.

Zebulun, Ambassador to the World
Moses expanded upon Jacob’s blessing of sea trade, pointing to a pattern seen throughout history. Traders not only exchange goods, but also worldviews. They are the first, most primary, ambassadors. As the tribe that had the most international exposure, Zebulun naturally acted as a representative for the nation of Israel. Moses blessed the tribe that they might

Rejoice in your excursions.…Nations will proclaim at the mountain; there they will slaughter offerings of righteousness. For they shall be nourished by the riches of the sea and by the treasures hidden in the sand.
Deuteronomy 33:18–19

The Sages interpreted the curious “nations proclaiming at the mountain and slaughtering offerings” to mean that Issachar and Zebulun would positively influence foreign nations to appreciate Jerusalem and Temple worship. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch expanded on this notion:

Both of them together [Issachar and Zebulun] bring to the nations their first acquaintance with the Jewish spirit and Jewish life, and with the source of both – the Sanctuary of the Torah of Israel. They invite peoples to ascend the mountain and to offer there offerings of righteousness. For the peoples with whom they have dealings will learn to know and respect the spirit of Israel and the Torah of Israel. Ultimately, they will go up to the Mount of God’s House, and there, in devotion to the one God, they will attain the sanctity of a life of duty in righteousness.
Hirsch, Deuteronomy 33:19

The tribe of Zebulun was not merely an agent of material resources; it was also Issachar’s full partner, disseminating not only agricultural goods, but also spiritual wealth. Issachar developed the clarity and depth of the ideas, and Zebulun represented them to the world.

Jonah and Zebulun
We can see this spiritual role in the one prophet most closely connected to Zebulun: Jonah. The motifs of the tribe were abundant in the story: ships, sea, and the flanks of Sidon.¹⁵YS 550. Consider as well the literary connection between Tarshish and Sidon permeating Isaiah 23, though these locales were not necessarily geographically linked. It is not surprising, then, that the Sages traced Jonah to the tribe of Zebulun!¹⁶The child of the widow of Zarephath whom Elijah rescuscitated in I Kings 17 was none other than Jonah, and his deceased father was from the tribe of Zebulun. See Yerushalmi, Sukkah 5:1; PRE 33; BR 98:11. Also, Jonah’s hometown is given as Gath-hepher in II Kings 14:25, a city that was in Naĥalat Zevulun (Joshua 19:13); see YS 550. Within this context, it seems entirely appropriate for Jonah of Zebulun to entreat his endangered fellow passengers to “raise me and cast me into the sea” – a son of Zebulun returning to his natural habitat.

Jonah was connected to his tribe in other ways as well. Even though many others – Amos, Isaiah, Obadiah, Nahum, among others – prophesied about nations other than Israel, only Jonah was instructed by God to travel abroad and deliver His message directly to a foreign people: “Rise, and journey to Nineveh, that large city, and call out to her, for her iniquity has come before me” (Jonah 1:2).

Zebulun was the tribe of ambassadors, the ones who interacted with the peoples of the world, who were comfortable in their cosmopolitanism. Even as Jonah fled his mission, he was still a child of his tribe, spreading a vision of God to his far-off destination.

Jonah’s effect on non-Jews was demonstrated even through his escape route! The verses speak of his impact on the boat’s passengers in language that directly echoed Zebulun’s blessing “nations will proclaim at the mountain; there they will slaughter offerings of righteousness,”¹⁷Deuteronomy 33:18. and the midrash explicitly linked their worship to Jerusalem: “And they heaved Jonah overboard, and the sea stopped raging. Then the men feared the Lord greatly; they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows” (Jonah 1:15–16).

When the sailors saw all of the miracles and wonders that the Lord had done for Jonah [he was spat out on land by the fish]…they returned to Jaffa port and ascended to Jerusalem…and made loyalty vows and sacrificed there.
Yalkut Shimoni 550

Rashi¹⁸Based on Sifrei, Deuteronomy 354. explained the connection between the tribe of Zebulun and the Temple in Jerusalem in his commentary on Moses’s blessing:

People will call to the mountain: Through the commerce of Zebulun, the merchants of the nations of the world arrived at his coast. They said, “Since we’ve gone to the trouble to get here, let us go to Jerusalem and see this nation’s Deity and practices.” When they saw there all of Israel worshipping the same God and eating the same food…they said, “There is no nation as proper as this one” – and they converted then and there, as it says, “There they will slaughter offerings of righteousness.”

Zebulun drew the nations of the world to Eretz Yisrael and Jerusalem. Jonah, the quintessential son of Zebulun, demonstrated in his person the strong affiliation between his tribe and the Temple:

Jonah was from the tribe of Zebulun.…Rabbi Jonah said: “Jonah ben Amitai was a regular amongst the pilgrims to Jerusalem. He would participate in the festival of the drawing of the water [on Sukkoth], and the Holy Spirit would stir him [to prophesy].”
Yerushalmi, Sukkah 5:1¹⁹Also Yalkut Shimoni 550; Tosafot on Sukkah 50b. It is interesting to note that Jonah’s wife was also singled out in the Talmud as excelling in the mitzvah of aliyah la-regel, particularly unusual in that women are exempt from that time-bound positive precept. See Eruvin 96a.

Remarkably, the ritual highlighted here was the nisukh ha-mayim, the annual water-drawing ceremony celebrated on Sukkoth. Of course, a Zebulunite would be particularly drawn to the water-based ritual that was dedicated to beseeching God to provide for the world’s material welfare. What’s more, the ceremony was performed on the most cosmopolitan of holidays, the one festival concerned with the nations of the world²⁰Sukkah 55b. It is also striking that after Nineveh received God’s reprieve, Jonah built – of all things! – a sukkah. – Sukkoth.

Jonah, who led the sailors on the boat to the Temple, who himself was strongly drawn to the water ceremony in the Temple, prayed to God from the depths of the water…about the Temple:

You cast me into the depths,
Into the heart of the sea,
The floods engulf me…
Would I ever gaze again
Upon Your holy Temple?…
Let my prayer come before You
Into Your holy Temple…
And I, with loud thanksgiving,
Will sacrifice to You.
That which I have vowed, I will perform.
Jonah 2:4–10

Though the seas might have carried Zebulun off to distant shores, and though their primary place was interacting with foreigners at busy ports, this tribe fully understood the need to stay rooted to the nation’s spiritual center. Jonah and his tribe quenched their thirst for the Divine with the nisukh ha-mayim ceremony, rejoicing with the nations of the world as they “ascend year after year to worship the King, Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the festival of Sukkoth” (Zechariah 14:16).

Naĥalat Zevulun
The contours of Naĥalat Zevulun are provided in Joshua 19:10–17, and they are surprising. Based on the poetic verse of Jacob’s blessing to Zebulun, we expect that much of the northern Mediterranean coast would have been granted to this tribe:

Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore;
He shall be a haven for ships,
And his flank shall rest on Sidon.
Genesis 49:13

This is a theme echoed by Moses in his blessing: Zebulun “shall be nourished by the riches of the sea and by the treasures hidden in the sand” (Deuteronomy 33:18–19). These selections both strongly intimated a seaside territory for Zebulun, and the following midrash aggadah concurred:

Elazar the High Priest was wearing the Urim ve-Tumim, and Joshua and all Israel stood before him. An urn [containing the names] of the tribes, and an urn containing descriptions of the boundaries, were placed before him. Guided by divine inspiration, he gave directions, exclaiming, “Zebulun will be drawn, and the boundary lines of Acco will be drawn!” He then vigorously shook²¹So as to assure their randomness. the urn of the tribes, and Zebulun came up in his hand. He vigorously shook the urn of the boundaries, and the boundary lines of Acco came up in his hand.
Bava Batra 122a²²The Sages also positioned the “Sea of Haifa” within Zebulun’s territory. All shipwrecks and lost treasure washed into Haifa Bay, where “it is hoarded for the pious until Judgment Day.” Sifrei, Deuteronomy 354.

Instead, it seems clear that all of these coastal cities were apportioned to Asher, from the strip at the foot of the Carmel up through Acco and Sidon.²³Joshua 19:24–31; Judges 1:31. Zebulun was granted a landlocked region, surrounded by Naphtali, Issachar, Manasseh, and Asher. Their naĥalah was shaped like a short boot facing westward, encompassing (from south): the northern cities of the Jezreel Valley, the Nazareth Mountain Range, Mount Tabor, the Tur’an and Jotapata Mountain Ranges, and the Tur’an and Beit Netofa Valleys.

How to reconcile the discrepancy between the territory that actually was allotted to Zebulun, and that which was all but promised to them in the Torah? The Vilna Gaon extrapolated that lots were cast twice: once in Gilgal and then seven years later in Shiloh. He interpreted Joshua 14 and the territorial allotments there as the first lottery divvying up the naĥalot of Judah and Benjamin that happened seven years after the Israelites entered the Land of Israel.²⁴The numbers are based on a midrash that it took seven years to conquer the land and another seven to divvy it up (Zevaĥim 118b). Seven years after that lottery, when the Tabernacle was moved to Shiloh, lots were cast again – this time for the seven remaining tribes, as delineated in Joshua 18.

Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun refined this interpretation by positing that all of the tribes received their naĥalot in Gilgal, back in Joshua 14, but some were dissatisfied with their allotments and therefore neglected to pursue conquering their territories. After the move to Shiloh, Joshua lamented, “For how long will you be negligent in rising to inherit that land that the Lord, God of your fathers, has given to you?!”²⁵Joshua 18:3. Understood thus, Zebulun indeed inherited the coastal region in the initial lottery. We noted above how the midrash commented on their dissatisfaction with this region, a difficult tract of “mountains and hills, seas and rivers.”²⁶Megillah 6a. Rabbi Bin-Nun suggested that this midrash served to explain the discrepancy between what Zebulun was initially allotted and that which they received later at Shiloh – a portion cut off from the sea, with the ample fields and agricultural tracts that they had so coveted.²⁷As quoted by הרב אליהו מאלי, ״נחלת זבולון,״ האתר למקוריות במצוות, http://​tora.us.fm/tnk1/sofrim/mali/nxlot_zvulun.html.

Was it therefore acceptable to be dissatisfied with a God-given lot? Don’t we teach our children that “you get what you get, and you don’t get upset”? Why did God humor Zebulun and change their naĥalah to suit the tribe’s whims?

I believe that another approach to this presumed textual discrepancy is to acknowledge that there really wasn’t much of a discrepancy to comment on. Nowhere was Zebulun explicitly promised the coast (with the possible exception of the midrash in Bava Batra 122a²⁸Even here one could argue that “Acco” was a region rather than the specific city.). What was essential to the tribal makeup was not their territory, but their profession. And their profession was on the seas, fluid and amorphous, impossible to allot to any one tribe. The major coastal cities may have belonged to Asher, but Zebulun’s personality dominated the trading ports. Their territory was not essential to their character, but their avocation was.

Visiting Naĥalat Zevulun
Itinerary: Jotapata, Laura Netofah, Hannathon, Sepphoris

Though the naĥalah might be of limited importance to understanding Zebulun (the tribal character didn’t involve a special attachment to land, but rather to the sea), it still merits consideration. Naĥalat Zevulun was a relatively compact area, easy enough to traverse in one day.

We start our tour at the outlook point in Kaukab Abu al-Hija (off Route 784), a small Arab village on the Jotapata Mountain Ridge in the Lower Galilee. Turn right at the first intersection in the village, and you’ll soon arrive at the sculpture garden and lookout post.

The southern, or lower, Galilee is carved up into a series of mountain ranges, mostly running east–west, with defined valleys between the ranges. We are currently on the western extremity of the Jotapata Mountain Range. Just south of us is the expanse of the Netofah Valley, bordered on the south by the Tur’an Mountain Range. South of that is the Tur’an Valley, bordered on its south by the Nazereth Mountain Range.

Before you, to the west, lies a fantastic view of what is known as the Valley of Zebulun. Take in the ports of Haifa and Acco and the outlying suburbs of Haifa at the coastal edge of the broad plain. While much of this territory really belonged to Naĥalat Asher, it is colloquially named the Valley of Zebulun, and would have been the easy land route that connected the trading ports to Zebulun’s inland territory.

The port of Acco was where Vespasian and his son Titus rallied their Roman soliders, 50,000 strong, in the spring of 67 CE. Their strategy was to quash the Jewish rebellion in the Galilee before besieging Jerusalem. Their destination? Jotapata – just to the west and our next stop.

Jotapata enjoys splendid natural fortifications, ringed as it is on three sides by deep valleys. The only easy access to the city is from the north (the current parking lot). Follow the blue route up to the top of the hill, and then circumambulate the tel, careful to stay on the marked path for the abundance of cisterns (not all of which are covered) dotting the tel.

Jotapata’s earliest identifiable origins are Israelite. Listed as one of the walled cities from the days of Joshua,²⁹Arakhin 9:2. the city had very likely at one time been settled by Zebulunites. There is one possible biblical reference to the city.³⁰In II Kings 21:19, the hometown of the maternal grandfather of Amon, king of Judah, is given as “Yotvah,” perhaps an earlier version of Yodfat, the contemporary Hebrew for Jotapata. An archaeological survey revealed scant Iron II sherds predating the watershed eighth century Bce exile of the northern tribes by Assyria, suggesting occupation of the site in the era of the Israelite kingdom.³¹“The Meiron Excavation Project: Archaeological Survey in Galilee and Golan, 1976,” BASOR 230 (1978): 5–6.

After that, the archaeological record goes quiet, resurfacing in the Hellenistic period when the city enjoyed a renaissance. The population surged in the Roman period, reaching its apex just prior to the Great Revolt with a count of more than 40,000 people.³²Josephus, Wars, 3:7:36. Although not much remains of Jotapata, the dozens of cisterns for water collection, interconnected cave systems for shelter and industry, mikvaot, and even a remarkably intact frescoed room³³The frescoes were removed to the Israel Museum in 1997 for display. demonstrate the vibrancy of daily life there prior to its demise.

Josephus, the Jewish general of the Galilee during the Great Revolt, settled in Jotapata as the Roman army was organizing in Acco. He reinforced the city with a formidable casemate wall and prepared the populace for war, understanding that Vespasian would judge the conquest of this central Galilean city as a critical victory. The Romans did not disappoint; they besieged the beleaguered Jotapata for forty-seven days, after which their considerable war machine reached the western fortifications. Remnants of the Roman battle ramp are still visible on the western side of the tel, as are significant sections of the defense wall.

The archaeological evidence for Jotapata’s destruction is conclusive and in accordance with Josephus’s first-person description. Arrowheads and ballista stones were discovered in abundance, as were hundreds of human bones found in caves and cisterns, the remains of the population that died on and around July 20, 67 CE. The Roman soldiers stealthily overcame the Jewish sentries at dawn, and slaughter ensued:

And for the Romans, they so well remembered what they had suffered during the siege, that they spared none, nor pitied any, but drove the people down the precipice from the citadel, and slew them as they drove them down.…This provoked a great many, even of those chosen men that were about Josephus, to kill themselves with their own hands; for when they saw that they could kill none of the Romans, they resolved to prevent being killed by the Romans, and got together in great numbers in the utmost parts of the city, and killed themselves.…And on this day it was that the Romans slew all the multitude that appeared openly; but on the following days they searched the hiding-places, and fell upon those that were under ground, and in the caverns, and went thus through every age, excepting the infants and the women, and of these there were gathered together as captives twelve hundred; and as for those that were slain at the taking of the city, and in the former fights, they were numbered to be forty thousand. So Vespasian gave order that the city should be entirely demolished, and all the fortifications burnt down. And thus was Jotapata taken, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Nero, on the first day of the month Panemus [Tammuz].
Wars of the Jews, 3:7:34, 36³⁴Josephus, The Complete Works of Josephus, translated by William Whiston (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 1999).

With our loud and aggressive modern lives, we must actively seek out the quiet necessary to give our imaginations free reign to fill in the landscapes left empty for centuries. These excursions can be merely pleasant outings…or they can be transformative. Continue along the Jotapata Mountain Range toward its eastern end, and you will reach Moshav Hararit. Turn off your electronic devices and detach from society for a spell in the “Laura Netofah.”

Two Christian monks, one Dutch, the other American, arrived in Israel in 1967 intending to live peacefully as hermits in solitude. They settled on Mount Netofah and established a laura,³⁵The original monastic movement began with devout Christians seeking the meditative life. They would live in solitude in caves connected by walkways, called laura. or primitive monastery, with a charming underground chapel built with a Byzantine cistern at its center. The nuns of the laura keep meticulous grounds, dotted with olive groves and vineyards. They also keep to a life of silence and endless prayer. You may walk very quietly along these paths, drinking in the pristine silence and breathtaking views of the Netofah Valley below.

Moshav Hararit, which you entered to reach the laura, is a natural complement to the quiet lives of the laura’s nuns. Most of the residents of Hararit, a Jewish community, practice daily transcendental meditation. Their personal and communal lives are environmentally conscious and reverential of nature.

The Netofah Laura is open to everyone. Visit here to sit quietly and take it all in. Gather yourself back into the land before you die, by appreciating the comforting weight of your humanity. “You are from dust, and to dust shall you return” – there are not many places left in the world where you can feel organically part of the natural order of things, so revel in it here. And I suggest going a step further – there are not many places in the world where you can feel the comforting weight of your history bearing down on you. This mountain was apportioned to Naĥalat Zevulun, by God, thousands of years ago – and it is apportioned to Israel, now, by God. The fields of the Netofah Valley spreading out before you are a familiar place to the Jewish soul. You can know your home as soon as you first set eyes on it, because you’ve seen it before.

Head back toward Jotapata on Route 7955 (appreciate the views on this winding mountain road – they’re some of the best in the country!), and turn south on Route 784. Opposite the modern Kibbutz Hanaton is Tel Ĥannaton, a small but obvious tel in the flats of the Netofah Valley. The city dates back to the Early Bronze period, although it seems to have been named for the Pharaoh Akhenaton (fourteenth century Bce).

Hannathon was referenced in the Bible as marking the western border between Zebulun and Asher, and was listed among the twelve cities of Zebulun.³⁶Joshua 19:14. Aside from two seasons of excavation uncovering a Crusader-era Hospitaler complex, as well as a survey that established the periods of civilization here (including Israelite), Tel Ĥannaton is essentially a virgin tel and awaits further study.

For much of its history, Hannathon must have been considered an outlying suburb of Sepphoris, our final stop. This city, like Jotapata, rose to prominence only in the late Second Temple period, and any evidence of settlement in the First Temple period is inconclusive.

At its heyday, in the fourth century CE, Sepphoris was a cosmopolitan treasure, as inviting to Roman nobility as it was to the reknowned Jewish sages. The different cultures lived side by side, tolerating the other’s conventions, while remaining distinctly pagan or Jewish. Intellectual creativity flourished in this unique climate. The Mishnah itself, the foundational text of the Oral Law, was redacted here by Rabbi Judah HaNasi, and many of the great tannaitic scholars frequented its study halls and synagogues.

Much of what there is to see of the archaeological site reflects the complexity of Sepphoris’s urban, multicultural nature. Magnificent, intricate mosaics abound, registering both Jewish and wholly Roman motifs. Abraham and Dionyses, Isaac and Hercules, Amazonian women, Egyptian gods, and even Jewish worship in the destroyed Jerusalem Temple are all depicted among the dozens of mosaics carpeting the cardo shops, the preserved synagogue, and the stately Roman manor.

Sepphoris was renamed “Eirenopolis” (City of Peace) and “Diocaesarea” (Second Caesarea) by Vespasian’s Roman army, who were grateful for the city’s capitulation and cooperation during the Great Revolt. This encouraged a generous spirit, although most likely no outright collaboration, between the city’s residents throughout the ensuing centuries.

Wonderful tales in the Talmud illustrate the interaction between the Jewish and Roman elite here in Sepphoris.³⁷Avodah Zarah 10a–11a. Rabbi Judah HaNasi held many profound conversations with the Roman governor, Antoninus Pius; theirs was a deep mutual affection. There was also regular interaction among the regular citizens of Sepphoris. As you stroll down the original flagstones of the cardo and decumanus, the streets forming the main north–south and east–west arteries of the lower city, it is no great leap to imagine the city’s varied residents jostling for space in the busy marketplace. Near houses with mosaics depicting the myth of Orpheus or centaurs is a graffito of a menorah.

The tribe of Zebulun was long exiled by the time Sepphoris fully developed its uncommonly urbane culture. It is highly appropriate, though, that one of the most famous cities in Naĥalat Zevulun so strongly manifested the tribe’s admirable character trait of reaching out, albeit with caution, to other peoples, and relating to them successfully.