
Rosh Pina or Rosh Pinna ( he, רֹאשׁ פִּנָּה, lit. ''Cornerstone'') is a
local council in the
Korazim Plateau in the
Upper Galilee
The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mountai ...
on the eastern slopes of Mount Kna'an in the
Northern District of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. It was established as Gei Oni in 1878 by
local Jews from
Safed
Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevat ...
but was nearly abandoned, except for the families of Yosef Friedman, Aharon Keller, and possibly a few others.
In 1882, thirty Jewish families who had immigrated from
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...
reestablished the settlement as a ''
moshava
A moshava ( he, מושבה, plural: ''moshavot'' , lit. ''colony'') was a form of rural Jewish settlement in Ottoman Palestine, established by the members of the Old Yishuv since late 1870s and during the first two waves of Jewish Zionist imm ...
'' called Rosh Pina. The town is one of the oldest
Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in J ...
settlements in Israel. In it had a population of .
Geography
Rosh Pina is located north of the
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest f ...
, on the eastern slopes of Mount Kna'an, approximately east of the city of
Safed
Safed (known in Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevat ...
, above sea level, latitude north 32° 58', longitude east 35° 31'. North of Rosh Pina is
Lake Hula, which was a swamp area drained in the 1950s.
History
Around 1878, the Arab village of
al-Ja'una
Al-Ja'una or Ja'ouna (Arabic: الجاعونة), was a Palestinian village situated in Galilee near al-Houleh Plateau, overlooking the Jordan Valley. The village lay on a hillside 450–500 meters above sea level, 5 kilometers east of Safad near ...
sold half its lands, about 2,500 dunum, to Jews from Safed in order to fund the emigration of some of the villagers to the
Hauran
The Hauran ( ar, حَوْرَان, ''Ḥawrān''; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, eastwards by the al-Safa field, to the ...
.
Led by Elazar Rokah, the Jews moved into al-Ja'una, living among the Arabs for fear of being unable to cope with Bedouin raids on their own.
[ They called their settlement Gei Oni ("Valley of my Strength") as a Hebrew adaptation of the Arabic name.] After one year of good harvests, a year of drought saw the Arabs mortgage their lands to money lenders, but the Jews were unwilling to do the same and left.[
In 1882, the settlement was renewed as a moshavah by immigrants from Romania, who named it Rosh Pinna ("cornerstone") after Psalm 118:22: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone".][
Rosh Pinna was one of the first modern ]Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
agricultural settlements in the history of the Land of Israel, then part of the Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. In 1883, it became the first Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel to come under the patronage of the Baron Edmond James de Rothschild
Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (Hebrew: הברון אברהם אדמונד בנימין ג'יימס רוטשילד - ''HaBaron Avraham Edmond Binyamin Ya'akov Rotshield''; 19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French memb ...
. Rothschild's agent Joshua Ossovetski expanded the settlement with more land from Safed and Ja'una.[ Rosh Pinna had good relations with Ja'una, even establishing a modern Arab school there, but had some serious clashes with the el-Zangariya Bedouin tribe.][
Moshe David Shub (born 1854 in Moineşti; died 1938 in Jerusalem) had been sent ahead to find and purchase an appropriate piece of land. Born as Moşe David Iancovici, in Palestine he became known as: שו"ב, Shub, a Hebrew abbreviation of the name of his profession, שוחט ובודק, read " shochet u-bodék", butcher and examiner f kosher meat">kosher.html" ;"title="f kosher">f kosher meat ("shuv" has also the Hebrew meaning of "once again", or "return!", an allusion to the main principle of Zionism; in Hebrew the same letter [ב] is used for "v" and "b").
Laurence Oliphant (1829-1888), Laurence Oliphant collected funds for Rosh Pina from Christadelphians and other sympathizers in Britain. He wrote about his visit to Rosh Pina in 1886:
]" Jauna, which was the name of the village to which I was bound, was situated about three miles (5 km) from Safed, in a gorge, from which, as we descended it, a magnificent view was obtained over the Jordan valley, with the Lake of Tiberias lying three thousand feet below us on the right, and the waters of Merom, or the Lake of Huleh, on the left. The intervening plain was only waiting for development. The new colony has been established about eight months, the land having been purchased from the Moslem villagers, of whom twenty families remained, who lived on terms of perfect amity with the Jews. These consisted of twenty-three Roumanian and four Russian families, numbering in all one hundred and forty souls. The greater number were hard at work on their potato-patches when I arrived, and I was pleased to find evidences of thrift and industry. A row of sixteen neat little houses had been built, and more were in process or erection. Altogether this is the most hopeful attempt at a colony which I have seen in Palestine. The colonists own about a thousand acres of excellent land, which they were able to purchase at from three to four dollars an acre. The Russians are establishing themselves about half a mile from the Roumanians, as Jews of different nationalities easily get on well together. They call the colony Rosch Pina, or "Head of the Corner," the word occurring in the verse, "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the comer."
According to a census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Rosh Pinna had a population of 468 inhabitants, consisting of 460 Jews, 4 Muslims and 4 Christians.
File:ראש פינה - מראה המושבה-JNF027651.jpeg, Rosh Pinna 1926
File:ראש פינה - מראה חלקי-JNF027649.jpeg, Rosh Pinna 1937
File:ראש פינה - ראש פינה תחנת המכס-JNF027654.jpeg, Customs House, Rosh Pinna. January 1939
File:Camp Philo ii.jpg, Yiftach Brigade
The Yiftach Brigade (also known as the Yiftah Brigade, the 11th Brigade in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War) was an Israeli infantry brigade. It included two Palmach battalions (the 1st and 7th), and later also the 2nd, which was transferred from the ...
Camp Philo, Rosh Pinna, 1948
File:Camp Philo.jpg, Camp Philo, Rosh Pinna. 1948
File:Rosh Pina i.jpg, Members of the Yiftach Brigade
The Yiftach Brigade (also known as the Yiftah Brigade, the 11th Brigade in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War) was an Israeli infantry brigade. It included two Palmach battalions (the 1st and 7th), and later also the 2nd, which was transferred from the ...
arriving at Camp Philo, Rosh Pinna. 1948
File:Philo Camp i.jpg, Philo Camp "D" Company 1st Battalion Yiftach Brigade prior to fighting around al-Malikiyya
Al-Malikiyya ( ar, المالكية) was a Palestinian village located in the Jabal Amil region. In a 1920s census, the village was registered as part of Greater Lebanon. It was later placed under the British Mandate of Palestine. Its population ...
, 1948
File:Rosh Pinna.jpg, Yiftach Brigade
The Yiftach Brigade (also known as the Yiftah Brigade, the 11th Brigade in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War) was an Israeli infantry brigade. It included two Palmach battalions (the 1st and 7th), and later also the 2nd, which was transferred from the ...
take over Rosh Pinna police station during Operation Yiftach, 1948
Discovery of wild emmer
Botanist Aaron Aaronsohn
Aaron Aaronsohn ( he, אהרון אהרנסון) (21 May 1876 – 15 May 1919) was a Jewish agronomist, botanist, and Zionist activist, who was born in Romania and lived most of his life in the Land of Israel, then part of the Ottoman ...
, while trekking around Rosh Pina during his 1906 field trip, discovered wild-growing emmer
Emmer wheat or hulled wheat is a type of awned wheat. Emmer is a tetraploid (4''n'' = 4''x'' = 28 chromosomes). The domesticated types are ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''dicoccum'' and ''Triticum turgidum ''conv.'' durum''. The wild plant is ...
(''Triticum dicoccoides''), whom he considered to be the "mother of wheat", an important find for agronomists and historians of human civilization. Geneticists have proven that wild emmer is indeed the ancestor of most domesticated wheat strands cultivated on a large scale today with the exception of durum
Durum wheat (), also called pasta wheat or macaroni wheat (''Triticum durum'' or ''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''durum''), is a tetraploid species of wheat. It is the second most cultivated species of wheat after common wheat, although it repres ...
wheat; einkorn, a different ancient species, is currently just a relict crop.
Education
Rosh Pina had the first Hebrew-language school in the Galilee, in 1899.
Transportation
Ben Ya'akov Airport (Mahanaim Airport) is located away from Rosh Pina.
Medical facilities
The Mifne Center, which means turning point, a program for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder, is situated in Rosh Pina.
Landmarks
*Mitzpe HaYamim, a world-class spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...
, is located on a mountainside near Rosh Pina. Amenities include a range of health and cosmetic treatments, an art gallery where guests can view artists at work, art workshops and an organic garden.
*The House of Dignitaries is a structure built in 1882 and used as a center of administration and finance for Rosh Pina and other towns in the Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Gali ...
region. From this building, a loudspeaker was used to broadcast the local news.
*An old synagogue, built during the first decade and which was commissioned by the Baron.
*Professor Mer's residence - the home of Professor Gideon Mer, an expert on malaria, epidemiologist and an important contributor to the local eradication of malaria in the 1930s. The house presents a room dedicated to his memory and an exhibit of ancient items from various periods, such as old plows, laboratory equipment and textbooks.
*PICA House provides an audio-visual presentation that tells the story of Rosh Pina. PICA House served as an administrative center and residence for Baron Rothschild’s clerks, advisors, and agricultural counselors.
*The Baron Rothschild' gardens. The gardens were designed by a French landscape architect and planted in 1886. Many plants such as Bougainvillea
''Bougainvillea'' ( , ) is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees belonging to the four o' clock family, Nyctaginaceae. It is native to eastern South America, found from Brazil, west to Peru, and south to southern Argentina. ...
and pine trees were brought from France.
*The grave of Honi HaM'agel
Honi HaMe'agel (חוני המעגל Khoni, Choni, or Ḥoni; lit. Honi the Circle-drawer) was a Jewish scholar of the 1st-century BCE, during the age of the ''tannaim'', the scholars from whose teachings the Mishnah was derived.
During the 1st ce ...
, a Jewish scholar, is located on the outskirts of Hatzor HaGlilit, a few kilometers from Rosh Pina.
* "Nimrod Lookout", a green spot with water views as seen from the viewpoint flowing through, facing the landscapes of the Hula Valley
The Hula Valley ( he, עמק החולה, Romanization of Hebrew, translit. ''Emek Ha-Ḥula''; also transliterated as Huleh Valley, ar, سهل الحولة) is an agriculture, agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water, ...
, the Golan Heights
The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between d ...
and Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of th ...
, will be built in the Pioneers National Restoration Site in old Rosh Pina.
Notable residents
* Ami Assaf (1903–63), politician
* Ehud Banai (born 1953), singer and songwriter
*Meir Dagan
Aluf (Major General) Meir Dagan ( he, מאיר דגן; 30 January 1945 – 17 March 2016) was an Israel Defense Forces Major General (reserve) and Director of the Mossad.
Personal life and education
Meir Huberman (later Dagan) was born on a ...
(born 1945), former Director General of Mossad
Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...
*Arna Mer-Khamis
Arna Mer-Khamis (20 March 1929 – 15 February 1995) was an Israeli Jewish political and human rights activist. In 1993, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "passionate commitment to the defence and education of the children of Palestine ...
(1929–95), political and human rights activist
References
External links
Rosh Pina
State of Israel
Ben Ya'akov Airport
The Historic Settlement
{{Authority control
Tourist attractions in Israel
Populated places established in 1882
Jewish villages in the Ottoman Empire
Local councils in Northern District (Israel)
Romanian-Jewish culture in Israel
1882 establishments in the Ottoman Empire