President Yitzchak Ben-Zvi and the Jews of Peki'in

The Jewish community in Peki'in, in the Upper Galille, is one of the oldest Jewish communities in the land of Israel that has a continuous settlement from as far back as the middle of the 1600's. At the beginning of the 1900's the Jewish community in Peki'in numbered about 300 people. They lived in peace with the other residents of the village: Druze, Christians and a few Moslems. The Jewish community was religious and they were farmers. Most of them dressed as Arab farmers and they spoke Arabic. During the Ottoman rule many of the Jews were forced to sell their lands, due to heavy taxation. On January 16th, 1922, due to a request of help from the Jews of Peki'in, Yitzchak Ben Zvi and his wife Rachel Yanait visited the village at the head of a delegation from the National Committee. Nachum Sokolov and the agronomist, Dr. Elimelech Zegorodski (the representative of the JNF) also participated in the delegation. At the time of the visit there were only 16 Jewish families left in the village. You can see pictures of the visit in this album. Immediately after his visit, Yitzchak Ben Zvi began an in-depth study of the history of the Jewish community of Peki'in. He published the results of the research in his book, "Sha'ar Yishuv" in 1922. He saw in the preservation of the community a conceptual and symbolic value for the Zionist enterprise in the Land of Israel – a last remnant that shows the connection between the Jewish people and their land. Ben Zvi put his efforts into raising money to buy land for the Jews of Peki'in, and became their 'address' for all their requests. He helped build a school and find a teacher to work there (Moshe Levy). In 1925 Ben Zvi founded the 'Committee for Peki'in. In 1926 he gathered the Jews of Peki'in into the ancient synagogue to research their roots. In 1921 there were 52 Jews living in Peki'in (from 800 residents, half of which were Druze). Rachel Yanait also was active in helping to preserve the heritage of the Jews of Peki'in, and even requested that the author, Rivka Alper, who for a short while lived in the village, write about the Zinatti Family. Alper published a book, "The People of Peki'in" (Tel Aviv, 1960), in which she wrote about the historical reality and the drama of the Zinatti Family. In the 1920's Yitzchak Ben Zvi discovered two stones that were set in the walls of the synagogue. On one there was a picture of a menorah, etrog, shofar and lulav. On the other a picture of a door, that is assumed to be the Holy Ark of the synagogue. This discovery gives credence to the belief that Jews lived in the village for many many years. Ben Zvi presumed that the stones were part of an ancient synagogue that was built no later than the time of the Mishnah and the Talmud (the late Roman Period). A plaster replica of the stone was displayed at the President's house. During the "Arab Uprising", on the night of July 10, 1938, Arab rebels raided the village. The Jews were saved by their Druze neighbors. Later, due to their isolation, the British evacuated 7 Jewish families from Peki'in. Some of them moved to Haifa, Hadera and the town of Migdal. After they left their homes were pilfered and they were left penniless. Yosef Zinatti returned to Peki'in in 1940 with his wife Mazal Sa'ada and their children, Shaul and Margalit (who at the time were 10 and 13 respectively). Some other family members returned with them, but they later left the village. Yitzchak Ben Zvi personally helped the Zinatti family helping them to find work and money for expenses. At the end of the summer of 1941 only the family of Yosef Zinatti remained. The children, Shaul and Margalit were sent to school in Jerusalem. Yitzchak Ben Zvi called Yosef Zinatti, "The last guard of the walls in the first Hebrew village." He maintained contact with Zinatti and even made sure that he would receive a monthly stipend. Ben Zvi also stayed in contact with Chacham Yosef Tuma, from Peki'in who lived in Hadera. In January 1948, due to the worsening of the security in the area, because of the War of Independence, the Zinatti Family left Peki'in. They returned to the village in November 1948, one month after the village was freed by the IDF forces. The Druze residents of the village protected the .Qawuqji-Fawzi alof synagogue and the torah scrolls from the soldiers Yitzchak Ben Zvi and Yosef Nachmani, the head of the "Galillee Office" of the JNF, worked towards enabling the Jews of Peki'in to return to their village. They came up against many difficulties and therefore they chose a different plan- to build a new Jewish settlement in close proximity to Peki'in. In April 1953 Ben Zvi and Rachel Yanait came to the place, together with Yosef Nachmani and others, and vowed to start the building of the renewed village. Pictures of this visit can be album. Ben Zvi authorized the Ministry of Religion to renovate the synagogue. He also bought the building next to the synagogue so as to make the place larger. The renovation was done by the architect Meir Ben-Ari. On February 15, 1953 The "New Peki'in Village" opened. Of the 40 families that moved there only one was from the original group living in the old village. Yosef Zinatti and his family remained in the original village. Yitzchak Ben Zvi continued to be interested in Peki'in until his death. After the death of Yitzchak Ben Zvi, his wife, attempted to continue to work towards renewing the Jewish settlement in the original village, but to no success. In the 1970's she went as far as purchasing, with her own money, a house next to the Zinatti family for her families use. The State of Israel commemorated the connection of Yitzchak Ben Zvi to Peki'in on the 100 NIS bill. (It was changed in 2017). On the bill is the picture of Ben Zvi and pictures of Peki'in and the synagogue in the village. **חוי- לא תרגמתי את הביבליוגרפיה. המחשבה שלי היא שמי שקורא את הסיפור באנגלית, ולא בעברית, לא יקרא את הספרים האלו. זה מקובל עליך? המלצות לקריאה נוספת: .1 יאיר בן אורי, "איש חכם לב בפקיעין", עת- מול 542 (אפריל 5016), עמ '52—52 ( קובץ PDF מצורף לאלבום). .5 אלעד בן-דרור, "סדר שני לבני פקיעין", עת-מול 552 ( אפריל 5012), עמ '20—21 (( קובץ PDF מצורף לאלבום). .2 אלעד בן-דרור, "'שומר החומות האחרון של הכפר העיברי הראשון' :יצחק בן- צבי ויהודי פקיעין", קתדרה 142 (ניסן תשע"ג), עמ '112--141 ( קובץ PDF מצורף לאלבום). .4 יצחק בן-צבי, הישוב היהודי בכפר פקיעין, תל אביב, תרפ"ב. Read more