Mount Meron ( he, הַר מֵירוֹן, ''Har Meron''; ar, جبل الجرمق, ''Jabal al-Jarmaq'') is a mountain 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 ...

region 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 has special significance in Jewish religious tradition and parts of it have been declared a nature reserve. At above sea level, Mount Meron is the highest peak in Israel within the Green Line, though many peaks in 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 di ...

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 the ...

, which was annexed by Israel in 1981, are higher.

Mount Meron nature reserve

In 1965, an 84000-

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...

nature reserve was declared. An additional 1199 dunams were declared part of the reserve in 2005. It is the highest reserve in Israel, at an altitude of 1208 meters above sea level, and the largest reserve in the north of the country.

Religious significance

The village of Meron and the

tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai The tomb of Shimon bar Yochai (), or Kever Rashbi (), on Mount Meron is the traditional burial place of the 2nd century Mishnaic rabbi. A place of pilgrimage since the late 15th century, it is today the second most visited Jewish site in the wor ...

are on Mount Meron. Leading up to the anniversary of his death on

Lag BaOmer Lag BaOmer ( he, , ''LaG Bāʿōmer''), also Lag B'Omer or Lag LaOmer, is a Jewish religious holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, which occurs on the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar. According to some Rishonim ...

, thousands of people camp out along the slopes near the tomb, and on Lag B'Omer itself, hundreds of thousands make pilgrimages to celebrate the occasion.

Hiking paths

The mountain has extensive

undergrowth Undergrowth usually refers to the vegetation in the lower part of a forest, which can obstruct passage through the forest. The height of undergrowth is usually considered to be 0.3 – 3 m (1 – 9 ft.). Undergrowth can also refer to all ...

and cannot be climbed from every direction. The main path starts at the northwest side of the Meron village. There is a gate next to the road, with a color-marked path of about 10 km. There is also a path on the west side of the mountain.

Climate

Mount Meron has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''Csa'') with hot and dry summers and cool, wet and occasionally snowy winters. It snows briefly on Mount Meron a few times during every winter. There are 22 days a year with a temperature of 32 °C or higher and 28 days below freezing. Mount Meron has the second highest precipitation in Israel after

. Note: the chart is an average of 5 years so the record highs and lows may not be fully accurate.

Incidents

On May 17, 1911, the collapse of an eight-meter high roof caused 40 wounded and seven fatalities. As the nearby hospital was closed, people from the surrounding area donated bedsheets and equipment to assist the wounded. At about 12:50 a.m. on April 30, 2021, hundreds of Israelis were trampled as they were leaving the mountain, having attended a

celebration that drew an estimated 100,000 people in spite of a 10,000-people limit imposed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. At least 45 people died in the disaster, with hundreds injured.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meron Highest points of countries Lag BaOmer Mountains of Israel Nature reserves in Israel Sacred mountains