Tzova ( he, צוֹבָה), also Palmach Tzova ( he, פלמ"ח צובה) or Tzuba is a
kibbutz in central
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 ...
. Located in the
Judean Hills
The Judaean Mountains, or Judaean Hills ( he, הרי יהודה, translit=Harei Yehuda) or the Hebron Mountains ( ar, تلال الخليل, translit=Tilal al-Khalīl, links=, lit=Hebron Mountains), is a mountain range in Palestine and Israel wh ...
, on the western outskirts of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, it falls under the jurisdiction of
Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of .
In the Bible
The nearby Tel Tzova was the site of an ancient town in the days of
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and perhaps of
Saul
Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered t ...
. The Septuagint a
Joshua 15:59gives a list of eleven towns in
Judaea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous so ...
, which is missing in the
Masoretic
The Masoretic Text (MT or 𝕸; he, נֻסָּח הַמָּסוֹרָה, Nūssāḥ Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Text of the Tradition') is the authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. ...
text. One of them is given as Σωρης ("Sōrēs") in most manuscripts but as Εωβης ("Eobes") in the
Codex Vaticanus
The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...
. This has led to the suggestion that the original was Σωβης ("Sōbēs"), and that Tsova can thus be dated back to the time of
Joshua Bin-Nun, based on this verse in the
Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond ...
.
The kibbutz's name is also similar to, and is related to that of the nearby and depopulated Palestinian village of
Suba.
History
Crusader period
In 1170, a Crusader fortress, Belmont, was built on Tel Tzova to guard the route to Jerusalem. Belmont was conquered by
Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
in 1191.
1947–49 war
The
Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
village of
Suba, built on the ruins of Belmont Castle, was the scene of fierce fighting during the
1947–1949 Palestine war due to its strategic location overlooking the road to Jerusalem. In late 1947 and early 1948, irregular forces and militiamen stationed in Suba attacked Jewish traffic on the main highway from
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
to Jerusalem. The village was conquered by the
Palmach during the night of July 12–13 as part of
Operation Danny
Operation Danny ( he, מבצע דני, ''Mivtza Dani'') was an Israeli military offensive launched at the end of the first truce of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The objectives were to capture territory east of Tel Aviv and then to push inland and ...
. Most of the inhabitants fled before the fighting, with the brigades involved in Operation Danny ordered to prevent their return. Most moved to
Kalandia
Qalandia ( ar, قلنديا, he, קלנדיה), also Kalandiya, is a Palestinian village located in the West Bank, between Jerusalem and Ramallah, just west from the Jerusalem municipality boundary. In 2006, 1,154 people were living in the vi ...
or
Amman,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, although some moved only 1 km away to the nearby village of
Ein Rafa
Ein Rafa ( ar, عين رافا or ; he, עין ראפה) is an Arab village ten kilometers west of Jerusalem in Israel. Located on the other side of Route 1 to Abu Ghosh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it ...
– where they and their descendants live to this day as Israeli citizens.
In October 1948 a group of Palmach veterans established Kibbutz Misgav Palmach 1 km south of Suba, which was later renamed Palmach Tzova.
Economy
The kibbutz's main income comes from its glass factory: Oran Safety Glass (OSG), which produces laminated, tempered and bulletproof security glass. It was reported that OSG has begun "manufacturing a bullet-resistant windshield with a touch screen embedded in it" and that the "screen is connected to the vehicle’s multimedia system, so it may be used to display maps, live feeds from the day or night vision cameras mounted on the vehicle, and other video options".
There is also a hotel overlooking the Jerusalem Hills, a children's amusement park ("Kiftzuba"), orchards, vineyards, a winery and a chocolate workshop. The kibbutz also hosts a residential Hebrew language
ulpan
An ulpan ( he, אולפן), plural ''ulpanim'', is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. Ulpan is a Hebrew word meaning "studio", "teaching", or "instruction".
The ulpan is designed to teach adult immigrants to Israel the b ...
.
Ulpan List
Kibbutz Ulpan Other sources of income – located away from the kibbutz – are the dairy farm (located in kibbutz Tzora
Tzora ( he, צָרְעָה) is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located about 20 km from Jerusalem, near the city of Beit Shemesh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of .
Etymology
The ki ...
) and cotton fields. As the kibbutz is based on socialist principles, the salaries of kibbutz members who work independently in the city are automatically paid into the communal purse.
Kibbutz Tzova is the current location of URJ Heller High, the Union for Reform Judaism's study abroad high school in Israel.
Archaeology
The "Cave of Saint John the Baptist"
In 1999, a cave believed to have been the cave of John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
was discovered by Reuven Kalifon during archaeological excavations in the area of the kibbutz orchards, not far from Ein Karem, St. John's traditional birthplace.
In the 4th and 5th century CE, the cave was sanctified and used by Byzantine monks as a Christian holy place. On its walls are some of the earliest drawings known in local Christian art.
Structures outside the cave date to the Hellenistic period (2nd century BCE) and indicate that the cave was used as both a water reservoir and a place for bathing. Water was collected from the valley and channeled into the cave via a water-filtering basin. A sluice allowed some of the water to be channeled from the filtering basin into the fields.
Archaeologists discovered a flight of 7 steps leading to an underground, man-made rectangular pool of water. Thousands of pottery shards, possibly the remnants of small water jugs used in the baptismal ritual, were found at the site.
[Cave called John the Baptist](_blank)
BICOG
See also
*Battle for Jerusalem (1948)
The Battle for Jerusalem took place during the 1947–1948 civil war phase of the 1947–1949 Palestine war. It saw Jewish and Arab militias in Mandatory Palestine, and later the militaries of Israel and Transjordan, fight for control over t ...
References
External links
*
{{Crusader sites
Kibbutzim
Kibbutz Movement
Populated places established in 1948
Populated places in Jerusalem District
Crusader castles
Castles and fortifications of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Castles in Israel
1948 establishments in Israel
Ancient Jewish settlements of Judaea