Simon says: 'Let's explore the story behind a date palm on Mount Herzl"
I want to tell you about a very special date palm." 🌴
During World War I, 'Nili' was a secret Jewish spy network operating in Ottoman-controlled Palestine. Their mission: help the British defeat the Turks, ease the suffering of the local Jewish population, & advance the cause of an independent Jewish Homeland.
In 1917, Avshalom Feinberg - one of Nili's leaders -set out across the Sinai Desert on foot, accompanied by Yosef Lishansky. Both were disguised as Bedouin. Their destination: Egypt, where they hoped to establish contact with British intelligence.
They never made it.
Near Rafah, they were attacked by Bedouin. Feinberg was killed. Lishansky, though wounded, managed to reach British lines. Feinberg's fate remained unknown for 50 years.
Feinberg had been carrying dates in his pocket. Over the decades, a solitary palm grew from one of those seeds, on the very spot where his remains lay hidden.
When Israeli forces reached the area after the Six-Day War in 1967, a Bedouin local led them to a site called "Kabir Yehudi" - the Jew's grave. Beneath that lone palm tree, they found him.
A hometown connection 🏡
Feinberg was a founder of Nili, operating from Zichron Ya'akov. His sister Tzilla & Sarah Aaronsohn were also key members.
I live here in Zichron. This story is woven into the streets we walk every day. The Aaronsohn home still stands as a memorial & museum dedicated to Nili, still with the original furnishings! A quiet reminder of the courage that once lived here.
Feinberg's remains were brought to Mount Herzl in Jerusalem & buried with full military honours. The date palm was transplanted there too.
That date palm wasn't just a grave marker. It was a seed of hope that grew from sacrifice & survival.
The images 📸
In the attached photos:
The palm on Mount Herzl
Feinberg with Sarah Aaronsohn
A monument erected to him in Hadera
A family photograph: (from left) Shoshana, Zilla, & Avshalom Feinberg
Want to walk in the footsteps of the Nili spy ring? Let's 'Imagine Israel' together.
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