Archaeological excavations conducted in Galilee in early August, under the direction of Dr. Yonatan Adler of Ariel University, have unearthed a 2,000 year-old cave which functioned as a quarry and industrial workshop for the production of stone vessels. The large subterranean cavern, hewn into a chalkstone hillside, was discovered at a site named Einot Amitai near Nazareth in northern Israel. The cave yielded numerous remains of stone vessels in various stages of production, attesting to a thriving industry. In ancient times, most tableware, cooking pots and storage jars were made of pottery. In the first century of the Common Era, however, Jews throughout Judea and Galilee used tableware and storage vessels made of soft, local chalkstone. The reason for this curious choice of material seems to have been religious; according to ancient Jewish law, vessels made of stone can never become ritually impure, while pottery can and there is no way to make it kosher again - and as a result ancient Jews began to produce their everyday tableware from stone. “Stone vessels played an integral role in the daily religious lives of Jews during this period,” the end of the Second Temple period which was destroyed by Rome in 70 C.E., explains Adler, an archaeologist specializing in ancient Jewish ritual law. “It was a Jewish ‘Stone Age’ of sorts”. Fragments of ancient Jewish stoneware Ariel University The practice is mentioned prominently in the Wedding at Cana narrative in the Gospel of John, where the water-turned-to-wine is told to have been held in six jars made of stone: “Now there were six stone water jars set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each” (John 2:6). A tantalizing link to the Gospel narrative lies in the location of the cave just south of the modern town of Kafr Kanna, identified by many scholars as the site of Biblical Cana. Adler accepts the possible connection of the cave he is excavating with the Biblical account: “The Evangelist was clearly familiar with the fact that Jews were using stone vessels for ritual purposes” he notes. “It is certainly possible – perhaps even likely – that large stone containers of the type mentioned in the Wedding at Cana story may have been produced locally in Galilee in a cave similar to the one we are now excavating”. Dr. Dennis Mizzi of the University of Malta, who joins Adler in directing the dig, notes however that so far remains of only mugs and small bowls have been uncovered in the cave: “Fragments of large jars have not been unearthed” he stresses. While fragments of stone vessels have been found in the past at numerous Early Roman period sites throughout Israel, and two workshops are known from the Jerusalem area, this is the first time that full-scale excavations are conducted at a stone vessel production site in Galilee.
Almost 50 years after the establishment of the Or Etzion Yeshiva, the yeshiva is embarking on a campaign to construct a village for its married students - known as avrechim, thereby realizing a dream of Rabbi Druckman: “Avrechim currently do not have suitable living quarters, which the rabbi is very sorry about. We are now in the building process, yet we lack the budget, unfortunately.” Return the love to Rabbi Druckman - Contribute now to build the Avrechim Village During its 47 years of existence, the Or Etzion Yeshiva has produced millions of hours of Torah study and thousands of students and graduates, however throughout all these years, residences for the married students have not been built on the premises due to various reasons. At present, a year following the passing of Rabbi Druckman and a month after his wife's passing, the yeshiva, which was the center of Rabbi Druckman’s life, would like to realize his dream. “There are dozens of avrechim studying at the yeshiva, some of whom have returned to live in the caravan homes that were brought here after the evacuation of Gush Katif. They are shabby and some of them are no longer habitable. Other avrechim have had to rent very expensive apartments in the area." "The late Rabbi Druckman’s dream was to build a village for the married students, which includes housing so that they could study Torah for all the people of Israel and afterward go home to a respectable house they deserve to live in,” the yeshiva spokesman says. “Yet, although we have building permits and assistance from the regional council, we are short of the budget for Kiryat Haavrech – the Avrechim Village. We are trying to locate funding sources for this project, which is what the rabbi dreamed of. He mentioned many times in front of hundreds of students, that an avrechim village with housing solutions for Torah students would be fitting for the yeshiva. We have land, we have a building permit, we have assistance from the regional council to carry out the construction quickly, but at the moment we do not have sufficient funding sources for the project.” Now, after much preparation and an alumni conference with hundreds of participants, we are launching a campaign to realize the rabbi’s dream under the banner of “Bringing Love back to the Yeshiva.” The aim of the campaign is to strongly embrace the teachings of the late Rabbi Druckman, provide a real answer to the rabbi’s last dream, and establish respectable places of residence for the yeshiva avrechim. Return the love to Rabbi Druckman - Contribute now to build the Avrechim Village The initiative to build the Avrechim Village on the premises was already planned several years ago and accordingly, three buildings will be constructed accommodating 39 apartments, comprising a total of 3,000 m2. It will be situated a few meters from Or Etzion Yeshiva, which is located in the Shafir Regional Council. Rabbi Shimon Lapid, the rabbi’s son-in-law and head of the Or Etzion Yeshiva, said: “It was important for Rabbi Druckman, of blessed memory, that a solution for the avrechim be found. This is the materialization of the rabbi’s desire. A real solution for housing the avrechim was very important to him so that they could study Torah properly and not spend time and energy obtaining housing.” Return the love to Rabbi Druckman - Contribute now to build the Avrechim Village