Keeping the lights on in Peki'in 

Would the last Jew to leave Peki’in please turn out the light? The Zinati family was determined that this would not happen.

Jews have lived in Peki'in almost continuously from at least Second Temple times until the present day. The first Zinatis may well have been priests who came here in 70 CE with other Jews after the destruction of the Second Temple.

 In about 1938 the Jews of Peki’in were forced to leave the village because of Arab riots and none returned except for one family, the Zinati family, who came back a few years later. They were determined to preserve a Jewish presence in the village, even though their father had been almost killed in the riots. Ironically, perhaps, the Jewish Agency/Jewish National Fund encouraged the Jews of Peki’in not to return, since they considered it too dangerous. Rather, they assisted them in selling their land and this money was used to establish a new Jewish settlement, Peki’in HaHadasha, some miles from the village.

The parents of the one remaining family sent their children to a boarding school in Jerusalem. The son subsequently married and settled elsewhere, but Margolit returned to her parents in the village. She looked after her parents in their old age and decided to remain here to preserve a Jewish presence. This meant remaining single, since it was unlikely any husband would agree to live here. Margolit Zinati is the custodian of Peki’in’s synagogue and her home is close by.

This Roman-era synagogue had been destroyed by an earthquake in 1837, but was rebuilt in 1873 with the financial assistance of a Jew from Beirut. Within the walls of the restored synagogue are two engraved stones that are probably from the original synagogue and which are believed to have been taken from Jerusalem when the Jewish settlers came here after the destruction of the Temple.

Within the original synagogue was the first and second century CE study hall (beit midrash) of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hananya, the primary teacher of Rabbi Akiva. He was a leading Tanna (a sage whose views are recorded in the Mishna) in the period after the destruction of the Temple.

For the last 2,000 years, Jewish families in Peki'in worked in agriculture and blended into the life of the town with respect to their language and dress. These Jews are known as mista’arvim, meaning those who “disguise themselves as Arabs.” Arabs joined the Jews to live in Peki’in in the 11th century, Christian Arabs in the 12th century during the Crusader period, and Druze in the 18th century. Druze remain the largest element in Peki’in today.

A visitor to the village in 1875 described the village as having about 600 people, including a few Jewish families. He wrote: “. . . .  thanks to the two springs which issue from the hillside, they cultivate on the slopes and almost to the bottom of the valley delicious gardens, watered by numerous streams. Here grow, on different terraces, kept up by great walls, probably ancient, fruit trees of all kinds, such as citrons, oranges, pomegranates, figs, quinces and mulberries. The vine flourishes marvelously, as is shown by the enormous trunks.”

In acknowledgment of her keeping the lights on in Peki’in, Margolit has been honored in award ceremonies. She also lit the torch for Israel’s 70th Independence Day celebration.  

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 (For an inspiring article about Margolit and her family click here).