Page 22 - Holyland Magazine - 2025 Edition
P. 22
THE GALILEE
HISTORY & MEANING
IN GREEN HILLS
Spring in the Galilee. Photo: Shutterstock
More reflections on W e took a break from A trek on the Shvil is a rite of passage for
trekking the length and Holyland Magazine’s series many 21-year-old Israelis, following their
breadth of the land of on the Israel Trail. But with military or national service; many do it
milk & honey the current renewal of nonstop in small groups (which form and
Israel’s strength and spirit, dissolve and re-form many times along
Aryeh Green I’m pleased to offer a few reminiscences of the way); it usually takes about two-three
the section of my trek which angled across months in total. Over the past few decades,
22 l HOLY LAND the North of Israel in the green hills of the many Israelis have walked segments of the
Galilee. Trail on the weekends, once a month for two
days, or during the holidays for a few days
For those readers not familiar with this series at a time.
or with the Israel National Trail, a few words
of introduction. The Trail (or “the Shvil” as it’s I hiked the Shvil all alone, without a break,
called in Hebrew), is a 1000-mile hiking path with a 50-pound pack on my back, at age 51,
meandering from the southern tip of Israel following a devastating divorce (which I had
in the port city of Eilat, through the Negev not looked for). It was a transformational,
desert mountains and up to Jerusalem, from healing, two-month-long adventure, and
there to Tel Aviv and along the coastal plain the book I wrote (My Israel Trail) describes
up to the Galilee, ending at the border with both the journey and the lessons I learned
Lebanon near the Golan Heights. Think of along the way, which helped me move on
it as Israel’s answer to the Appalachian Trail with my life.
or the Pacific Crest Trail – yet unique in that
we are walking in the Holy Land, with all its Starting in Israel’s South and meandering
history and spiritual significance. through Jerusalem and Tel Aviv (see my