Gamla - The Masada of the North

3-Aug-09

We are all well familiar with the dramatic last stand of the Jewish rebels on Masada against the Roman Legions after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

But according to the same historian, Josephus Flavious (or Yosef ben Matityahu R11; his Hebrew name) who described Masada, a very similar drama took place on another isolated mountain in the very north of the country seven years earlier.

On the southern end of the Golan Heights stands an isolated hump backed mountain. The name Gamla means Camel as the mountain looks like an isolated camel's hump surrounded by deep ravines. Gamla was a Jewish district town when the great revolt against Rome broke out in 66 CE.

One thousand four hundred years before this Jewish revolt against Rome, Moses conquered this land from Og the fearsome giant of Bashan. Two and a half of the twelve tribes requested the lands to the east of the Jordan river for their inheritance and so a part of the tribe of Menashe settled on what is today the Golan heights.

When Joshua divided up the Promised Land amongst the tribes, cities of refuge used by people guilty of man slaughter, were established on either side of the Jordan. Gamla may have been one of of these biblical cities of refuge.

Fast forwarding again to the time of the Great Revolt we identify Gamla as a very strategic point . Not only was it an isolated walled town that received rebels and refugees from the advancing Roman armies. It was a symbol and head quarters of the rebels defying their quest to put down the revolt. It was geographically on the north east frontier closest to two possible threats to Rome. First the Parthian empire was not far from this frontier. The Parthians would grab an opportunity to weaken Roman rule on the international frontier and aid the rebels.

Secondly, there was the possibility that the very large and influential Jewish communities to the east of the Roman boundaries would come to their brothers aid.

For these reasons it was deemed necessary to make an example of Gamla at the very outset.

As expected, Gamla held out well against he Romans. Roman assualts were repulsed as the Jews rained death down on the attackers . In a bold move the Romans, led by their commaner titus, managed to tunnle under one of the watch towers and undermined it so that it crumbled down into the ravine.

The Romans then rushed into the gap as the Jewish fighters pullied their families up the slope on the roofs of the terraced homes towards the hump of a mountain. Josephus describes how the Romans pursued them on these roofs and then suddenly, due to the extreme weight of the soldiers bunching together as they charged up, the roofs buckled and the soldiers fell into the buildings and down the slope. Panic broke out . In the thick of the night and clouds of dust the stunned Romans hacked at each other as they beat a hasty retreat out the walls .

But this was just a tactical victory. The Romans filled in the ravine with soil and land fill and brought up the entire army to the walls, not repeating their earlier mistakes. Whta happened next was inevitable. The Romans slowly and carefully made their way up the slope, forcing the defenders to the summit as they formed a protective ring around their families at the summit

Rather than fall into the hands of the sadistic Romans, they took their families by their hand and leaped to the depths of the ravine. One can guess what the last words were on their lips as they saw the ground rushing up at them still holding hands.... Shema yisroel...

Thus Gamla fell.

Four years later the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and three years after that the last strong hold, Masada was the scene of the famous final drama.

For almost two thousand years Gamla lie in ruins. Her stones sharing the story with no one. The huge Griffen vultures who today enjoy the protection of the bird sanstuary of Gamla would have beheld quite a scene.

It was only after the miraculous Six Day War of 1967 that her sons returned. When Israel liberated the Golan from the Syrian attackers above, Israeli archaeologists were thrilled at the opportunity to explore and uncover.

And uncover they did! Dozens of Jewish towns with synagouges, ritual baths, Hebrew inscriptions mentioning the name of one of the authors of the Talmud! Rabbi Ekiezer Hakapar's study hall!.

In Gamala was found the oldest synagouge in the world! Imagine the prayers said in the same seats we can sit in today!

The story of the first brave stand against the Roman Empire was revealed by Prof Shmirayu Gutman who I had the honor of speaking with as he uncovered the site in 1979

As he held up a coin found in Gamla which displays the word R20;redemptionR21; and a vessel from the Temple, tears came to his eyes as he exclaimed, 'Now I understand what all this sacrifice was for. It was not for Gamla alone but rather it was for the R20;redemptionR21; The redemption of Jerusalem and the Jewish People. It was for this they gave their lives'.

And today , Gamala and the Golan is back where it belongs. No longer forlorn, not an orphan occupied by conquerers. Today there are dozens of modern thriving Jewish towns on the Golan and Gamla is kept company by throngs of visitors who pay their respect and learn the lessons from the stones that have been redeemed from the dust by her sons and daughters

No wonder, the residents of the Golan Heights chose to list the names of her fallen sons who fell in the modern wars of Israel on a perch over looking the site of the earlier sacrifice.

Each village and town today has its name engraved in the stones over looking Gamla. And in bold letters it reads, GAMLA SHALL FALL NO MORER21;

Amen.

Shalom Pollack Tours of Israel

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Gamla - The Masada of the North