Naftali’s Blessing

As we mentioned earlier, Yavne’el is one of the biblical border towns of the tribe of Naftali mentioned in the Book of Joshua (Josh 19:32).

On his deathbed, the Patriarch Jacob blessed his son Naftali to be an ‘אילה שלוחה’ – ‘a deer let loose’ (Gen 49:21). Our sages explain that this means the land designated to the tribe of Naftali, especially in the Ginnosar Valley, is a good land where the fruits are quick to ripen.

The Talmud recounts many stories about how luscious the fruits of the tribe of Naftali were (Pesachim 8b). Yet the Land became barren, according to God’s promise, when the Jewish people went into exile, only to wait for the return of the Jews.

Today, the biblical land of the tribe of Naphtali is blooming once again from the south end of the Sea of Galilee to the northern end at Migdal. Indeed the pomegranates and olives in our gardens are almost ready to pick… much earlier than those in the rest of Israel.