Amuka, Israel

Amuka עֲמֻקָּה‎, עמוקה‎
Etymology: Named for Biblical location
Amuka Show map of Northeast Israel Amuka Show map of Israel
Coordinates: 32°59′52″N 35°31′26″E / 32.99778°N 35.52389°E / 32.99778; 35.52389
Country	Israel
District	Northern
Council	Merom HaGalil
Founded	1980
Population  (2021)	157[1]

Amuka (Hebrew: עֲמֻקָּה) is a community settlement near Safed in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel. It belongs to the Merom HaGalil Regional Council. It is named for the Biblical city of the same name, which is presumed to be located near the present-day settlement. In 2021 it had a population of 157.^[1]

History

Amuka (meaning deep from the Hebrew) is in a deep valley about 8 kilometres from Safed. Buried there is the sage Rabbi Yonatan Ben Uziel who was a student of Rabbi Hillel the elder, of the first century B.C.E. There is a community that has grown there because of the proximity to the grave.

Education

Children in the community attend schools in nearby villages: "Nof Harim" elementary school in Sasa, "Anne Frank" high school in Sasa, "Har VeGai" high school, and Einot Yarden high school.^{[citation needed]}

Synagogue

There is a large ruined building above the burial place of Jonathan ben Uzziel. In the 19th century, the explorer Victor Guérin saw there "the base of a pillar and a number of hewn stones - the remnants of an old structure, possibly a synagogue."^[2]

Tzvi Ilan writes that today some of the hewn stones are centralized in the center of the ruin like a platform for worship. West of the platform is a rectangular area of 20 by 30 meters appropriate for a synagogue. In the past there was a marble board with a figure of a grapevine.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Ammuqa

References

This page was last edited on 22 October 2023, at 02:54