Foreword (for "The Mountain and the Valley")



First and foremost, I dedicate this book to those people who came here to create a more just (socialist) society, a society free of exploitation. Through their struggle with the difficult climate, with swamps and malaria and other natural hardships  they reached one of the pinnacles of Jewish creation and what is perhaps one of the most wonderful societies ever created by man – the kibbutz.

Beit Alfa was founded by the Hashomer Hatzair movement. Its founders were members of "Kehilatenu" (our community), who came down from the mountain (Beitanya Illit) to settle the Jezreel Valley. That is where I met my wife and her family.

In Beit Alfa, I learned that a man makes a place for himself in the world only through hard work and personal integrity. I also learned the meaning of the Hebrew saying "Silence enhances wisdom."

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This book was created in homage to the people who chose to make their home in a valley that is burning hot during the summer, which is located between Mt. Gilboa and Mt. Tabor. Mt. Gilboa is the accursed mountain (cursed by David  after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan); Mt. Tabor is the blessed mountain (from which Jesus may have given his "Sermon on the Mount").