Shiloh - Our Original Capital

Next stop Shiloh.

Yoni asked our group an interesting question. What is the capital of America?

“Washington DC was an immediate and loud response.” Good answer you would say. Accurate answer you would think. Then Yoni asked the travelers, why didn’t anyone say Philadelphia or New York for that matter? “Well, they are not the capital.”

Then Yoni asked, “What is the capital of Israel?” What do you think the answer was? “Yerushalayim!!!” of course. Well, while that is accurate now, that was not the original capital of Ancient Israel. When Yehoshua brought the 12 tribes into the land, the Mishkan, Tabernacle, found a permanent home in Shiloh for 369 years. This meant that it was to Shiloh that Jewish men, women and children traveled to on the three pilgrimage holidays. That means it was in Shiloh where the offerings were brought. It was Shiloh that was the capital of the Holy Land.

What great significance this has to us this year, a year of Hakhel, gatherings. Our group was standing in the same place where our ancestors came to gather in the Mishkan and be inspired with words of Torah.

We know that Shiloh is place of importance because it says so in the Tanach, in Navi, but where is the physical proof? Well, lucky for us, we met an amazing woman who shared her family’s story. Moriah Shapira, Manager of Ancient Shiloh Visitor Center, told us the amazing story of how the world came to know about Shiloh.

Until 1967 Shiloh was in the hands of the Jordan government. After the Six Day War, the area returned back to Jewish hands. There was a group of 8 families who wanted to settle in Shiloh, because of its great historical significance. It was not enough to just live there, they wanted to prove to themselves and the world the greatness of Israel’s original capital.

How does one go about doing this? 1^st step is to look at the words of G-d in the Navi. There is evidence there of the Jewish people coming to the Mishkan to celebrate on the 15^th of Av. The Navi clearly states that Shiloh is north of Bet El and South of Levona. This is what led this group of families to the area of modern Shiloh.

Step 2: Find the most exact location. Now, they went to the Arabs that lived here and asked them to tell them the names of the area. Interesting that Arabs have preserved the names and call them names that are similar in pronunciation to the original ones. The area we were standing on today was called Silon by the Arabs.

Step 3: Find archeological proof. That proved to be amazing. There are so many finds here. Moriah shared with us that when she was 4 years old in 1980 her father woke her up in the middle of the night. Archeologists had unearthed large jugs that were used for storage for the Mishkan. In these jugs were found burned raisins that could be dated back to the years the Mishkan stood in Shiloh. Moriah remembers vividly the excitement as not 1, not 2, not 10…but over 50 jugs were discovered.

Moriah’s family, originally from Tzfat, joined these 8 families to start the modern city of Shiloh. Their dedication and determination and faith in the Torah created a beautiful visitors center where the world can now gather in ancient Shiloh.

It was truly amazing to be in the place that we studied last year with Morah Kosofsky in Navi. The story of Chana praying for a child came to life. This is the location where Shmuel the Prophet grew up. It was here that we davened mincha as a group. Truly, truly inspiring.