Birya

Birya occupies a hilltop position in the Upper Galilee, roughly one mile (about 1.5 km) north of Safed.[1] The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry described the site in 1946 as being "in a commanding position on the hills of Northern Galilee" and said that it "can only be described as a fort."[5]

A Ynet travel account distinguishes the present-day moshav from the earlier Arab village of Biriya, whose residents lived there until 1948, and from the historic Jewish settlement and fort site.[2]

Talmudic and Medieval Periods

Biriyyah was an important Jewish town in the Talmudic period in the Upper Galilee.[1] After Safed's importance declined in the first century C.E. following the Jewish war against Rome, Biriyyah assumed a regional-center role and became a place of learning.[1] The Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds mention six sages as residents of Biriyyah, and several passages concern the "Benei Berai" — the inhabitants of Biriyyah.[1]

Genizah literature attests to Jewish residents at Biriyyah in the 11th–13th centuries C.E.; an encyclopedia entry says their descendants may have remained until the 16th century.[1] The area experienced renewed prominence when Jews expelled from Spain settled in Safed and its surroundings.[1]

Joseph Caro worked on the Shulḥan Arukh at Biriyyah in 1555. One source says he completed its first part there on 2 Elul 5315, while the Jewish Encyclopedia says the composition was completed at Biri that year.[1][6] Local Jews then worked as farmers and tradesmen.[1]

By the beginning of the 17th century, a Jewish community was no longer living at Biriyyah, though the local synagogue remained until the 18th century and continued to serve Safed's Jewish community. Its keys were kept by local Arabs, who reportedly showed great reverence for the building.[1]

After the 1837 earthquake destroyed Safed, a Hebrew printing press was temporarily brought to Biriyyah before being transferred to Jerusalem.[1]

Land Acquisition and Early Resettlement

Birya's lands were purchased in 1895 by PICA, the Palestine Jewish Colonization Association, which The Jerusalem Post describes as having been founded by Baron Maurice de Hirsch.[7] Baron Edmond de Rothschild made an additional purchase in 1908 for the farmers of Rosh Pina.[7][8] Attempts to cultivate the land were made in 1922 but eventually declined; the land later passed to the Jewish National Fund, which planted trees and developed the area as a forest.[8]

On January 8, 1945, members of the Palmach's religious company, associated with Bnei Akiva, settled at Birya and worked for the Jewish National Fund on land preparation and forest planting.[7][8] They built a stone fort with a small courtyard, two lookout towers, rooms, and a water reservoir.[8] The site served as a communications relay between Haganah headquarters at Ayelet HaShahar and the Jewish community in Safed.[8] It also functioned as a way station for Jews clandestinely brought from Syria: they were taken there from the Hula Valley, given clothing and some Hebrew instruction, and then moved onward to Haifa.[7]

Arrests and British Occupation

According to particulars that the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry said were furnished by military authorities, shots were fired at an Arab Legion sentry post about one to one-and-a-half miles from Birya on the night of February 27–28, 1946. The report said the sentry was wounded in the thigh and returned fire; the following morning, bloodstains and bandages were found, and police dogs followed a trail to Birya.[9]

The committee reported that a search in the neighborhood found two arms caches containing, among other items, a Sten gun, a Bren gun, four modern rifles, a wireless set, and grenades. It said documents found with the caches connected them to Birya and included camp standing orders, materials relating to Haganah structure and duties, training manuals, and notes on nearby military and police camps.[9]

Sources give different arrest totals: the Ministry of Defense Museums says 24 members of Birya's religious Palmach unit were arrested on February 28, while the committee reported that 25 men were detained.[9][4] The Jerusalem Post says about two dozen men were taken first to Safed and then to Acre Prison.[7] The settlement was dismantled, the site declared a closed military area, and Jewish settlement there prohibited.[4]

The trial of the Birya detainees opened at Acre Prison on May 30, 1946, with Aaron Hoter-Yishai serving as defense counsel.[7] In court, the accused acknowledged possession of the weapons but characterized them as defensive, stating that they were willing to risk their lives rather than see their settlement efforts destroyed.[7] Twenty defendants over the age of 18 received four-year sentences; two 17-year-olds received two years, and two defendants under 17 received one year.[7]

Operation Gidem: The Mass Ascent

The Jewish community regarded the British dismantling of Birya as a continuation of discriminatory restrictions associated with the 1939 White Paper and as a possible precedent for the removal of other Jewish settlements.[4] The Haganah organized a mass return known as Operation Gidem.[10]

On the night of 13–14 March 1946, roughly 3,000 people representing the country's different political currents climbed toward the fort through stormy weather, carrying building materials, fencing equipment, tools, and saplings.[8][10] The Jewish Agency report gives a higher figure of 4,000 and describes a six-hour uphill trek beginning at midnight by settlers from the Jordan Valley, Jezreel, and Galilee.[3]

Reaching Birya's hilltop at daybreak, the participants cleared rocks, built a wall and barracks, and planted saplings in the rain.[3] When approximately 150 people remained, British forces arrived in armored vehicles, demolished the renewed settlement, trampled saplings, and removed the settlers by force.[7][8] The Jewish Agency report says many farmers were beaten and some were wounded.[3]

Crowds returned the following day, rebuilt the camp and stone fence, and planted new saplings.[3] The Jewish Agency report summarized the public mood: "Old and young were determined that the settlement must not be abandoned."[3] Mishael Shechter-Shaham then led a third ascent, joined by hundreds from Rosh Pina and Safed.[4] After negotiations with the Jewish Agency, the British withdrew on March 17, 1946, allowing 20 people to remain at Birya.[4] The last army detachment left the area on June 7, 1946.[3] Rabbis in Safed permitted bread to be baked on the Sabbath so it could be brought to the men and women encamped on the hilltop.[3]

Legacy of the Episode

Birya's settlers commemorated their success by calling the Purim of 1946 "Purim de-Birya."[4] The Ministry of Defense Museums describes the return as a symbol of settlement and resilience, free immigration, and the aspiration for an independent Jewish state.[4]

A black water tank at the entrance to Kfar Tavor bore the English slogan "Birya Belongs To Us," placed there so British soldiers and other Mandate personnel would see the protest. The tank was later removed from its original position and displayed at a roadside stop.[8]

A new religious kibbutz took over the site in September 1948; in 1949 it was replaced by a moshav founded by immigrants from Tripolitania, in present-day Libya.[1]

The Jewish National Fund began planting trees in the area in the early 1950s, employing unemployed settlers and using forestry techniques suited to the barren soil.[11] An encyclopedia entry reported that the forest contained nearly six million trees in 1968, while a later Ynet article reported approximately five million trees across 20,000 dunams.[1][2]

Published population figures vary by date. Encyclopedia.com gives approximately 550 residents in the mid-1990s and 771 in 2002, while a Ynet travel article published in 2010 described Birya as having about 650 residents.[1][2] These figures are historical snapshots rather than a single current population estimate.

The moshav has supported some hill farming, although most inhabitants have worked in Safed or elsewhere.[1] Birya's cultural memory remains closely connected to the events of 1946. Youth movements maintained an annual commemorative ascent, and the Ministry of Defense Museums says Bnei Akiva's HaRoeh group continues to ascend on 11 Adar.[4]

Birya Forest extends across about 20,000 dunams from the slopes above Safed toward Rosh Pina and Hatzor HaGlilit. Ynet describes it as the largest forest in the Galilee and reports that the Jewish National Fund planted approximately five million trees in the Birya area.[2]

Birya Fortress is not a medieval remnant: it was built near the end of World War II as part of Bnei Akiva settlement activity.[2] The Jewish National Fund established a museum at the fort, which was restored and opened to the public in 2000. Its exhibits present the site's history from ancient times through the pre-state struggle and later years.[12]

Two traditional burial sites are associated with Biriyyah. R. Abba Sha'ul, an important sage of the Mishnah, was believed to be buried there with his wife, and travelers mentioned the tradition as late as 1876. A kabbalistic tradition placed nearby the tomb of Benaiah son of Jehoiada, one of King David's commanders.[1]

A 1968 University Study Mission itinerary scheduled a visit to Biriya on July 9, between visits to the tombs and second-century synagogue remains at Miron and a return to Safed, showing its inclusion as a cultural and historical stop.[13]

Birya Forest was damaged by Hezbollah rockets during the 2006 Second Lebanon War and subsequently underwent extensive rehabilitation.[14] In June 2024, approximately 800 dunams of the 20,000-dunam forest burned following Hezbollah rocket fire in the area.[14]

A Jewish National Fund regional director reported that an interceptor exploded over the forest, scattering fragments that ignited fires in multiple locations. The report said that much of the rehabilitation work undertaken during the 18 years after the Second Lebanon War was lost within two hours.[14]

Several aspects of the 1946 events at Birya are documented differently across the available sources. The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry explicitly attributed its account of the Arab Legion sentry incident and arms-cache discovery to military authorities; the Jewish Agency report used the word "alleged" for the attack and presented the British actions from the Agency's perspective.[9][3]

The sources also give different dates for the initial arrests. The Jewish Agency report says all 25 residents were arrested on February 25, while the committee's account describes shots fired on the night of February 27–28 and the subsequent detention of Birya's residents.[9][3]

Estimates of the mass ascent vary as well. The Ministry of Defense Museums gives 2,300 participants, while The Jerusalem Post reports approximately 3,000.[4][7] The Jewish Agency report gives 4,000.[3]

Accounts of the earlier Jewish settlement also differ. Encyclopedia.com records Jewish residents in the 11th–13th centuries and says their descendants may have remained until the 16th century, while one Ynet account describes the historic community as lasting only until the first century C.E.[1][8]