Shefer was founded as a moshav in 1950 for immigrants from Yemen. After the founders abandoned it, a new moshav was founded in the same location by immigrants from North Africa. It is built on the site of ancient Parod (for which the modern kibbutz is named, further down the hill), also known as Paradia and, subsequently by the Arabs, as Faraddiyya, although the Arab village was on a hill to the south, between modern Parod and Horvat Kfar Hanania.
A new amphitheatre in Shefer, with autumnal leaves.
Yonatan testing out the brand-new exercise equipment.
Above Shefer, on the hill to the douth, is an abandoned Tegart fort which is half-heartedly fenced off, but with unlocked gates through which the local cattle wander into the fort. You can see its huge, reinforced concrete bulk with towering gun and lookout turret, looming over Shefer in the picture below.
In typically nonchalant Israeli fashion, the site is in equal parts full of potential fascination to children and adults alike, and of potential hazards such as falling masonry, open manholes, vertical access ladders, parapets etc. It is immediately adjacent to the village of Shefer. When Yonatan and I visited it was deserted (but for the cows).
A Tegart fort is a type of militarized police fort constructed throughout Palestine during the British Mandatory period as a response to the Arab Revolt of 1936-39. They are named after their designer, British police officer and engineer Sir Charles Tegart, who designed the forts in 1938 based on his experiences in the Indian insurgency. They were built of reinforced concrete with water systems that would allow them to withstand a month-long siege. Dozens of the structures were built according to the same basic plan, along the so-called "Tegart's wall" of the northern border with Lebanon and Syria, and at strategic intersections in the interior of Palestine.
Abandoned by the British in 1948, Shefer’s Tegart fort was clearly used by the Israeli military in the 1970s or 1980s, as evidenced by the loud-coloured fibre-glass sentry hut (not original).
There is a cistern beneath an open manhole to the west of the Tegart fort. This will have stored water; the forts were designed to hold out for a month.
The courtyard inside the Tegart fort, displays some evidence that the building was, after being de-militarised, commandeered as a kindergarten for the village of Shefer, perhaps when it was newly established, judging by very professional murals on many of the courtyard and internal walls.
This is a panoramic shot of the fort from the first floor roof terrace (click for the full width).
From the internal staircase landing on the first floor, a ladder gives access to the roof, and then to the turret.
Yonatan gingerly follows his dad into the turret!
The turret has two levels, so ther ladder is shown here continuing to the upper level.
This is the upper level of the turret, with closed, narrow embrasures. An open trapdoor leads onto an unprotected roof with no parapet - we didn't venture up!
The views from the eight wider embrasures on the lower level of the turret are stunning. It was quite a clear day, but with some haze in the far distance; on a really clear day you can see beyond the far end of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) to the south, far across the Golan to the east, and to Haifa and the Mediterranean to the west. As well as the photos of the views from each embrasure below, you can see them in this short video.
This is the view from the southern embrasure.
The view of Shefer fromfrom the south-eastern, eastern and north-eastern embrasures:
The view to the north west, with Har Kafir in the distance.
From the western embrasure:
The new Shefer amphitheatre, where we had been just beforehand, from the north-eastern embrasure.
Yonatan on the roof, amazed by the precarious-looking turret where he had just been.
This is a telephoto shot from the western embrasure, showing the incredible crescent-shaped cairn of Rujum en-Nabi Shua'ayb (Jethro's Cairn) - somewhere for a future tiyul (outing)!
Having come back down to earth, we found some wildlife in the woods: a red admiral and many wild mushrooms.
After eating apples, we drove up the dead-end road from Shefer to Hemdat Yamim, which you can see nesstling in the trees above Shefer in the picture below.
Hemdat Yamim (literally, beloved days) is a small “cabin-style” resort with a bar-cafe where concerts and performances are put on, built underneath a small water tower. There were wild narcissi and we helped a tortoise off the road!
There are superb views across Shefer, Nahal Sheva, Har Shamai and Har Kfir.
The cafe-bar beneath the water tower.
