My father grew up in a small Moshav (agricultural community) with a funny name – Hogla. It was 15 years before I learned of Hogla, an amazing biblical woman and one of 5 granddaughters of a man named Hefer.
Hefer gave his name to the green valley where my father played in his childhood but Hefer’s granddaughters are where the real story lies. Hogla and her four sisters were the first women in Jewish history to demand social justice.
In their time, women could not inherit land. With no brother to serve as an heir, the family land would have been split among tribe and the family name lost. Hogla and her sisters successfully petitioned the great Moses for their right to inherent their dead father’s land in Israel.
When Diane called to tell me that Jessica, her daughter, would be reciting this story for her Bat-Mitzvah, I knew exactly where her Israel trip should begin. These seven women, young and young at heart, were thrilled to start their Israel journey with a powerful theme:
“The Women that Impacted Jewish History”
We walked in the “footsteps” of Hogla and her sisters understanding the importance of land and heritage.
We cruised through the trails of Kibbutz Sdot Yam the home of Hannah Senesh, one of the two first Jewish women paratroopers that volunteered for the British Army during WW2. She parachuted into occupied Europe and was tortured and executed by the Nazi’s.
We drove through Zichron Ya’akov to hear the story of Sarah Aaronsohn, the young woman that formed and led Nili, a spy group helping the British during WWI.
This was an inspiring trip with a truly inspirational group of women.
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