Margalit Zinati (Hebrew: מרגלית זינאתי; born October 1931[1]) is an Israeli Jewish woman and member of the ancient Zinati family, which is one of the three priestly families that have lived in Peki'in for millennia.[2][3]
Margalit was for years the only Jew in the city and guarded the ancient synagogue. Margalit is known as the "keeper of the Jewish embers" in Peki'in.[4] In 2018, the 70th anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel, she was chosen to light a torch in the torch-lighting ceremony
 |
| 2 September 2026 |
Margalit Zinati is the daughter of Yosef and Saada Zinati, and sister of Shaul Zinati.[6] She is fluent in Arabic and Hebrew.[7]
Most Jews fled Peki'in permanently during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt, but the Zinati family decided to return after temporarily moving to Hadera for a few months between 1938 and 1939.[8]
At fourteen, Margalit left Peki'in to attend school for four years: first at kibbutz Yagur, then at the Lämel School in Jerusalem, and finally in Rehovot.[9] She returned at the outbreak of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War,[7] in which her brother Shaul participated.[10] The family was forced to leave yet again for a period of time by Fawzi al-Qawuqji's forces.[11] She returned to Peki'in after the war, deciding not to marry so she could stay in the village to protect the synagogue and her parents' fields.
Source: Wikipedia (with footnotes)
No comments:
Post a Comment