Part 4 - Hoḫwärwa: The First BetäƎsraʾel Monastic Centre

Summary

WE BEGIN OUR examination of Betä Ǝsraʾel monasticcentres with Hoḫ^wärwa, first and foremost amongthem. Like Halévy and others before us, we came tantalizingly closeto reaching it, but had to turn back with our intended destination virtuallyin sight. Reaching and surveying this monastic centre remains our primaryobjective for future fieldwork.

Hoḫ^wärwa is located in the region ofĞanfänkära, at the eastern end of the historicalprovince of Armač̣əho (fig. 1.1). Its precise locationwill be dealt with in future publica-tions, once it is established withcertainty in the field. Since the traditions regarding this centre'sfoundation and some of its features have already been discussed above, wewill focus here on features not previously discussed.

That the precise location and characteristics of the most importantBetä Ǝsraʾel monastic centre are no longer widely knownis a striking demonstration of the alarming rate in which knowledge of thecommunity's sites and traditions is disappearing: When we reached thevalley of Səmen Mənaṭa, a monastic centre active untilthe mid-twenti-eth century, it was a simple matter to find informants whoremembered the monks and could point out BetäƎsraʾel-related structures, and later to confirm and add tothis infor-mation with the help of Betä Ǝsraʾelinformants in Israel. Hoḫ^wärwa was a differentmat-ter—we were not able, prior to our fieldwork, to locateBetä Ǝsraʾel informants familiar with thissite's precise location and characteristics. And when we reached itsvicinity, we spent two days interviewing several elders in a few localities(including some well-acquainted with the Betä Ǝsraʾelcommunity which used to reside in the area) before finding someone who wasfamiliar with this monastic site. All but this elder were not familiar withthe concept of Betä Ǝsraʾel monasticism.

While several descriptions of this monastic centre and its surroundingsexist, even its geographical setting is not completely clear. Flad (1869,29) relates that Abba Ṣəbra lived “ina cavern called Hoharewa,” which serves as a place of BetäƎsraʾel pilgrimage. Though a location on a mountaintop is notmentioned by Flad, it is a central feature in the testimony of the first twoemissaries of World Jewry to the Betä Ǝsraʾel,Halévy and Faitlovitch.