Ma'ale Levona

Ma'ale Levona (Hebrew: מַעֲלֵה לְבוֹנָה‎‎) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. "Ma'ale Levonah" means "Ascent of Frankincense" in Hebrew. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.^[1]

It overlooks its namesake, an ancient mountain pass noteworthy as the site of the first Maccabeean victory against the Selucids. The mountain pass, "the Ascent of Levonah" is to the east of the village and links the Levonah valley to its north with the Shiloh valley to its south.

The "Levonah valley" is probably named for the frankincense grown there in biblical days for the incense used in the Tabernacle of near-by Shiloh. There was an Israelite village on the edge of the valley that also carried the name "Levonah" ( see Judges 21:19). The name of that ancient site is preserved in the name of the nearest Arab village which today occupies its place- Lubban ash-Sharkiya (Eastern Levonah).

The village was initially established as a Nahal outpost and was later turned into a civilian Israeli settlement, under the municipal jurisdiction of the Matte Binyamin Regional Council. It is located in the northern West Bank, in the Shilo-Eli bloc near Ariel.

Ma'ale Levona is home to around 120 families backgrounds of which include, besides Israel, the United States, South Africa, Tunisia, Yemen, Morocco, and various parts of Europe. In addition Ma'ale Levona features a petting zoo with sheep, goats, a few horses, some peafowl, and other animals. Every year after Shavuot, Ma'ale Levona hosts a Hag Hagez, a biblically mandated event in which the sheep are shorn of their wool. Ma'ale Levona also is home to a girls high school and a college that combines yeshiva study with computer classes.

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