Mount Meron
Range of mountains in the Upper Galilee 5 miles northwest of Safed. Its summit is 3963 feet above sea level – the highest peak in Israel till the Six Day War. Called Jarmaq in Arabic.
South of the summit are remains of a Jewish settlement called Zarmiq (distortion of Arabic name) founded in 1837 by Israel Bak from Safed.
Part of the mountain is a nature reserve.
Below Mount Meron, to the east, is the tomb of the Talmudic sage, Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai where every year the hillula (Lag Ba’Omer festivity) is held.
