Sarona, Templars

Sarona

                It was merely a short two hour visit during a crowded 12 day pilgrimage of the Holy Land, but for me it was the beginning of much more. "We visit Sarona" was the brief listing in the itinerary, an item that one could quite easily read over without giving it much thought. But it was listed and when in Tel Aviv, that large, modern bustling city, we did visit Sarona, and I did begin my voyage of discovery.

                Bethlehem, Stations of the Cross, Sea of Galilee, Cana etc. these all rang a loud Christian bell for me, but Sarona! Who, or what, or where, or why is Sarona?

                Sarona. What a beautiful sounding name, coming right from the back of the throat. It doesn't roll off the tongue but echoes out from below .My first job was to find out where this word came from - its origin, its meaning. The site now called Sarona was originally a settlement located on the coastal lowlands of Palestine named the Plains of Sharon. The German people who settled here called this the Scharon Plains and so they named their new home after the traditional name of the area Scharona. This is now Sarona.

                So we visited what turned out to be a restful, peaceful piece of Eden in the midst of high rise Tel Aviv. We went in with Gail's (our tour guide) explanation, but much of this was forgotten while enjoying the atmosphere or eating ice-cream or rushing to find an ATM which spoke English.

A peaceful pond and a touch of Germany in Sarona, Tel Aviv.

for the moment let's leave the green lawns, the gentle breezes and the air-conditioned market hall (with ATM) and go back to when Sarona all started. Our time machine will need to transport us back 160 years to Württemberg in Germany.

                Here in the mid-nineteenth century a pietism movement within the Lutheran Church put themselves offside with the established church. This group was known as the Tempelgesellschaft (Temple Society) which we now know as the Templers.

NOTE: These people, TemplErs, should not be confused with TemplArs or Kinghts Templar. This was a Catholic Military Order Of Knights, closely involved in the Crusades, which existed in the 12th and 13th centuries.

They looked particularly to 1 Cor.3:16 and 1 Peter 2:5 for their basics of their approach to Christian living. The godliness which they showed in everyday living was, for them, more important than following organised religious formalities. The rift with the main Lutheran Church became inevitable when the Templers adopted millennial beliefs. A major factor in the group's migrating to Palestine was the thought that their strong spiritual beliefs would promote the rebuilding of the temple on Mount Zion. This in turn would hasten the second coming of Christ.

                They were duly excommunicated from the mother church and groups did migrate to Palestine to practise their religious freedom. They purchased land and established agricultural settlements. Sarona was one of these. Years of hard, dedicated work created successful enterprises, which showed the way for other settlements as well.

                But the twentieth century brought two world wars and Germany was the loser in both. This had repercussions for German citizens throughout the world and not only in Germany itself. 1919 saw most of the Templers in Palestine expelled by the British and placed in internment camps in Egypt. On returning in 1921 they had to begin rebuilding their deteriorated homes and fields.

                Then came World War 2 and again the German citizens in Palestine were interned. In 1941 most of the people living in Sarona (functioning as an internment camp at this time) were shipped to Australia. Here they were placed in an internment camp at Tatura near Shepparton in Victoria. They had to leave their home, land and belongings never to be allowed back there again to live.

                For years the European-styled houses of the Templers in Sarona gradually deteriorated from the use to which they were put. However their significance in the heritage history of Israel has now been recognised. The houses have not been demolished but renovated and their surrounds  beautified. The homes with their shuttered windows, small balconies and sloped rooves contrast greatly with the high rise city beside them.

                Which brings us back to 2016. Here I can now experience an oasis of calm and beauty. I see family groups enjoying the playing area. Groups of the beautiful people, the top-enders, are caressing their Latte Macchiato and Skinny chinos while lamenting the price increase of their Mercedes and Calypso holidays. Students frolic on the lawns while the elderly sit beside the lily pond and ponder youthful times. The glitterati are checking out the latest additions to the boutiques. The slim wad of NIS in my wallet would not draw me into these shops.

Coffees, shutters and brand labels in what was once a Templar's home.

This is now Sarona in the midst of bustling Tel Aviv. It has come a long way from the malaria infested swamps which claimed the lives of so many of those Templers who chose to practise their religious free here. Now it's green lawns, peaceful ponds and enticing retail outlets are magnets for the good life.

                And those Templers who were shipped to Australia? They could not return to Palestine (now Israel) and had nowhere else to go so the majority stayed in Australia. There is still a number of Templer Society groups operating here, mainly in Victoria.

                Oh, and something completely irrelevant to Sarona. While I was reading a Templer publication commemorating 75 years of Templer presence in Australia (24/08/2016 was the 75th anniversary of their arrival on the Queen Elizabeth) I came across a school class photograph from the Tatura camp. There on that photo, sitting cross-legged in front, were two boys with whom I went to secondary school. They were not Templers but sons of a German missionary from New Guinea. They also, together with many other German citizens living there at the time, were interned here during World War 2.