Country living at its best
By GIL AND NETANYA HOFFMAN, The Jerusalem Post

We were looking for a romantic getaway in the middle of nowhere with breathtaking views of nature. What we found was a rustic cottage with modern amenities.

Mitch Pilcer, a former Jerusalem Post writer, and his wife Suzy, have built an oasis of solitude, peace and tranquility in the ancient town of Tzipori, where Rabbi Judah the Prince wrote most of the Mishna and is buried. The Pilcers put American-style attention to detail into the five cabins on their estate.

From a television on wheels so you can watch videos in the Jacuzzi, to a wood-burning stove to keep you warm in the living room, to lofts for children to climb and sleep in and even shampoo and conditioner in one, the Pilcers have thought of everything.

Each room has a collection of videos, novels and magazines, plenty of blankets, a heater/air conditioner, board games and playing cards. But the best part of staying in Tzipori Village Bed and Breakfast is the breakfast.

Bright and early every morning, Mitch delivers a picnic basket full of locally grown and produced goodies and places it in the "breakfast box" outside the front door. The basket includes organic whole wheat bread, fruits and vegetables, olives and olive oil from the nearby farm, fresh labane and za'atar, eggs straight from the chicken coop and a selection of cheeses and yogurts from the Tzon-El goat farm next door. The bleating of the goats is the only sound that invades the pastoral quiet.

The fridge is stocked with milk and juice, and coffee, tea and chocolate can be found in the kitchenette. If any little thing is lacking, the Pilcers are happy to provide. We made a barbecue for dinner one night, and realizing that we had forgotten to bring ketchup, buzzed the Pilcers at home. They immediately sent one of their children running to bring us a bottle from their own fridge.

Tzipori is located just north of Nazareth and Afula in the lower Galilee. Its location in the heart of the Galilee makes it a good hub for day-trips around the scenic area. We drove an hour north to go ice skating at the Canada Centre in Metulla, but other recommended places in the area include the archaeological excavations and national park in Tzipori, horseback riding and donkey rental, the rakevel and mountain slide in Menara and the scenic Swiss Forest overlooking the Sea of Galilee.

For religious guests, the kitchenettes are strictly kosher and are equipped with a hotplate for Shabbat, there is an eruv around the property and a synagogue a pleasant 25-minute walk away in the religious community of Hoshaya.

Guest houses, or so-called tzimmers (Yiddish for rooms) such as this are becoming more and more popular - with good reason. They are much more homey than a hotel, they are a better place to bring children or to spend time alone with your loved one and they are also much cheaper. The average tzimmer will run you about NIS 400 a night. The Tzipori Village guest house costs only NIS 330.

 

Good times

By Matti Friedman 

The Best B&B's in Israel
Mapa Publication 2001

Zippori Village - Mitch and Suzy Pilcer

Charming and carefully planned cottages set amidst the woods and natural greenery surrounding Zippori. It is clear that the owners have thought of every detail. there are four cottages facing the view and a large green lawn, as well as an old stone house adjacent to the main building. A central village square has a stone fish pond as its centerpiece with croaking frogs heard among the lilly pads. Cultivated gardens surround each cottage providing privacy between them. The stone house is perfect for a honeymoon.

All the cottages are equipped with all the essentials for the good life: A double-bed, jaccuzi, fireplace and central AC. The TV and video are on a cart that can be wheeled to the jaccuzi. The entrances are graced with mosaic floors reminiscent of the ancient floors in the villas of the old city on the hill. The paintings on the wall are original art by the owner.

For children, a large lawn and a wooden playhouse with a small playground. There is a fully-equipped BBQ pit with a roof. The breakfast, which is left in a box outside your front door includes organic bread goats cheese, olive oil, zaatar and more.

At Home with History
By SURIE ACKERMAN
Jerusalem Post 5.5.2001

Mitch Pilcer is no stranger to regular Jerusalem Post readers; since moving to Moshav Tzipori nearly three years ago, he has periodically reported here on his experiences as a born-and-bred New Yorker who bought an abandoned farm property and rehabilitated it with his own hands.

This spring, Pilcer and his wife Suzy unveiled a new project: Zippori Village, four guest cottages that they also built themselves. Aiming to attract families, particularly English-speakers, to their 17-dunam piece of paradise, they have spared no effort to make their guests feel pampered, yet very much at home.

My husband and I, who were the Pilcers' guests, found the cottages beautifully decorated. Inlaid on the entranceway floors are lovely mosaics, the Pilcers' own handiwork. Each cottage has a bedroom with a large closet (hangers, too!), a living room with a sofa bed, a Jacuzzi, a fully-equipped kitchenette and TV.

A stair ladder leads you to a loft area, which can easily accommodate several children; each loft has a fold-out bed, and the Pilcers will provide mattresses as needed. The cottages are fully air conditioned and heated; in addition to central heating, there are wood-burning or fuel-burning stoves. In warm weather, you could eat or let the kids play on the porch, and enjoy the gentle music of the wind chimes.

The red-stained woodwork, window frames, ceiling beams, and kitchen cabinets give the cottages a cozy, rustic feel, as does the hand-stenciling around the living room. And - lo! - there are screens in the windows, a sure betrayal of the proprietors' national origins.

Little things made our stay even more pleasant. There was locally produced shampoo and handcream provided. The main bedroom had a clock-radio (which helped my husband get up for the 6 a.m. minyan in the nearby religious community of Hoshaya). The living-room bookcase had a binder filled with brochures describing area's attractions, a big help in planning day trips. There were also reference books on Tzipori and its environs, a stack of popular magazines and a shelf of paperbacks from the Pilcers' own large collection.

Each morning at 7:30, the Pilcers leave a kosher breakfast in a cooler built right next to the cottage door, with organic bread, butter, eggs, vegetables, jams, and goat's milk and cheese produced by their down-the-road neighbors, Tal and Adi Ellis. For other needs, the moshav has a grocery a short walk from the cottages.

ZIPPORI VILLAGE'S location in Lower Galilee makes it an excellent base for day trips, with most of the North within a 90-minute drive. But many major attractions are only minutes away. There is, of course, the Tzipori National Park, a two-minute drive from the cottages (the Pilcers' guests get a 25 percent discount). In Hoshaya, a five-minute drive, you will find Kfar Kedem, which recreates village life as it was lived in the time of the Mishna, which Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi edited at Tzipori. Dressing up in period costume and taking a donkey ride is part of the Kfar Kedem experience. Nazareth, with its colorful markets, is also only a few minutes away. Coming as we did midweek, we found all the sites we visited serene and uncrowded; something to consider, if one can arrange it.

But you don't necessarily have to venture very far. Our visit to the Ellises' farm was a treat. They recently opened their own dairy - called Tzon-El - which is certified by the Jezreel Valley Rabbinate; in addition to the cheeses, they have been experimenting with such products as sheep-milk ice cream and goat-milk cheesecake, all of which are for sale. The moshav also offers jeep and all-terrain vehicle rides, horseback riding, an aqua-plant farm and a parrot farm.

Frankly, we found one of the most fascinating attractions to be Pilcer himself. A talented writer and artist (some of the pictures hanging on the cottages' walls are his), he walked us around his property, described his experiences whipping it into shape, and talked of plans for the future - not only for Zippori Village (a pool, picnic area, and playground are part of the plan) but for organizing the moshav's marketing efforts, and building a institute for Mishna study at the site of ancient Tzipori. Seeing how he has already built something out of nothing, there is no reason to doubt these plans will eventually come to fruition.

Frommer's Guide
Nearby in Zippori 1999

Zippori Village Guesthouses

These cottages, built by host Mitch Pilcer (a former New Yorker) in 1997, are fresh and pleasently decorated. They sport a front porch, a bedroom, a small living room with sofa bed, a kitchenette, and a Jacuzzi. A ladder leads to a loft area with a fold-out bed. with extra mattresses supplied by mitch, a large family can be accommodated. The management is personal and very well informed, offering lots of brochures and advice about the area.

A country breakfast (kosher) with organic bread, vegetables, eggs, jam, cheese, and goat's milk (all local products) is left each morning at 7:30am in a cooler beside your door.

פסיפס בין זית לרימון

ורדה הורוביץ, "חוויה רומנטית"

בתוך ציור ילדים
מגזין לאשה 11.2.2002

הצימרים הכי רומנטיים

כמו הציורים שציירתי בילדותי: בתים עם גגות רעפים אדומים, ושבילים המובילים לגינה פורחת, כך נראו במבט ראשון הבקתות של סוזי ומיטש פילטשר.
ארבע בקתות עץ מושקעות וחדר אירוח מאבן, שנבנה על חורבותיו של בית ערבי נטוש, יושבים מול מטע של מאות עצי רימון למרגלות הרי גוש שגב.
בתוך כל בקתה אח בוערת בחורף, מטבחון מצוייד, פינות ישיבה, טלוויזיה, חדר שינה אינטימי, ג'קוזי לשניים וקומת גלריה בה מזרן זוגי, אליה מוביל סולם קטן.
על מדפי הספרייה, ספרים ומגזינים, אוסף נרגילות וטבק בטעם נענע, מנטה, ומלון. לכל בקתה מרפסת קטנה, ממנה אפשר להשקיף על עדר פרות הרועה באחו, עצי הלימון והרימון.
ארוחות הבוקר מוגשות בתוך תיבת עץ כחולה שתלוייה על קיר הבקתה, ומכילות בין השאר גבינות וחלב עיזים.

חדרי האירוח הטובים בישראל
הוצאת מפה 2001

ציפורי, מיטש וסוזי פילצר

אירוח מדוקדק בנוף החורש העבות המקיף את ציפורי. ניכר כי הבעלים חשבו על כל פרט. ארבעה צימרים הפונים למדשאה הגדולה ועוד אחד זוגי הממוקם מתחת לבית הבעלים. לכולם משותפת חצר מרכזית ובה בריכת נוי עם צפרדעים. בין הצימרים צמחייה תרבותית עבותה, היוצרת פרטיות. החדר הזוגי מתאים לירח דבש והוא מצוייד בכל טוב.

בצימרים האחרים: מיטה זוגית, ג'קוזי, קמין ומזגן מרכזי. הטלוויזיה והווידאו מונחים על עגלה שאפשר לנייד לג'קוזי. ברצפת הכניסה לחדרים מוטיב של פסיפס, שמזכיר את הפסיפס העתיק שנמצא בציפורי. על הקיר תלויים ציוריו של מיטש, בעל הבית.

לילדים: מדשאה גדולה, בית עץ, ארגז חול ומתקני משחקים. יש גם פינת מנגל מצויידת ומקורה. ארוחת הבוקר, המונחת למען הפרטיות מחוץ לדלת, מורכבת מלחם אורגני, גבינת עזים, שמן זית, זעתר ועוד.

פנינה רומנטית
ורדה הורביץ
מגזין לאשה 7.5.2001

הבית של סוזי ומיטש, ציפורי

בישוב ציפורי ממש ליד הבית שבו התגוררו הוריה של מרים אמה של ישו, מול גבעות ריש לקיש, הרי גוש שגב והר עצמון ובתוך מטע של כ-500 עצי רימון, בנו סוזי ומיטש פילצר את "כפר ציפורי" - ארבע בקתות עץ ובית אבן אחד.

בפנים - אח (לימי החורף הקרים), מטבחון, ספרייה ומרפסת המשקיפה לנוף מקסים. חמש דקות הליכה מהבתים שוכנים כנסייה שהפכה לבית יתומים ומנזר קסום, ששוררת בו דממה במשך כל השבוע (המפתח אצל בית היתומים). בבוקר, בסלסלה שתונח ליד הדלת, תקבלו מוצרי חלב, גניבות עיזים, ירקות, לחמניות ואפילו בקבוקון של חלב עזים טהור.

ההנאות שבדרך
נילי פרידלנדר
40 סופי שבוע

מתעוררים בציפורי, כפר ירוק ויפה כל השנה. לפני הדלת מחכה סל עם ארוחת בוקר. אצל מיטש וסוזי פילצר יש חמישה בתי אירוח על גבעה מול נוף. פרטיות בכל בית. בפנים: חדר שינה לזוג, גלריה לילדים, ג'קוזי וסלון קטן עם אח, מטבחון וטלוויזיה, כבלים ווידיאו. אפשר להתחתן בבית-הכנסת העתיק של ציפורי ולרדת מיד לירח דבש על הגבעה.

הכל קרוב, בהליכות קצרות. נהנים מהפסיפסים היפים, מהשבילים בין עצי השקד הפורחים בחורף ובאביב, מהכלניות האדומות על הגבעות בדרך העפר היורדת מציפורי. במאי וביוני רימונים פורחים באדום וצברים בצהוב ובוורוד, בין שדות זהובים, אוויר רענן ורוח נעימה. ברכב מגיעים מהר מאוד למסעדות של נצרת.

לסופשבוע כדאי להזמין מקום מראש. באמצע השבוע קל יותר למצוא מקום וגם המחירים נמוכים מהרגיל.