Samson and Delilah Sites from Tel Aviv to Ashdod
Drive from Tel Aviv on Highway No. 1 to the "Gate of the Valley," then turn right at the junction and travel south on the road leading to Kibbutz Zorah, passing Eshta'ol and Beit Shemesh. Stop at Beit Jimal, a Catholic monastery run by Salesian monks. The property was purchased in 1878 by Fr Antonio Belloni. According to tradition, Beit Jimal Monastery was built on the place where Samson killed the young lion with his bare hands.
From Beit Jimal, continue to see the tomb of Samson and his father Manoah in Tel Zorah's forest, northeast of Kibbutz Zorah and west of Moshav Eshtaol. Then go west down the Judean foothills to the southern coastal plain.
Head towards the reconstructed Kibbutz Yad Mordechai 1948 battle site, commemorating the battle against the Egyptian army during the War of Independence.
Visit the Holocaust Museum and Heroism of the Warsaw Ghetto. After the Warsaw Ghetto was conquered by the Nazis, survivors immigrated to Israel and established Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, named after their commander Mordechai Anilewicz.
Travel north to Ashkelon, one of the five cities of the Philistines and a site connected with the heroic events of Samson. To pay a debt of thirty suits of clothes, it is said that Samson went down to the city of Ashkelon, killed thirty Philistines, and took their garments. Some also say that after his capture, Samson was blinded and forced into hard labour.
Next, continue to Ashdod, another of the five Philistine cities, where Samson struck the "Sea Invaders." The Philistines said that one day their leaders assembled in a temple for a religious sacrifice to Dagon, one of their most important deities, for having delivered Samson into their hands. Some traditions also say that Samson probably died in Ashdod.
