Nissim and Niflaot

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Nissim and Niflaot are the names of the two macaques that Menachem Zaharoni raised in the school’s petting zoo with the help of the school children, who cared for and fed the animals. 

The monkeys were named after the child, Nissim, and the monkey, Niflaot, the protagonists of Lea Goldberg’s famous book, Nissim ve-Niflaot. Alongside the monkeys in the petting zoo, Zaharoni raised a range of wild animals with the school children, including jackals, foxes, hares, snakes, and birds of prey such as buzzards, vultures, and an eagle.

Zevik Givoli recalls:

“Where Beit Hankin and the whole grove of the school stand today, there once was a huge petting zoo. There were a pair of monkeys, Nissim and Niflaot, there was an eagle, there were jackals, foxes, and a cage with all sorts of birds.  Now, these animals had to be fed. The classes above us were responsible for walking around and collecting the dead chickens, and giving them to the animals to eat. That was the children’s afternoon job, to open up the carcass and cut it up, and distribute some flesh to this jackal, and some flesh to that jackal... “

Rina Porat relates:

“Schools from all over the country would come to see this petting zoo. Who tended to the petting zoo? The children. We took turns. We took care of the petting zoo. For example, I remember that Naomi and I... we were responsible for the baby crows, and we would feed them a few times a day.”