The Suspension Bridge Over Nachal Habesor©

Although there are more direct and faster routes toBe’er Sheva and the south, the Basor is one of the beauties of the Negev that would justify a diversion to this route.

The Derech Habesor (Habesor Way) is 18 km (about 11 miles) of scenic, unsettled road, which will take you back to the times of the Avos. The track, which can be walked or done by car or bicycle, follows Nachal Habesor (Basor Stream). It has many viewing areas, shady spots, ancient wells, historical sites, and a hanging bridge for pedestrians on its path. The trail stretches from Eshkol Park in the north to Tze’elim in the south and is relatively flat. At the entrance there is a viewing tower, allowing a good view of the area.

From the banks of the Basor Stream, it is possible to spot turtles and little black ducks swimming in it. The pleasant walk alongside the stream highlights the contrast between desert and water. For much of the way, there are orchards on one side and pure Negev scenery on the other. The green along the watercourse in this desert area is a real treat for the eye (and the camera), as the area is typified by rich and unusual flora.

Along the stream is thick and varied vegetation, and in February the area is carpeted with an amazing display of anemones. The trees and bushes along the banks include pistachio, olive, California peppers, tipuana, several varieties of acacia and Retem (Rotem — White broom). Rabi Meir (Bereishis Rabbah 53) says that Hagar thrust Yishmael under a Retem bush. Many generations later, when Eliyahu Hanavi fled into the desert from the wrath of Izevel, he lay under a solitary Retem (Melachim I, 19: 3-8). The White broom is at its most beautiful in Shevat/Adar when its tiny buds explode into a myriad of white, butterfly-shaped flowers that exude a marvellous perfume.

This is a paradise for birds, and hundreds of colourful species use the river area as a migratory stopover site. The spur-winged plover is a permanent dweller. This bird wears formal attire — a black cap, white cheeks, with a black stripe running down the centre of its gray/beige body — and refuses to be ignored. Its horrific screech scares off any other bird that comes too close to it. Many magnificent birds of prey wheel around in the sky above.

The Suspension Bridge over Nachal Habesor does not lead anywhere specific, but it allows one to cross the stream and reach the opposite bank, from where magnificent panoramas of the area — with its flowing streams — can be viewed. Many enjoy the trek across the 80-meter-long suspension bridge, while others find it a little unnerving. Children in particular will either love or hate the experience.

Nachal Habesor is one of the largest and most impressive streams in Israel. It plays a strategic role since it lies on the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea region and the desert region. It begins at Mount Boker (near Sde Boker) and runs into the Mediterranean Sea in the Gaza Strip, where it is called Wadi Gaza. Joining Habesor Stream is the Be’er Sheva Stream and its tributaries, Hebron Stream, Secher Stream and Gerar Stream. The drainage basin for the Habesor Stream system is 3,650 sq. km.

Nachal Habesor forms the southern border of the Biblical “Negev,” which included the ancient cities of Arad, Be’er Sheva, Gerar and Ziklag.

Sefer Shmuel recounts the story of Dovid’s army (before he was king), some 600 strong, who stopped to rest here. They had been chasing the Amalekites, who had broken into the Israelite camp and kidnapped all the women and children and burned everything else to the ground.

By the time, the army reached the Besor brook, a third of the soldiers — 200 men — were too exhausted to go on. Therefore, Dovid set off with only the remaining 400, and still managed to subdue the Amalekite camp. (Shmuel I; 30). The “besorah” — good news — was that all the women and children were recaptured untouched. In Hebrew, the word besor means “cheery,” and a related word, besorah, means tidings, or pleasant news.

By Dovid‘s order, they all shared in the wealth of the booty captured. Dovid ruled that “everything any of us has is a gift from HaShem,” and he ordered everything divided equally, even among those who did not cross the Nachal Habesor (Shmuel I, 30:24-25).

There are two reasons mentioned why the 200 men stayed behind. One is because they were weak, the other because Dovid did not think it was necessary to take them along.

The passuk says that Dovid established a “chok u’mishpat for Yisrael until today,” that the spoils are shared even with those who did not actually fight but who only watched the keilim back in the camp. Perhaps it is because those who stayed behind, learned, and prayed for the success of the fighters deserved a share, honestly.

Today, the good besorah for the weary traveller remains the same: Linger as long as you like at Nachal Habesor; the beauty of Eretz Yisrael is Hashem’s gift to us all.

The Besor Route is near Ofakim. Take Highway 40. The Besor Route is accessed from Route 241, 5 km west of the Urim junction, and it ends at the junction of Route 222.

Park of Pitcha Dekarta (Opening of the City)©

By Vardah Littmann

I am sure you have passed here umpteen times, yet I can almost guarantee you did not realize the significance of the place. I myself only found out about it a few weeks ago

If you turn into Rechov Yeshayahu from Rechov Hanevi’im and then right into the first little lane - Rechov Prag and then go up a ramp on the left, you will find yourself in a tiny park with playground facilities of shoots and slides also called Turbat Kameria.The word turbat means burial place of respected people in Arabic. The typical turbat is a square shaped structure with a domed roof.

Dominating this small area is a Moslem tower of prayer – Nebi Akasha. Behind some trees is found another Moslem building with a dome now used by the Jerusalem municipality to store gardening supplies. The mosque was apparently built under the Ayyubid dynasty in the 12th century with additions made during the Mameluk period in the 13th century.The other structure, the turbat, where members of a prominent Moslem family who were killed battling Crusaders was built during the Mameluk period making it about seven hundred years old.

 Moslem tradition says that the mosque was founded on the burial site of combatants in Saladin’s army, though a different tradition of theirs designates the site as the place where Akasha, one of the disciples and friends of Muhammad, was buried.

But there’s an alternative explanation for this Moslem site. The Governor of Jerusalem during the British Mandate, Ronald Storrs (he was the one who passed the law that Jerusalem buildings should have a stone outer covering), was led to name nearby Rechov Hanevi’im  so because of a  slightly mixed up Moslem tradition that claims Moses, the Nazarin, and Muhammad are buried here at Nebi Akasha.

Of significance to us is the fact that when olei regel approached Yerushalayim, this was the first high spot from which they could view Har Habayis

When the English painter Holman Hunt came to Jerusalem in the mid 1850s, Rechov Hanevi’im was empty. He was in search of accurate topographical and ethnographical material for his religious artworks and was enthralled with the view from the mound of Nebi Akasha.  From here, Hunt had a clear view up to the Walls of the Old City.

This place is what the mekubalim call pitcha dekarta. Due to kabalistic calculations, they claim that Moshiach will arrive from here. Mekubalim among the students of the Vilna Gaon used to hold prayer sessions here called “Tsafnat Panayach” and “Od Yosef Chai”, in order to make the Geulah come sooner.

At first, they rented the plot from the Arab who owned it and set up a tent. Then about 120 years ago, the inhabitants of Jerusalem were elated when they managed to purchase the area. A very large tent was pitched called “Ohel Mosiach ben Yosef.”  Especially on Layl Shabbos they held prayers in this tent to mekarev the Geulah. This tent stood for seventy years.

During the World War II, mekubalim came to daven here that Eretz Yisrael be spared from the army of the German General Rommel. There is also a legend that the mekubal HaRav Yitzchak Kaduri prayed here during the Gulf War in 1991

Exiting the park form the other side will find us on Rechov Straus opposite Bazaar Straus.

Colored Sand©

As one travels down the steep, snaking road intoMachtesh Ramon, Eretz Yisrael’s (and the world’s) largest “erosion cirque” (steephead valley or box canyon), the scenery changes sides frequently. At first to your left and then to your right, then left, the mighty, panoramic, heart-shaped machtesh lies spread out before you. This winding Route 40, which plunges down from the town of Mitzpeh Ramon into the crater, is actually called Maale Atzma’ut (Independence Ascent) and was paved in 1953 in order to connect to Eilat.

On your other side, the stone walls of the crater show layers of various coloured rocks, from dark red and pistachio green to orange and strong mustard-orange, and every shade in-between. The variety of colours of the different rocks is a unique geological phenomenon of the vicinity. The rocks are of granite, basalt, flint and sandstone and create a multi-coloured view. The minerals inthe rocks are the source of this diversity of shades. In other words, iron shows up as a reddish hue, while copper causes the green colour, sulphur is the source of the yellow, and manganese and cobalt form the black-coloured rocks.

Some facts and figures: Machtesh Ramon is 40 km long by 2-10 km wide. The crater is 500 meters deep; its rim is 1,000 meters above sea level, while the floor of the crater is at an altitude of 525 meters. It is a geological standout in Israel’s Negev desert. Located at the peak of Mount Negev. Mitzpeh Ramon (Ramon Observation Point), the small town located on the northern edge of the crater, is the only Jewish settlement in the area and is found some 85 km south of the city of Be’er Sheva.

 Founded in the 1950s as a military outpost, it then became a halfway-point station for local miners and road workers. Mitzpeh Ramon has a population of around 5,500, with about 12 to 14 shuls. Its mayor is Flora Shoshan (sister of former Israeli defense minister Amir Peretz). Her husband, Sami Shoshan, was the previous mayor.

An awesome (in the literal sense of the word) view of the machtesh can be seen from a promenade at the edge of the town. The walkway starts at what is called the Mirpeset and reaches an observation spot called Har Gamal (Camel Hill) about 1,000 feet above the crater floor. It earned this name because from a distance, this high little hill looks like a camel in the middle of the desert.

During the autumn, winter and spring the weather is relatively mild and Machtesh Ramon is a wonderful place to visit. Due to its height, Mitzpeh Ramon sees some snow in the winter. The vast region has many geological attractions. The Colored Sand Park can provide you, the children, and grandchildren a good half a day of great fun, as long as it is not too hot. In any event, bring a lot of water (no less than 3 litres per person for a trip that lasts half a day, is the recommended amount), head coverings, and sunscreen.

For years, tourists would dig out colourful sand — fun for them but damaging to the delicate natural balance of the machtesh. In order to prevent such destruction and yet enable the enjoyment of sand collecting, the Nature and Parks Authority allocated an area where all the colours would be concentrated—making a spectacular, colourful array — and tourists may take the sand from this spot.

Piles of all the possible sandstone colors were gathered from various spots in the crater, and brought here for tourists to collect for souvenirs or art projects. There are at least six or seven shades of pink, and also gray, green, orange, and numerous yellow shades of sand to be collected. Plent of space is here for the children to run around nonstop and still remain within sight of their parents, but most likely the kids will be enthralled with gathering the variety of sand from the mounds surrounded by rocks. One can bring many little plastic bags in order to collect the sand and take it back home, thereby keeping the colours separate.

It is not worthwhile to create layered bottles with different coloured sand at the park, because the sand needs to settle a few days without moving. One can take the sand home and prepare the bottles there.

Instructions to make rainbow-colored, sand-filled bottles with a sandy desert landscape in them:

Use see-through plastic or glass bottles. Carefully put into the bottle each layer of different sand until the very top of the bottle. Move the bottle extremely gently to place it in a spot where will not be moved for a few days. The sand has settled when a space is seen at the top of the bottle. Fill this space with more sand and seal the bottle.

The colourful-sands site is located on the south side of Route 40 (from Mitzpeh Ramon to Eilat).

Gan HaPaamon©

At the time of the Purim story, as in every generation, our enemies have tried to annihilate us. This week on the anniversary of their deaths, we remember the kedoshim who were killed in a suicide bus bombing nine years ago as they were passing Gan Hapaamon, the Liberty Bell Park.

 Located between Yemin Moshe neighborhood and the German Colony, at the Intersection of Keren Hayesod and King David Street, the Koret Liberty Bell Park covers about one city block (nine acres), and provides green relief in the center of Jerusalem. In the summer, a lush bright green vine-covered path runs from one end of the park to the other. However, even in winter the brown stems of now bare vines are enchanting. The inviting lawns are shaded in olive trees and the whole park gives a feeling of welcome.

The park has a playground, as well as numerous climbing structures including a blue dragon. The sports area contains room for basketball, soccer, volleyball, ping-pong, roller skating, and other activities. There is a picnic area, a 1,000-seat amphitheater, a puppet theater, a music corner, and areas for exhibitions, folk dancing, and performances. The Train Theater, a children's puppet theater, is housed in an old railway carriage at the northern end of Liberty Bell Park. A word of caution: Do check if the shows are suitable for our children.

The entrance to the park is free and there is ample parking. The park main thoroughfare is wheelchair accessible and the interior pathways that in the past were too steep for the use of the disabled have been adapted for them.

In 1976, the then-Mayor, Teddy Kollek and Kollek’s Jerusalem Foundation conceived the idea of this park. They felt they needed to give a present to the United States in honor of its bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence. Funds were raised in schools throughout the country and little by little, different sections of the park were inaugurated.

They chose to call the park Liberty Bell because this is the symbol of America’s founding. They installed a miniature of the Philadelphian liberty bell (a gift from the city of Philadelphia) at the entrance to the park. As in the original bell, it’s engraved with part of the posuk from Vayikra 25:10:  "Proclaim LIBERTY (freedom) throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof."

For the past few decades, HaKafot Shniot celebrations have taken place in Gan Hapaamon. In many years the park hosts the annual book fair Shavua HaSefer HaIvri, (the National Hebrew Book Week) on the grassy lawns.  

Gan HaPaamon is a popular venue for Arab families and their offspring. I doubt that Jewish mothers could take their children to play in a similar park in Ramallah or any other Arab locality.

Tragically, the Liberty Bell Park was the site of a suicide bombing exactly nine years ago on February 22, 2004. On a Sunday during the morning rush hour, a Palestinian suicide bomber got on the 14A bus travelling to downtown Jerusalem. Hidden in his backpack was an explosive device stuffed with metal scraps to maximize casualties.

When the bus was full of people, as it passed Liberty Bell Park, the terrorist detonated the explosive device. Eight people were killed in the attack and more than 60 people were injured. Eleven of the casualties were school children.

A stone plaque bearing the names of the kedoshim was put up opposite Gan HaPaamon. The kedoshim were: Israel Ilan Avisidris, age 41, Yehuda Haim, age 48, Lior Azulai, age 18, Netanel Havshush, age 20, Rahamim Doga, age 38, Benaya Yehonatan Zuckerman, age 18, and Yaffa Ben-Shimol, age 57. May HaShem avenge their blood.

Remembering Rav Moshe Aharon Stern©

By Mrs. Rochel Solomon Gross as told to Vardah Littmann

Rav Moshe Aharon Stern (1926-1998) was a grandson of the famed tzaddik, Reb Yaakov Yosef Herman, the subject of the book All for the Boss. In his youth, Rav Moshe Aharon studied at Yeshiva Torah Vodaas. At age 18, he traveled to Eretz Yisrael and enrolled in the Kamenitz Yeshiva, where he remained and served as Mashgiach for the last 20 years of his life. His yahrzeit is this coming week on the 7^th of Adar.

 I am not a lecturer or speaker. I am just Rav Moshe Aharon Stern's younger sister, 12 years his junior, who loved him very much. I will just talk and tell stories about him, explaining who he was.

My father died thirty nine years before Rav Moshe Aharon, zatzal, was niftar. After my father passed away, Rav Moshe Aharon was my father and mentor in every way. He helped me though both the good times and the hard times as well.

If I am already speaking about him it has to be with a purpose. In Mesechet Brochos, it states that when one relates memories of a departed one, it should be to draw out from the person that was niftar, his good deeds, his middos, and the chinuch he gave us. We are supposed to copy those good things, and in that way we elevate him. This enables him to rise to heights and become a malitz yashor for us in this world. By emulating him, we raise him high in Heaven, and we strengthen our own ties with him. We grow and become part of him so that he can come down from Shamayim and act as an advocate for us.

"As Long as I Live"

When he was seven years old, he was very ill with a rheumatic heart. He then developed tuberculosis, which is highly contagious. 80 years ago there were no antibiotics or steroids to combat the illness. There was nothing to save him. The doctors gave him four months to live. They put him in a sanatorium that was three hours traveling distance away. The place was completely treife.

My mother would travel one day and my father would travel the next. This way there was someone near the child all week except for Friday and Shabbos. They would bring him food. 

My mother would get up every morning and wash negel vasser. She would then stand by the window crying and saying, "Ribono Shel Olam, if you give my son life, I will be magkdish him to Torah and kedusha as long as l live.” I was born twelve years after Rav Moshe Aharon and I always heard from my mother, “I was magkdish Moshe Aharon to Torah and kedusha as long as I live."

"As long as I Iive." How much care must one take with what one says, even for good things. My mother’s shloshim ended Thursday, and Rav Moshe Aharon was called to the upper Beis Din the next day, Friday. They must have said in Heaven, "Sixty-five years ago we relented and gave him back to his mother for “as long as she Iives.” Her shloshim - the end of a person's life - has passed, now Rav Moshe Aharon must return."

It was so sudden. He was perfectly healthy. Ten years earlier, he had had a slight heart-attack, but at the time of his passing, he was functioning fully and running a full schedule from six thirty in the morning until twelve at night. And sometimes when he returned home, he would find people waiting for him. He would sit with them, at times, till two in the morning.   

     

The Dream

When Rav Moshe Aharon was eighteen and a half years old and learning by his Rosh Yeshivah Rav Shraga Fivel Mendlovitch, where he was the top student, my mother had a dream. If you ever read All for the Boss, you know already how big my family is on dreams. And they do come true!

Well, my mother had a dream. She dreamed that Rav Moshe Aharon was marching up front in a parade. In one arm he held a sefer Torah and in the other hand he held an American flag. The sefer Torah kept getting lower and lower, as the American flag was going up higher.

Since there were no telephones to my grandfather Rav Yaakov Yosef Herman, in Eretz Yisrael, my mother sent him a telegram. "Papa, what should I do”?

Four hours later Papa sent back a wire instructing that Rav Moshe Aharon be sent to Eretz Yisrael immediately. Now this was 69 years ago; you could not just call up a travel agent, book a flight, and go. It took two weeks until you got a vaccination, and then another two weeks until you got a passport.

To top it all, you needed a visa to enter the then English-ruled Palestine. Only 40 of these where given to America a year. Thirty-four went to Shomer Hatzayir, two to Mizrachi, two to Young Israel and two to Agudah. As we belonged to the Agudah stream, my mother went with all due haste to their offices. She was told that this was after the war and the visa was needed for askanim, or a rich man that could contribute to the lands economy, or even a whole family.

Yes, they realized the importance of sending him. Yes, they knew our family well. But others had precedence and there no chance that they would send an eighteen and a half years old boy. She was being unrealistic, expecting them to give the visa to Moshe Aharon. 

My mother sent a second cable:" He is not coming - there is no visa." Four hours later, Papa sent back a wire instructing Moshe Aharon to get packed as he would soon be on the boat. So all the needed preparations of shots, passport, and hectic shopping were made. They booked a place on the ship, bought tickets, and he was all ready to go.

The boat was leaving Friday night. Thursday morning a sheepish person called up from the Agudah office inquiring if Moshe Aharon was ready to sail because the askan had gotten sick.

The Eventful Boat Ride 

So Moshe Aharon was on that boat. It was a two week trip which first took them to Portugal, then to Greece and Lebanon, and from there to Egypt and lastly to Haifa. In Lebanon, a group of Arabs got on. One Friday night as they neared Egypt, the captain, Mr. Tom Jones, heard singing. He ran out on deck to see what it was about.

A macabre sight met his eyes. The twelve Arabs were dancing with swords. He went over to the passengers and asked the meaning of this weird affair. He was told that this was standard practice by Arabs, in preparation for a massacre.

"Really?  Oooh, no siree, not on my ship." He stopped the boat and informed everyone they were going only as far as Egypt. He put the Arabs in their holds under guard. When they reached Egypt, the Captain told everyone to get off the boat.

As it was Layl Shabbos, seven people, Moshe Aharon among them, came and told the Captain that their Shabbos prohibited them to leave the ship. Tom Jones allowed them to stay, but he warned them that they were in Egypt and the place was full of thieves. Their luggage was going to be thrown on the pier and would definitely disappear.

Moshe Aharon went into his cabin and prayed,"Ribono Shel Olam, I don’t care about the new blankets and quilts they bought me and not about my new clothing. But all the money I ever saved went to buy seforim. All my seforim are going to go, Ribono Shel Olam."

But then he said to himself: Not to mechalel Shabbos is more important then books, I'll get new seforim. The seven Shabbos “keepers” davened and sang

zemiros at their meal.

In the morning the first thing the eighteen and a half years old boy did was run on deck. Maybe, maybe something remained. But there was not a speck of luggage in sight. Moshe Aharon said to himself "Gam zu Le'tovah (all is for the best).” 

After the sighting of three stars and Havdalah, they went to thank the Captain and bid him farewell. He told them to follow him. Mr. Smith led them to the guarded storeroom. He had put their entire luggage here. He said that he had been so impressed with their self sacrifice for their Sabbath day that he had protected their property. In fact it should be noted that those who had left the ship and profaned Sabbos had been robbed of all their belongings.

Tripple A's.

When Rav Moshe Aharon gave lessons to grooms, he taught them the Triple A's: Appreciation, Affections, and Attention. He said if you give these to your wife, you will have a wonderful marriage.

How do you show appreciation? Every Friday go out and buy a flower, one rose, or the nuts she likes, or maybe chocolate. Not all three, just one. One young man jumped up and said, "As avrechim how will we have money for this?”  Rav Moshe Aharon answered, "This is an investment in the future." 

Later on in life, his students would see him with a large bunch of flowers on Fridays. Fifty- one years, I can vouch for it; they never had a word between the two of them. If they had anything to say, they would sit down after the kids were in bed. He would say his side and she would say her side, and they would reach an agreement.

Tefillin

Some mornings, Rav Moshe Aharon would pray in Sha'arei Chessed. He noticed a chashuvah neighbor's tefillin straps were not fully painted and therefore not kosher. To tell the man even privately, might hurt him. So after davening, Rav Moshe Aharon went up to this man and asked to borrow his tefillin, claiming that his (Rav Moshe Aharon's) straps were posul.

Since the man had been praying in the front of the shul, he had not seen that Rav Moshe Aharon had already finished davening Shacharis at the back. He gave Rav Moshe Aharon the tefillin on condition that Rav Stern not climb up the two and a half of flights of steep steps to the man's apartment to return them. They agreed the man himself would fetch them from Rav Moshe Aharon's home.

Rav Moshe Aharon went to the tefillin manufacturer. Here he was told that it was impossible to get the straps changed by that same afternoon as they had many orders to fill. After Rav Moshe Aharon insisted he needed them urgently, the man agreed to have them ready by four, if Rav Stern would pay two and a half times the regular price for changing straps. Rav Moshe Aharon agreed and gave a check up front.

The owner of the tefillin came to pick them up. Mrs. Stern told him that Rav Moshe Aharon would only be home at nine. The man forgot to pick them up. But when he went to lay tefillin the next morning, he found them in their usual place in his home. Rav Moshe Aharon had climbed up the two and a half of flights of steep steps to the man's apartment and returned them while he was at his daily shuir.

The man unzipped the tefillin bag and on taking them out he saw the new straps. He later asked Rav Moshe Aharon why he had not told him that there was a problem with rezuot and insisted he was paying the cost of changing them. Rav Moshe Aharon took the money and explained he had not wanted to hurt him.

This same Jew came and told the sons of Rav Moshe Aharon the story as they sat shiva for their father. Only then did he learn that two and a half times the regular price for changing straps had been paid to change his. He wanted to pay the difference. But my nephews refused, saying this was one of the receipts their father had taken with him. 

His Taxi Mate

There was a young boy who every morning rode with Rav Moshe Aharon in the taxi to Kamenitz Yeshiva. One time, after two and a half years that they traveled together, the boy had high fever. That morning, Rav Moshe Aharon saw that the sixteen year old was not waiting at his regular spot for the taxi, and he ran up two flights to the boy’s home.

The boy’s mother nearly fainted and explained that she had thought that Rav Moshe Aharon would not wait for her son. Said Rav Moshe Aharon: "Two years he’s my mate in the taxi, of course I will wait for him. With a wave of a hand, you don’t dismiss two years."

The Admor MiKamenitz

The levaya was Friday and my sister stayed with me that Shabbos. On Motzeai Shabbos we called a taxi and gave the driver the address. He asked us "Are you going to the Admor MiKamenitz?” This was a new one. I had never heard my brother Moshe Aharon be referred to as an Admor before.

The taxi driver asked "What are you to him?"

"We are his sisters" 

And then he noticed the tear in our dresses and called out loudly: "'The crown of our head has fallen. What will I do now? What will I do now? For six years he used to ride with me to Kamenitz every morning at six- thirty. During the twelve minute ride I would put a kipah on my head and he would teach me Torah. Twelve minutes every day for six years. What will I do now? I guess I better start putting on a kipah and start doing the things he taught me."

Now what I am about to relate to you will seem impossible, but this is exactly what happened. As the taxi was half way up Kvish 4, it stalled and came to a dead stop. The driver got out and examined the engine. He said a wire had burned.

Now what were we going to do? It’s out of the question to stop a different taxi on the busy highway of Kvish 4, and where in the world would the man find a piece of wire to fix his car?

For some reason the driver looked over to the shoulder of the road and saw. .. the exact wire he needed. In a short time the car was repaired, and off we went. We all knew it was Rav Moshe Aharon’s zechus  that had gotten us moving again. The Admor MiKamenitz?

Whenever I attended a shuir given by my brother, he would say to me afterwards that I should take on just one thing from all the things he had said. My brother emphasized that it just doesn’t work to accept upon oneself too many things at once. It is best to add one thing on at a time, slowly and steadily adding to the “Roster” of mitzvahs and growing in avodas HaShem.

If any of you had the opportunity of participating in any of Rav Moshe Aharon’s classes, whenever you do something he advocated, please do it leilui nishmaso, thereby elevating both his soul and yourselves. May we be privileged to do so until the coming of Mashiach, b’mehaira be yamainu.      

Haminsara (The Carpentry Shop/Sawmill) in Machtesh Ramon©

A most fascinating and unique geological phenomenon is found in Machtesh Ramon, in the Negev (see last week’s column for more information on this area). To someone who has been in a carpentry shop or sawmill, it might seem that spread over the desert sand are pieces of castoff ends of sawed lumber, just like those in a sawmill.

Looking up the low hill that stands above the piles are a number of what appear to be standing logs of wood from which the chips on the ground seem to have been cut. But if you were to bend downand lift an elongated, darkened piece of the “wood,” you would find it very heavy indeed. In reality, you would be holding a piece of sandstone. On top of the hill, there are blocks of exposed sandstone shaped like symmetrical, hexagonal pillars placed in a heap, just like wooden planks in a carpenter’s shop.

The thousands of strewn “woodchips” are actually black prismatic rocks made out of the same kind of sand found on beaches. Haminsara (The Carpentry Shop/Sawmill) is one of the rare places on earth these naturally formed, rectangular and hexagonal prisms of “toasted” stones can be found, and where such a geological sight exists. (A similar phenomenon can be seen in the Meshushim [Hexagons Pool], in the Golan Heights region.)

It is claimed that these almost-identical stones were created during a volcanic eruption, when volcanic emission penetrated into a sandstone hill and melted (liquefied) the sandstone. The liquid stone then consolidated and crystallized into these long quartzite forms (quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which originates from sandstone and is created by heat and pressure).

It seems the former sandstone hill was “baked” by heat from inside the earth’s crust, which caused the sandstone to crystallize (high-temperature metamorphosis) and take on the appearance of prisms, or alternatively, woodchips. They received the dark colouring from the iron mineral deposits (manganese and cobalt) in them that corroded when they came in contact with the air.

The incredible vistas of Machtesh Ramon can be viewed from lookout points in Mitzpeh Ramon. From here the Sawmill (Haminsara) is seen as a black spot in the crater.

There is easy access to the “sawmill” site that is on the south side of Highway 40 (from Mitzpeh-Ramon to Eilat), between kilometer markers 92 and 91. After a short drive on the dirt-road, park the car and start the short ring-trail that leads on top of special lifted plates that allow walkers to tread above the quartzite prisms without damaging them.

Walk on, and follow, the platform boardwalk. This boardwalk was constructed to facilitate easy access to the top of the hill. In fact, it has a slight incline and is set up to be convenient even for individuals with mobility problems. It is made of recycled industrial plastic — compressed plastic bottles — in keeping with environmental principles. The trail is what is termed a recycling project.

The flora in the machtesh and around the minsara is typical of the warm desert areas of the Negev. Of all of Israel’s desert regions, the Ramon area has the most diverse and luxuriant flora. This can be attributed to the difference between the geography of the area and the diverse climatic conditions on the “high” Ramon Ridge vis-a-vis those on the “low” machtesh floor, which is drier and hotter than the ridge.

The vastly different weather conditions of the area during various seasons (freezing cold winters and very hot, dry summers) also plays a large role in this. For instance, the bitter winter cold sometimes delays the main flowering season to late winter and spring, when the flowers will bloom with astonishing beauty. Lovely flowers in bloom, such as tulip (tsivoni), Jacob’s rod (clumps of bluish-green, grass-like foliage bearing dense spikes of pale yellow, star-shaped flowers), and anemone (kalaniyot) are found in the spring.

The tulip derives its name from the word “thuliban,” “turban” in Persian, which it is thought to resemble. When in bloom, its vivid, deep scarlet-red colour blankets the desert’s rocky floor and can be seen from miles away. Nowadays the tulip is a popular garden plant grown world wide - the pride of Holland and the beauty of English royal and cottage garden. This celebrity in many international flower shows, whose each bulb fetched huge sums in the Tulipmania era (=/- 1620  - 1642 [In 1623 some sold for  1000Florins])  and for whom men mortgaged their homes and estates, was not known in the western world before the mid/ late 16^th century.  No western painting, pottery or textile bears its image before this time.

In 1554 Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (the builder of the wall of Jerusalem’s Old City) presented a basket of tulip bulbs to the Austrian ambassador as a gift for Emperor Ferdinand I. These bulbs were sent by a special express courier to Vienna. Some of the bulbs were given to an Austrian princess who married a Dutch nobleman. This is the saga of the proud “Dutch tulip” of which millions are grown in Holland to be exported worldwide — even reaching Israeli flower stores.

Desert shrubs, including gymnocarpus and anabasis articulate (yepukar hamidbar), are the vegetation most commonly seen on the basalt stone, as well as on the limestone and sandstone in the machtesh. The gymnocarpus sheds its leaves to conserve water during the hot weather; the anabasis can regulate its water use by drying out its green bark.

Wildlife in the region includes ibex, leopards, wolves, foxes, mice and various reptiles, while vultures nest on cliffs of the machtesh. The coroneted sand grouse, a diurnal bird, is adapted to desert living. It requires water to drink, and to quench the thirst of the fledglings, the adult males wet their neck feathers and thus fly water to their nests.