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Israel: Something for Everyone
A land of varied climate and geography
The twelve delegates sent by Moses to scout the Promised Land confirmed that "it
does indeed flow with milk and honey" [Numbers 13:27]. They brought back
"souvenirs" in the form of enormous fruit: pomegranates and figs, and a cluster
of grapes so large that "it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them."
Moses had told them to "go up into the Negev and on into the hill country," but
aside from the mention of fortified cities and powerful inhabitants, the scouts
had nothing to say about the geography or climate of Canaan.
Later in the Torah, Moses refers to "a good land, a land with streams and
springs and lakes issuing from plain and hill; a land of wheat and barley, of
vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and of honey. a land whose
rocks are iron and from whose hills you can mine copper [Deuteronomy 8:7-9].
Again, there is no mention of the highly diversified nature of the country.
Israel actually represents an enormous range of natural habitats within a
relatively small area. Mount Hermon, at the northern tip of the country, is
covered with snow for three to five months of the year. Its alpine temperatures
and skiing center contrast sharply with the Dead Sea - the lowest point on Earth
(1,339 feet below sea level) - which enjoys popularity as a warm winter resort,
and with Eilat, at the southern tip, which has summer weather practically
year-round.
In between, there are four general topographical areas: the coastal plain -
fertile, humid and heavily populated stretches along the Mediterranean Sea; the
central highlands, including the Galilee (with its hills and mountains rising to
Mt. Meron) and the Judean Hills surrounding Jerusalem, both with a temperate
climate where snow is a rarity; the Jordan Valley, which follows the north-south
Syrian-East African rift and experiences some of Israel's hottest temperatures;
and the Negev, a vast wilderness of constantly changing landscapes that covers
about half Israel's total land surface.
Although the seasons are signaled primarily by the three Pilgrimage Festivals -
Pesah is the "Feast of Spring," Shavuot marks the start of the summer harvest,
and Sukkot signifies the "turn of the year" a the brief autumn turns to winter -
there are essentially only two climatic periods:
the rainy season and the dry. These are traditionally inaugurated with the
recitation of the Prayer for Rain on Shemini Atzeret (once the Sukkot festival,
with its outdoor celebrations, has concluded) and the Prayer for Dew, on the
first day of Pesah. While a freak rainstorm may occur in May or September, these
are exceptions to the liturgical calendar.
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