Beersheva, First Jewish City, Miraculous

Beersheva

old well photo by Yocheved Golani, https://itsmycrisisandillcryifineedto.blogspot.com/

As I wrote in A Jewish Grandmother, yesterday I went to Beersheva for an f2f with friends from all over Israel. We were given a mini-tour by a friend who kept reminding us that she's not a tour guide, although it was very clear that not only does she love her chosen city, Beersheva, she loves its history, too.

Our guide mentioned something I don't think any of else in our group had thought of before. Beersheva was the very first "Jewish city." It's the city of Abraham and Sarah, as depicted in the Bible, Tanach.

When one thinks of a spot in the middle of the desert, which is a very accurate way of describing Beersheva, having an ancient city there seems rather difficult and far-fetched. Today's modern waterworks, piping etc creates a different reality, but how did people live in the middle of the desert thousands of years ago?

Gd created the earth with hidden natural resources. The Negev Desert isn't as dry as it seems on the surface. Underneath what we know as Beersheva, there are many natural springs, bodies of water, which can be accessed. Even people in ancient times were able to access enough hidden water supplies so that they could live in Beersheva.

The accepted translation of Beersheva, באר שבע is "seven springs/wells." As I've written previously, explaining my understanding of a verse in Tefilat Chana, Hannah's Prayer, the word שבע can mean either seven 7 or satisfied/sufficient. We can interpret the name Beersheva to mean "sufficient water." The idea can be considered quite miraculous for a location smack in the middle of the desert. But remember that we're talking about the Holy Land, where miracles are the norm and a call to Gd is a "local" one, thank Gd.

Only grave in British Commonwealth ANZAC Cemetery

near Beersheva bus and train stations

All photos, except if credited differently, were taken by me.