Older Than Old

As we looked at 200 million year old trilobites, an Israeli F-16 flew low over the desert and dipped its wing in greeting. The pilot was a personal friend of our guide and Renaissance man, Yankele, who had arranged the fly-by before taking us into the desert.

We spent the morning traveling by jeep deep into Machtesh Ramon, one of 6 unique geological formations in the world - all in Israel. A machtesh is essentially a mountain that has been scooped out by water, having only one way for the water to flow out. Where we walked todayc looked just as it had looked at the time of the exodus from Egypt – same plants, same rocks, same weather. As we looked at the rock formations, we could clearly see the evidence of tectonic plates shifting. We learned about the uses of the various rocks – for making clay, for making arrowheads, for starting fires. We saw the plant that may have been the manna that the Jewish people ate in the desert. We saw a plant that has recently been shown to be a natural medication for hyperactive children. Yankele told us that he and others exploring a mountain 60 miles to the north had found multiple small rectangular tablets containing 10 squares and a snake on them. Could this be evidence of the passing of the 10 commandments?

One of the bi-products of scooping out a mountain is the fact that this bares the fossils of all of the plants and animals that have been trapped for millions of years. We saw museum-quality trilobites and sharks’ teeth that Yankele had found in this very location. We learned how so many of these fossils show precise conformance to the Fibonacci series and to the relationship represented by the Golden Rectangle.

One of the most amazing things we saw was an aerial photograph using infrared light. It clearly revealed something that looks exactly like the Hebrew letters for Yahweh in the rocky area where the Jews supposedly crossed into the promised land.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of our morning with Yankele was his true stories about the Israel of today. He told how his son’s army unit had befriended a Palestinian family on the West Bank, even as they had to use their home as a lookout point. He talked about the reality of being prepared to defend the county against all enemies. Every soldier, even if you doesn’t completely support the government policy, is prepared to defend Israel because its survival is at stake. Yankele conveyed his complete love for all aspects of the land that he describes so beautifully to visitors like us.

There is absolutely nothing like the fresh air of the dessert that is basking in sun and coming alive with brilliant flashes of spring color. What better preparation for Passover!