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Ein Prat:

A Window into our Past

Susannah
Schild

In the footsteps of
our prophets
n a quiet day, the Ein Prat
Nature Reserve is idyllic.
A cool stream, known as
O Nachal Prat, flows through
the middle of the reserve, nourishing
plentiful fig trees, wild mint, purple
flowers, and tall reeds. The sound of
rushing water gently drifts through
the air. Along the river there are mag-
ical hideaways, perfect for quiet con-
templation. Crystal pools of water are
plentiful at Ein Prat; some are tucked
away in the shade of trees while others
are framed on all sides by walls of ala-
baster rock. This little desert oasis in kohanim. Yirmiyahu lived in Anatot Yirmiyahu’s hometown in the valley
Judea is indisputably beautiful. just before the destruction of the first of Prat. Visit Nachal Prat in January,
Only a half-hour from Jerusalem, the Beit HaMikdash, and the natural terrain and you’ll see a world of pale pink and
Ein Prat Nature Reserve has its fair affected his life and prophecies. white almond blossoms growing plenti-
share of visitors. Nature seekers can In Yirmiyahu’s first prophetic vision, fully near the stream. Growing up near
enter the reserve from several spots: Hashem asks the awestruck prophet Nachal Prat, Yirmiyahu would have
at Ein Prat, Ein Maboa, Ein Kelt, and to identify a wooden rod. This rod is been familiar with the unique color and
Ein Shaharit. But despite the reserve’s neither a branch of a tree nor a stick, grain pattern of almond wood.
popularity, many people are unaware but rather a finished and refined
of the rich history of Nachal Prat, a piece of wood, a makel, a walking Between a rock and
history that illustrates our people’s stick. Yirmiyahu doesn’t hesitate. a hard place
age-old connection with the Land. He promptly identifies the rod as In another powerful prophecy,
Like many other sites in Israel, you’ll having been made from an etz shaked, Hashem asks Yirmiyahu to do some-
find several ancient ruins around an almond tree, which symbolically thing strange: “Take the belt that you
Nachal Prat. There are old aqueducts represented the fate of our people. bought, which is around your hips, and
ׂ
and Ottoman-era gates, ancient pal- ֹותֹש ֲע ַל י ִר ָב ְ ּ ד־ל ַע י ִנ ֲא ד ֵקֹ ׁש־י ִּ כ, “For I will go at once to Prat and hide it there in
aces and synagogues, and a monastery. quickly bring My word to pass” (Yirmi- a hole of rock” (Yirmiyahu 13:4). Mod-
ֹ
But Nachal Prat is also explicitly ref- yahu 1:12). The verb ד ֵק ׁש denotes speed ern-day commentators believe that the
erenced in the Tanach, most notably or haste; just as an almond tree is the Prat referred to in this verse is our very
as the stream that flows by the city of first tree to blossom in springtime, own Nachal Prat, located in the valley
Anatot (modern day Almon-Anatot), calamitous events would soon unfold. below Almon-Anatot. It’s unlikely that
where Yirmiyahu the prophet lived How did Yirmiyahu know so much Hashem sent Yirmiyahu on a meta-
and prophesied. about wood? With the exception of physical journey to the Euphrates
carpenters and woodworkers, most River (as suggested by Rambam); it is
An almond rod of us can’t identify a piece of almond far more likely that Yirmiyahu was
Anatot, an ancient Judean town located wood merely by looking at its grain. sent on a short excursion to his own
just above Nachal Prat, was a city of The answer to this mystery lies near backyard – to Nachal Prat.

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