A Trip to the Land of Israel in 2040

Jerusalem, our holy city, our soul’s yearning and the joy of our hope! Beautiful landscape, the joy of the entire land, if not the city of a great king (Psalm 48:1) . . . Now we cannot know how it was in the days of the poet king and his son, the wisest of all men, when silver was as plentiful as stones in Jerusalem and the cedars were like the sycamores on lowlands (1 Kings 10:27). But if it was then only as it is now, it was of the greatest beauty. Vienna, on the banks of the Danube, is a beautiful city. Paris is more beautiful. But Jerusalem is more beautiful than both of them, for who is like thee and who can be compared to thee, daughter of Zion! All the cities of the world are the handiwork of mankind, who chose one place or another by chance to build a city, and what are human deeds and stratagems. Jerusalem—God Himself built this city, and He made it supreme, and He shed His glory upon it. Divinity, the Divine Presence, the Holy Spirit—something above nature is felt in every single corner. . . . Our ancestors told us that even in the times of its decline, the times of its widowhood, the days of its destructions, this city was beautiful, like a beautiful woman draped in black and mourning. . . . And what about now, after it has come back to life, beautified and blooming like a lily! [ . . . ]

This city is a city of peace, where the Jews make peace among themselves and the nations of the world make peace with the Jews and with one another. There is no bastion and no fortress, no wall, and no cannon. Jerusalem shall grow as a city without walls (Zechariah 2:8) for there is no breaking in or charging out, and no shouting in the streets (Psalm 144:14). The different nations and faiths will dwell in peace and tranquility, and they will do neither harm nor destruction anywhere on the holy mount. [ . . . ]

Jerusalem is the center of the universe; it is the navel of the world . . . it is especially the center of the world of the Jews. In its streets you will see and meet all the members of our people from throughout the Diaspora. The institutions of higher education in Jerusalem are a center of Torah, wisdom, and knowledge for all the Diaspora. Thousands of students flock to them from all ends of the earth to hear lessons in all the branches of Torah and knowledge; the Torah shall go forth from Jerusalem as prized literature to everyone in the world.

However, the House has not yet been built, and the Western Wall still stands in ruins. This is a sign for the Jews that the day of their redemption has yet to come, and that they must wait and still wait, though it may be delayed. . . .

I spent nearly a month in Jerusalem, and all that time I couldn’t sit still: I visited museums of ancient and beautiful treasures; I visited schools, operas, concert halls; and I was honored by a reception in the home of the president, who had been serving for one year. I visited the “House of the National Council” [Yeshivat ha-va‘ad ha-leumit], the ministers who lead the nation: Mr. Joshua ben Yitsḥak, the minister of education, and Mr. Elijah Gaon, the head of the university, and the eminent Mr. Samuel ben Ḥofni, the head of the national assembly, and the poets Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun; the authors, scholars, and editorial offices of many journals. And with a heart full of joy and hope that I would return to view the charm of this Holy City, I left Jerusalem. [ . . . ]

The train station of the southern or Dead Sea railroad is south of Jerusalem, across the Kidron Valley, at the foot of the Mount of Olives. If you look at the faces of the many passengers, you will see that there is a big difference between the passengers on the Jerusalem-Shekhem line, the Jerusalem-Jaffa line, the Jerusalem-Mishmar HaYarden line, and the Jerusalem-Dead Sea line. In general, there is a big difference between those who come from the north and west of the Land of Israel, the agricultural districts, and those coming from the south, the industrial districts. There you will see healthy, fat farmers, landowners who are as sturdy as the beams of an olive press; the look of their faces shows that they know the taste of fatty meat and aged wine, are well-versed in agriculture and the planting of vineyards, and also the grazing of cattle and gavage of geese. . . . Here, in the southern station, you will see laborers working, artisans, surveyors, masons, the blacksmith and the iron-worker, miners in the hills, chemical engineers, workshops owners and the like—people whose faces attest to their work and trade. For ever since the day they discovered coal around the Dead Sea, and certainly after they built the new railroad, from the Dead Sea to Eilat (Etsion Gaver), from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea, this plain has become the center of commerce and industrial activity in Israel’s southern region. Iron is brought from the north, from the districts of Lebanon and the Carmel, and here it is made into various tools and machines in the many casting plants. With the abundant clay in the Dead Sea Valley vessels are made, which are more valuable than the white clay [i.e., porcelain] of Europe. Also, sulfur, bromide, precious stone, and many dyes and medicines are now extracted from the swamps and ponds around the Dead Sea. And this whole valley is a trove of every hidden treasure and a source of great wealth for the country. The shortage of fresh water is not felt here, for due to the vegetation and increased agriculture in the mountains all around, the many washes (wadis) have been filled with water. It is also easy to create artificial rain in these places, in this deep valley, for many vapors rise from it and condense, becoming a cloud over the whole plain. The rain fills all the wells, valleys, and washes with water; and it slightly sweetens their water, and plants, grasses, and various trees grow around them. And they made the air salubrious and purified it and increased its humidity. They also dug very deep wells and discovered water. All these things changed the place, and from a desolate wilderness it has become a blessed land, and with every step one encounters villages, colonies, cities, and many workshops: their chimneys do not cease smoking day and night. Nor does electric power weary or tire, and there is no end to the bustle. The whole way from Jerusalem to Hebron is like a single city: summer houses, woods, villages, colonies, and the mansions of the rich, for here the wealthy people of the city desire to live. And in Hebron there are many workshops for manufacturing glass, tanning skins, and creating purple dyes. The earthenware from Hebron is better and more beautiful than all the pottery in the world. For it is made crystal clear with clay from the Dead Sea. [ . . . ]

And we passed through Masada, the last fortress where the zealots bastioned themselves against the Romans. And we arrived at Ein Gedi. Ein Gedi is a large city, famous for its vineyards and very beautiful women. The people of Ein Gedi boast even today that the beautiful Shulamite, beloved of the wise king [Solomon], hailed from that city. And as I looked at the women of the city, I believed them.

From Ein Gedi I went by ship, Head of the Council [Rosh ha-va‘ad] to Biq’a, and from the Biq’a to the city of Mikhael, and from the city of Mikhael to Ashdot HaYarden.

Ashdot HaYardon is one of the largest cities in the Land of Israel. Commerce there is extensive, because of Heshbon and Ele‘alah (Numbers 32:3) and from Rabat Bene Amon (Amman) and everywhere on the other side of the Eastern Sea and Dead Sea they bring the produce of the land and various metals, and it, too, is one of the beautiful cities, merchant of the nations, and the residence of the governor of the Southern Trans-Jordan District.

Another ship that plies the Jordan River was docked at the shore, and I boarded Lovers of Zion [Ḥovevei tsiyon], and we went to Gilgal of the Jordan, and from Gilgal to Mishmar, and from Mishmar to the city of Benjamin, and from the city of Benjamin to Kohen Tsedek, and from Kohen Tsedek to Sukot, and from Sukot to Beth-Shean. And in Beth-Shean, in another ship, smaller than the first, because there is less water, to Migdal, which is on the Sea of Galilee, and we crossed the Sea of Galilee passing the cities of Neḥemia, Tiberias, Megiddo, and Migdal. And from Migdal to Mei-Merom, until Mephaath. Here ended my voyage on the Dead Sea and the Jordan River.