Dear Noah, Ari, Yonah and Rebecca,
In פרשת וארא, we read about the plague of ברד, hail. At the end of the plague, Paro asks Moshe to daven to Hashem and stop the plague. Moshe does this and HaShem answers the request: the hail, and the rain, and the sounds that had all been falling together, cease to fall.
QUESTION: Look at the verse and try to notice if there are any extra words...
NOTE: Since this Dvar Torah is written for Pesach, I'm going to organize it using a question and answer format.
(לג) וַיֵּצֵ֨א מֹשֶׁ֜ה מֵעִ֤ם פַּרְעֹה֙ אֶת־הָעִ֔יר וַיִּפְרֹ֥שׂ כַּפָּ֖יו אֶל־יקוק וַֽיַּחְדְּל֤וּ הַקֹּלוֹת֙ וְהַבָּרָ֔ד וּמָטָ֖ר לֹא־נִתַּ֥ךְ אָֽרְצָה׃
(33) Leaving Pharaoh, Moses went outside the city and spread out his hands to the LORD: the thunder and the hail ceased, and no rain came pouring down upon the earth.
QUESTION:
What do the last 3 words, לא נתך ארצה (didn't fall to the ground), add to our understanding?
Let's look at what Rashi has to say:
(לג) לא נתך. לֹא הִגִּיעַ, וְאַף אוֹתָן שֶׁהָיוּ בָּאֲוִיר לֹא הִגִּיעוּ לָאָרֶץ ....
(33) לא נתך means [RAIN] DID NOT REACH the earth (i. e. no fresh rain came down) — that rain, too, which was already in the air at the moment when Moses was praying remained there and did not reach the ground ....
SUMMARY:
Rashi explains that the precipitation stopped abruptly and completely. The 3 extra words indicate that the hailstones and accompanying rain-droplets that had fallen from the clouds but had not yet reached the earth became trapped in the atmosphere and did not fall farther. They, quite literally, entered a state of suspended animation.
QUESTION:
What is Rashi's source for this fantastical solution?
TREATMENT IN THE MIDRAH
(יז) ט״ז) ויחדלו הקולות והברד ומטר לא נתך ארצה, כיון שהתפלל משה לא ירדו עוד אבני ברד, ואותן האבנים שכבר ירדו לא הגיעו לארץ אלא היו תלויין ועומדין באויר שנאמר לא נתך ארצה, מלמד שהיו עומדין באויר,
ואימתי ירדו? בימי יהושע שנאמר ויהי בנוסם מפני ישראל הם במורד בית חורן וה׳ השליך עליהם אבנים גדולות מן השמים עד עזקה וימותו (יהושע י׳ י״א),
נמצאו תלויין באויר ארבעים ואחת שנה.
והקולות היו עומדין באויר, אימתי יצאו? בימי יהורם שנאמר וה׳ השמיע את מחנה ארם קול רכב וקול סוס (מ״ב ז׳ ו׳),
נמצאו תלויין באויר קרוב לחמש מאות שנה.
וכולן גנוזים ועומדים לימי גוג ומגוג שנאמר ונשפטתי אתו בדבר ובדם וגשם שוטף ואבני אלגביש (יחזקאל ל״ח), ואומר קול שאון מעיר קול מהיכל ה׳ קול ה׳ משלם גמול לאויביו (ישעיה ס״ו ו׳). (עי׳ תנחומא וב״ר סוף פרשת וארא וברכות נ״ד:).
(Translated by DBS)
“The sounds and the hail and the rain did not pour out upon the ground”: When Moshe davened, no additional hail fell, and those hailstones that had emerged from the clouds but had not yet reached the earth were hanging in mid-air, as the verse says, “They didn't pour onto the ground.” This teaches that they were suspended.
When did they fall? In the times of Yehoshua, as it says, “And when they were fleeing Israel down the descent of Beit Horon, then HaShem cast upon them huge stones from the sky ... and they died.” (Yehoshua 10:11)
Thus, the stones had been suspended in mid-air for 41 years.
And the sounds which were suspended in mid-air, when did they emerge? In the days of Yehoram, as it says, “And God made the sounds of chariots and horses in the camp of Aram.” (Melachim Bet 7:6)
Thus the sounds were suspended close to 500 years.
And the hail and sounds are still suspended in the air until the times of Gog and Magog, as it says, “And I will punish him with pestilence, blood, pouring rain, and hailstones.” (Yechezkel 38: 22). Further it says, “Tumult from the city, thunder from the Temple, and the sounds of HaShem will bring retribution to his enemies.” (Yeshaya 66:6)
ANSWER:
Rashi seems to be relying on this Midrash.
SUMMARY:
The Midrash writes the histories of the hailstones and the sounds that became suspended in the atmosphere at the end of the plague of ברד.
- The hailstones that were falling when the plague ended, became suspended for 41 years until the times of Yehoshua, and then HaShem used them to kill the armies of the five Amori kings who had attacked Givon.
- The sounds became suspended for nearly 500 years until the times of Yehoram, and then HaShem used them to befuddle the armies of Aram.
- In the future, the remaining hailstones and sounds will be used in the war of Gog and Magog to punish the enemies of the people.
Following are the 4 prooftexts quoted in the Midrash.
In particular, I'm going to highlight parts of the sources which talk about hail.
(יא) וַיְהִ֞י בְּנֻסָ֣ם ׀ מִפְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל הֵ֞ם בְּמוֹרַ֤ד בֵּית־חוֹרֹן֙ וַֽיקוק הִשְׁלִ֣יךְ עֲלֵיהֶם֩ אֲבָנִ֨ים גְּדֹל֧וֹת מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם עַד־עֲזֵקָ֖ה וַיָּמֻ֑תוּ רַבִּ֗ים אֲשֶׁר־מֵ֙תוּ֙ בְּאַבְנֵ֣י הַבָּרָ֔ד מֵאֲשֶׁ֥ר הָרְג֛וּ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בֶּחָֽרֶב׃ (ס)
QUESTIONS:
- What is the context?
- Does the verse tell us what the stones were made of?
- Where did the stones come from?
- Are there any extra words (or parts of words)?
(יח) וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא בְּי֨וֹם בּ֥וֹא גוֹג֙ עַל־אַדְמַ֣ת יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל נְאֻ֖ם אדושם יקוק תַּעֲלֶ֥ה חֲמָתִ֖י בְּאַפִּֽי׃ (יט) וּבְקִנְאָתִ֥י בְאֵשׁ־עֶבְרָתִ֖י דִּבַּ֑רְתִּי אִם־לֹ֣א ׀ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא יִֽהְיֶה֙ רַ֣עַשׁ גָּד֔וֹל עַ֖ל אַדְמַ֥ת יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (כ) וְרָעֲשׁ֣וּ מִפָּנַ֡י דְּגֵ֣י הַיָּם֩ וְע֨וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֜יִם וְחַיַּ֣ת הַשָּׂדֶ֗ה וְכָל־הָרֶ֙מֶשׂ֙ הָרֹמֵ֣שׂ עַל־הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה וְכֹל֙ הָֽאָדָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־פְּנֵ֣י הָאֲדָמָ֑ה וְנֶהֶרְס֣וּ הֶהָרִ֗ים וְנָֽפְלוּ֙ הַמַּדְרֵג֔וֹת וְכָל־חוֹמָ֖ה לָאָ֥רֶץ תִּפּֽוֹל׃ (כא) וְקָרָ֨אתִי עָלָ֤יו לְכָל־הָרַי֙ חֶ֔רֶב נְאֻ֖ם אדושם יקוק חֶ֥רֶב אִ֖ישׁ בְּאָחִ֥יו תִּֽהְיֶֽה׃ (כב) וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּ֥י אִתּ֖וֹ בְּדֶ֣בֶר וּבְדָ֑ם וְגֶ֣שֶׁם שׁוֹטֵף֩ וְאַבְנֵ֨י אֶלְגָּבִ֜ישׁ אֵ֣שׁ וְגָפְרִ֗ית אַמְטִ֤יר עָלָיו֙ וְעַל־אֲגַפָּ֔יו וְעַל־עַמִּ֥ים רַבִּ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר אִתּֽוֹ׃
(6) Hark, tumult from the city, Thunder from the Temple! It is the thunder of the LORD As He deals retribution to His foes.
TREATMENT IN THE TALMUD
The Mishna in Berakhot legislates place-specific blessings which one is obligated to say upon seeing particular places. The first blessing discussed is said over places where a miracle occurred at some point in the past.
מתני׳ הרואה מקום שנעשו בו נסים לישראל אומר ברוך שעשה נסים לאבותינו במקום הזה
MISHNA: One who sees a place where miracles occurred on Israel’s behalf recites: Blessed…Who performed miracles for our forefathers in this place.
SUMMARY:
The Mishna legislates that a person must make a blessing when s/he sees a location where something miraculous happened in the past.
The Gemara brings a Braita which gives specific examples of places where miracles occured, and someone visiting those places today would need to say, שעשה נסים לאבותינו במקום הזה (“Who did miracles for our ancestors in this very place”).
תנו רבנן - הרואה
מעברות הים, ומעברות הירדן, מעברות נחלי ארנון, אבני אלגביש במורד בית חורון, ואבן שבקש לזרוק עוג מלך הבשן על ישראל, ואבן שישב עליה משה בשעה שעשה יהושע מלחמה בעמלק, ואשתו של לוט, וחומת יריחו שנבלעה במקומה, על כולן צריך שיתן הודאה ושבח לפני המקום
SUMMARY:
-
The Braita enumerates places where miracles are known to have occurred.
-
Included in the list is the Morad Beit Horon where the hail rained down in the times of Yehoshua and killed the armies of the Amori kings that had attacked the city of Givon.
QUESTIONS:
-
Curiously, the Braita uses the word from Yechezkel, אלגביש, to describe those heavenly hail stones. Look back at the source from Yehoshua. Does the word אלגביש appear?
-
What is the etymology of the word, אלגביש?
The Gemara continues...
אבני אלגביש - מאי אבני אלגביש
Among the sites enumerated in the braita where one is obligated to recite a blessing in recognition of the miracles that occurred there, was the site of the hailstones of Elgavish. The Gemara asks: What are the hailstones of Elgavish?
תנא אבנים שעמדו על גב איש וירדו על גב איש
עמדו על גב איש - זה משה
- דכתיב (במדבר יב, ג) והאיש משה עניו מאד
- וכתיב (שמות ט, לג) ויחדלו הקולות והברד ומטר לא נתך ארצה
ירדו על גב איש - זה יהושע
- דכתיב (במדבר כז, יח) קח לך את יהושע בן נון איש אשר רוח בו
- וכתיב (יהושע י, יא) ויהי בנוסם מפני בני ישראל הם במורד בית חורון ויקוק השליך עליהם אבנים גדולות.
QUESTION: What linguistic term describes a word which is a blend of more than one word?
ANSWER:
Portmanteau - A portmanteau (i/pɔːrtˈmæntoʊ/, /ˌpɔːrtmænˈtoʊ/; plural portmanteaus or portmanteaux /-ˈtoʊz/) or portmanteau word is a linguistic blend of words,[1] in which parts of multiple words or their phones (sounds) are combined into a new word,[1][2][3] as in smog, coined by blending smoke and fog,[2][4] or motel, from motor and hotel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portmanteau
QUESTION:
How does the portmanteau work here?
ANSWER:
The Gemara explains that the word, אלגביש, is a portmanteau of the words,
על + גב + א+יש
"On account of the man."
SUMMARY:
- The meaning of אבני אלגביש can be found in the phrase, אבנים שעמדו על גב איש וירדו על גב איש
- Moshe was called, "Man."
- and Yeshoshua was called, "Man."
- The hailstones which became suspended because of Moshe's davening at the time of the plague of ברד ...
- ... were the same hailstones which rained down in the time of Yehoshua.
QUESTION: What does the term על גב mean?
ANSWER: Literally, "on the back of." Figuratively, to "put something on someone's back" means to give them responsibility, therefore, "on the back of" can be understood as, "on account of."
SOLVING THE ANACHRONISM IN THE GEMARA
QUESTION:
There seems to be an anachronism in the Gemara when it uses a word (אלגביש) from a later prophet, Yechezkel, to refer to the hail which fell in the times of the earlier prophet, Yehoshua. Why would it do this?
ע"ב מאי אבני אלגביש כו'. אבני אלגביש קרא הוא ביחזקאל במלחמות גוג ומגוג והכא באבנים במורד בית חורון דבימי יהושע קמיירי ואהא קפריך אמאי קרי אבנים דמורד בית חורון אבני אלגביש ומפרש דיחזקאל נמי דקרי להו אבני אלגביש הוא ע"ש זה דעמדו על גב איש וירדו ע"ג איש וכ"ה בש"ר ובתנחומא ומטר לא נתך ארצה ואימתי ירדו בימי יהושע כו' והשאר עתידין לירד בימי גוג ומגוג ונראה מה שדרשו שמאותן שעמדו ע"ג איש משה ירדו בימי איש יהושע כדכתיב ביהושע ויקוק השליך עליהם אבנים גדולות וגו' וסיים בהאי קרא רבים אשר מתו מאבני הברד וגו'
שלא הוזכר כלל בתחלה שהיו שם אבני ברד וכתב אחר כך הברד בה"א הידיעה וע"כ אמרו הוא הברד שהיה כבר בימי משה ועמד על ידו עכשיו ירד בימי יהושע והשאר עתידין לירד בימי גוג ומגוג מדקרי להו שם אלגביש וק"ק שדרשו כן במלת אלגביש דגוג ומגוג ומה ידרשו במלת אלגביש דכתי' נמי ביחזקאל גבי נביאי שקר והענין מבואר כי שלוחי השם משתוקקין לעשות שליחותן לתכלית מה שנשתלחו לתת נקמת יקוק באויביו כענין שאמרו פסחי' (קיח.) בנחל קישון גרפם שנעשה ערב לים וה"נ אותן אבנים שנשתלחו בימי משה לעשות שליחותן ושוב ע"י תפלת משה בטל שליחותן לא בטלה לגמרי אלא שעמדו שם לעשות שליחותן באויבי יקוק בימי יהושע ובימי גוג ומגוג ודו"ק:
(Loosely translated by DBS)
The term Algabish is used in Yechezkel in the war of Gog and Magog. Here in the Gemara, the word Algabish is used in the passage from Yehoshua. Why is the term from Yechezkel used to refer to the incident that occured (earlier) in Yehoshua? ....
This can be explained by noting that the verse in Yehoshua first refers to "Stones," and then to, "The hailstones," (with the definite article preceding the noun) ....
We understand that those sent on a mission by HaShem crave every opportunity that they can get to complete the mission.
SUMMARY:
- The Gemara equates the hailstones that became suspended in Egypt with the hailstones in the war in Yehoshua because of the use of the definite article ("אבני הברד", "The hailstones") in Yehoshua 10:11.
- Further, the Gemara explains that the word used by Yechezkel, אלגביש, is a portmanteau which harks back to Moshe and Yehoshua.
- Because the portmanteau is used to describe the hailstones which will fall during the war of Gog and Magog, the Gemara concludes that those hailstones are the same ones which started falling during the times of Moshe, and (some of which) fell during the times of Yehoshua.
- The Chidushei Agadot anthropomorphizes the hailstones and ascribes a certain religious fervor to them.
For completeness, here is the one prooftext that we haven't seen yet; but, as the hour is late, I'm going to skip a full elucidation of why it's brought.
LESSONS
QUESTION:
What messages and ברכות can we extract from this Rabbinic treatment of the hailstones in the plague of ברד?
POSSIBLE ANSWERS:
-
Pay attention to detail. The Midrash noticed three words which seemed to be superfluous and then tried to find an explanation for them. My wish for you is that you should experience a sense of consistency and familiarity with your surroundings, and that you should have a hefty dose of curiosity when things seem out of whack.
-
Be creative. The Rabbinic invocation of suspended animation is fantastic and, at least in my mind, there's something very playful about it. My wish for you is that you should develop your abilities to solve problems creatively.
-
Training can take a long time. Some of the hail which fell in Mitzrayim had to wait 41 years before some of it finally reached the ground. The sounds waited nearly 500 years before they were heard again. And the rest of the hail has yet to reach the ground. My wish for you is that you should train hard and patiently for all of your challenges, and accept that you may feel successful only at some distant point in the future.
-
We are stronger when we work together. The Gemara ties the war against Aram to the fight to get out of Egypt. Thus, Yehoshua's success relied on the actions of Moshe 41 years prior. My wish for you is that you should find strong and tall shoulders to stand on, and that you should see things come to fruition that your predecessors and ancestors could only dream about.
-
There are things hidden from our view which influence our destiny. According to the Midrash, the hail and the sounds from Mitzrayim are still present in the atmosphere even if we cannot detect them. My wish for you is that you will feel God's presence in your lives, even if you can't totally understand what that means.
-
Be grateful. The halacha says that we need to make blessings when we are in certain places to express gratitude and praise for the miracles that took place there. My wish for you is that you will have much to be grateful for in your lives, and that others should thank you for the things that you will contribute to their lives.
-
Be passionate about your mission. The anthropomorphic view of the hail ascribes it the traits of impatience, zeal, and passion to complete its God given mission. My wish for you is that you should find your mission, harness your passion to it, and live to enjoy a sense of redemption.
CONCLUSION:
For those of us in the United States who are about to enjoy the seders together, I look forward to spending time learning with and from you. I am eager to watch you passionately go about your lives, overcome your challenges, successfully move on to new situations and positions, and heal patiently and completely from recent medical procedures (myself included).
For the one among us who is currently serving in צה"ל, I wish you much continued success, creativity to find the good in every person and situation, opportunities to train in the details of your craft, and that you can continue to surround yourself with commanders and friends who share your passions and sense of mission.
Finally, I wish all of us a sense of awe when we use our powers of human creativity to understand our places in Jewish history.
I love you all,
!!!חג כשר ושמח
David/Abba.
BONUS MATERIALS
QUESTION:
Why was I so motivated to come up with seven possible lessons?
HINT:
דצ"כ עד"ש באח"ב
רַבִּי יְהוּדָה הָיָה נוֹתֵן בָּהֶם סִמָּנִים: דְּצַ"ךְ עַדַ"שׁ בְּאַחַ"ב.
Rabbi Yehuda was accustomed to giving [the plagues] mnemonics: Detsakh [the Hebrew initials of the first three plagues], Adash [the Hebrew initials of the second three plagues], Beachav [the Hebrew initials of the last four plagues].
Rabeinu Bahaye nicely summarizes the midrash.
EXTRA CREDIT:
Try to notice some differences in his treatment and prooftexts, try to solve those difficulties, and then try to extract some lessons.
(לג) ומטר לא נתך ארצה. לא אמר לא ירד אלא לא נתך ללמד שאחר שירד מן השמים עמד בין השמים לארץ וכן דרשו רז"ל שעמדו בין השמים ובין הארץ מ"א שנה עד זמן יהושע, זהו שנאמר (יהושע י) ויקוק השליך עליהם אבנים גדולות מן השמים וגו', ויחזקאל הנביא אמר להם ליפול שנאמר (יחזקאל יג) ואתנה אבני אלגביש תפלנה ונקראו אבני אלגביש לפי שעמדו על גב איש זה משה שנאמר (במדבר יב) והאיש משה ולא הגיעו בארץ עד אחר זמן ולפי שאבני הברד מזהירים כמרגליות לכך נקראו כן שכן תמצא במרגליות (איוב כח) ראמות וגביש לא יזכר, והקולות ג"כ היו תלוים ואימתי ירדו בימי אלישע שנאמר (מלכים ב ז) ויקוק השמיע אל מחנה ארם קול רכב וקול סוס קול חיל גדול.
QUESTION:
What are some meanings of the word, "Hail"?
ANSWER:
Here's an article from vocabulary.com
https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/hale-hail/
hale/hail
Hale describes someone hearty and healthy. Rarr. All hail the next word! To hail is to greet enthusiastically. And when it hails, ice falls from the sky and hits those hale people on the head.
Hale means sturdy, the kind of people a certain prince wants at his masquerade party. In Edgar Allan Poe's "Masque of the Red Death," Prince Prospero invites 1,000 of his "hale and light-hearted" besties to his castle to cheat death. We know how that goes! These days the word hale often describes healthy older people, but anyone healthy can be hale, too.
Observe:
- "All these hale, silver-haired seniors, walking or jogging or cycling past the house." (New Yorker)
- "Along with physical activity, your brain needs mental stimulation to stay hale and fit." (Time)
A less common use of hale is "to drag or force slowly," as in this example:
- "She haled him into their special parlor, took his hat away from him, pulled out the most comfortable chair." (Charlotte Perkins Gilman)
Hail, on the other hand, has the "i" for "ice," but it's also a verb — raise your arm and hail a cab, hail the queen, or hail a great success. Hail means to call attention to something. Hail the following examples!
- "Beyoncé has hailed Jackson's influence in the past, saying 'Michael Jackson changed me, and helped me to become the artist I am.'" (BBC)
- "Americans have come to rely on their smartphones to help them do seemingly everything, like hailing a taxi and comparing prices of dog food." (New York Times)
Hail also means where you're from:
"Sanders hails from a neighboring state." (MSNBC)
To be hale is to be healthy. To hail is to call attention to a taxi or a king. Hail also has that "i" for ice!
QUESTION:
In light of the meanings of the word, "Hail," what does the title of this Dvar Torah mean?
ANSWER:
[audience participation]
QUESTION:
Where is the מורד בית חורון?
ANSWER:
Between Modiin and Yerushalayim, there is a place called Beit Horon.
Here's what the Encyplopedia Yehudit has to say about it
העיר בית חורון נמצאה בראש גבעה בגובה 617 מ ', כ -8 ק"מ מצפון-מערב, במורד של 300 מ' לאורך 3 ק"מ, ל"בית חורון "שעמד למרגלות ההר. ראש המדרון נקרא מעלה בית חורון, ומסתיים במרד בית חורון, והדרך הצרה ביניהם היא מעלה בית חורון או דרך בית חורון. בראש המדרון אבנים גדולות, אבני ברד שלא נמצאו בארץ, המוכרות בתלמוד (ברכות, נד) כ"אבן אלגבית ". בקשר לאבנים אלה, אנו קוראים בדברי מלחמת יהושע בחמשת המלכים של האמורי: "ויפנו מפני ישראל, הם ירדו בבית חורון, וד ', זרקו אבנים גדולות על אותם ..."
The city of Beit Horon was found at the top of a mountain 617 m high, about 8 km northwest, at a slope of 300 m, at a distance of 3 km from Lower Beit Horon which stood at the foot of the mountain. The top of the slope is called Maale Beit Horon, and ends with the Beit Horon Descent, and the narrow path between them is Ma'ale Beit Horon or Derech Beit Horon. At the top of the slope are large stones, hailstones not found in the country, which are known in the Talmud (Berachot, 54) as "Elgavish stones." In connection with these stones, we read in the words of the war of Joshua in the five kings of the Emorites: "And they were built from the face of Israel, they were down the house of Horon, and God, threw great stones upon them ...
QUESTION:
What is found on the ground in that area?
ANSWER:
Here's what I found on Hebrew Wikipedia
גבעת אבני חמשת המלכים
היא גבעה בגובה 204 מ' מעל פני הים, מדרום לעיר מודיעין-מכבים-רעות, בין העיר ליישוב מבוא חורון. על הגבעה נמצא מחשוף ייחודי של אבני צור, חלק משורת מחשופי צור הממוקמים לאורך הדופן התוחמת את קצהו הצפון-מערבי של עמק איילון[1]. ישנה השערה לפיה האבנים הגדולות, הנראות כאילו הוטלו על הגבעה מן השמיים, הם עקבות המסופר בספר יהושע, פרק י', אודות הקרב שניהלו בני ישראל עם מלכי האמורי במסגרת מלחמת מלכי הדרום, במהלכו "וַיְהִי בְּנֻסָם מִפְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, הֵם בְּמוֹרַד בֵּית חוֹרֹן וַיקוק הִשְׁלִיךְ עֲלֵיהֶם אֲבָנִים גְּדֹלוֹת מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם."
הסבר גאולוגי
מחשופי הצור אינם ייחודיים לגבעה זו, אלא מצויים לאורך עמק איילון, כולל ריכוז גדול בכפר הפלסטיני בית עור א-תחתא.
דב גינזבורג מן המכון הגאולוגי לישראל מסביר כי הגושים מונחים בשדה, בנטייה כמעט אנכית, מפוזרים בצורה בלתי רציפה על גבי קרקע חרסיתית עמוקה, באופן שניתן להסבר כעדות להתמוטטות סלעים והיסחפותם, עקב פעילות אקטיבית בקווי השבירה של בקע. גושי הצור הקשה גלשו משכבת צור קדומה עקב רעידת אדמה לאחריה סחפו שיטפונות את גושי האבן למדרגות הנמוכות יותר ולבסוף נשארו כתמי צור במרחבי השטח[2].
The hill of stones of the five kings
is a hill 204 meters above sea level, south of the city of Modi'in-Maccabim-Reut, between the city and the settlement of Mevo Horon. On the hill is a unique exposure of flint stones, part of a line of flint stones located along the boundary that delimited the northwestern tip of the Ayalon Valley [1]. There is a conjecture that the large stones, which appear to have been cast on the hill from the sky, are traces of the battle that the Israelites fought with the kings of the Amorites during the war of the kings of the south, "They cast great stones on them from heaven."
Geological explanation
The flint stones are not unique to this hill, but are located along the Ayalon Valley, including a large concentration in the Palestinian village of Beit Ur a-Tahta. Dov Ginzburg of the Israel Geological Survey explains that the masses are emplaced in the field, almost vertically, scattered without end on deep clayey soil, in a manner that can be explained as evidence of rock collapse and drifting due to active activity in the breakage lines of the fault. The hard blocks of flint slid from an early flint layer due to an earthquake, after which floods swept the stone blocks to the lower steps, and finally flint spots remained on the surface.
QUESTION:
What does flint look like?
http://www.synergyllp.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/IMG-20140224-01307.jpg
