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Nahal Sorek (lit. "Brook of Sorek"), also Soreq, is one of the largest, most important drainage basins in the Judean Hills. It is mentioned in the Book of Judges
Book of Judges

The Book of Judges is a Books of the Bible originally written in Hebrew language. It appears in the Tanakh and in the Christian Old Testament. Its title refers to its contents; it contains the history of Biblical judges , who helped rule and guide the ancient Israelites, and of their times....
 16:4 of the Bible
Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
 as the border between the ancient Philistines
Philistines

The Philistines were a ethnic group who occupied the southern coast of Canaan, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts....
 and the Tribe of Dan
Tribe of Dan

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Dan was one of the twelve Israelites.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....
 of the ancient Israelites.

Midrash
Midrash

Midrash is a Hebrew language term referring to the not exact, but comparative method of exegesis of Biblical texts, which is one of four methods cumulatively called Pardes ....
 (Numbers Rabbah 9) states that the sorek is a "fruitless tree" (the word ?? req means "empty" in Hebrew), implying a moral lesson and metaphor
Metaphor

Metaphor is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that compares two or more things without using the words "like" or "as." More generally, a metaphor describes a first subject as being or equal to a second object in some way....
 suggesting that Samson's involvement in his affair with Delilah was eventually "fruitless".






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Nahal Sorek (lit. "Brook of Sorek"), also Soreq, is one of the largest, most important drainage basins in the Judean Hills. It is mentioned in the Book of Judges
Book of Judges

The Book of Judges is a Books of the Bible originally written in Hebrew language. It appears in the Tanakh and in the Christian Old Testament. Its title refers to its contents; it contains the history of Biblical judges , who helped rule and guide the ancient Israelites, and of their times....
 16:4 of the Bible
Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
 as the border between the ancient Philistines
Philistines

The Philistines were a ethnic group who occupied the southern coast of Canaan, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts....
 and the Tribe of Dan
Tribe of Dan

According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Dan was one of the twelve Israelites.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....
 of the ancient Israelites.

Etymology

The Midrash
Midrash

Midrash is a Hebrew language term referring to the not exact, but comparative method of exegesis of Biblical texts, which is one of four methods cumulatively called Pardes ....
 (Numbers Rabbah 9) states that the sorek is a "fruitless tree" (the word ?? req means "empty" in Hebrew), implying a moral lesson and metaphor
Metaphor

Metaphor is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that compares two or more things without using the words "like" or "as." More generally, a metaphor describes a first subject as being or equal to a second object in some way....
 suggesting that Samson's involvement in his affair with Delilah was eventually "fruitless". However, another etymology suggests that "sorek" means "special vine" and refers to the grape
Grape

File:Table grapes on white.jpgA grape is the non-Climacteric #In_botany fruit that grows on the Perennial plant and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis....
s and wine
Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage often made of fermentation grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients....
s grown in the area.

History


Biblical history

Nahal Sorek was the place where Delilah
Delilah

Delilah appears only in the Hebrew Bible Book of Judges 16, where she is the "woman in the valley of Sorek" whom Samson loved, and who was his downfall....
 lived, and Samson
Samson

Samson, Shimshon or Shamshoun ????? is the third to last of the Biblical judges of the ancient Children of Israel mentioned in the Tanakh , and the Talmud....
 came to meet her for the first time. It was also the place she enticed him to tell her the secret of his strength, and where he was eventually captured by the Philistines:

Modern history

In the 19th century, Nahal Sorek served as an important waterway between the two major cities in the area, Jaffa
Jaffa

File:Jaffa StPeter church.jpgJaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world.Jaffa is located south of Tel Aviv, Israel on the Mediterranean Sea....
 and Jerusalem
Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its List of Israeli cities in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if Positions on Jerusalem East Jerusalem is included....
. Because railways at the time were reliant on water sources, several surveyors who planned the first railway in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, the Jaffa–Jerusalem line
Jaffa–Jerusalem railway

The Jaffa?Jerusalem railway, sometimes shortened to J & J or called the Tel Aviv?Jerusalem railway, is a historical rail transport between the cities Jaffa and Jerusalem, originally completed in 1892 in Ottoman Empire, and partly still used in Israel today....
, decided to use Nahal Sorek as the main route for the line.

While at that time the route was logical, when plans were made to renovate it in 2001, the digging of numerous tunnels was proposed to mainly avoid the Nahal Sorek route and shorten the line. Due in part to the opposition from the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority
Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority is a government organization that manages Israel's Nature Reserves and National Parks. The organization was founded April 1998 after the merge of the two organizations that once separately managed the nature reserves and the national parks in Israel since 1964....
, this plans was never materialized, and the old route on Nahal Sorek was refurbished complete and is still in use today.

Today

While still being adjacent to the Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv-Yafo , usually Tel Aviv, is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of cities in Israel in Israel, with an estimated population of 390,100....
–Jerusalem railway today, Nahal Sorek mainly serves as a tourist attraction. Several small water reservoirs exist along its route, notably near Tel Shahar and Yesodot
Yesodot

Yesodot is a religious moshav shitufi in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah, it falls under the jurisdiction of Nahal Sorek Regional Council....
. Waterfalls are located on several of its tributaries, including Ayanot Dekalim in Beit Shemesh, Ein Sifla on Nahal HaMe'ara, and others.

The Nahal Sorek Nature Reserve spans from the Avshalom Cave
Avshalom Cave

Avshalom Cave , also known as Soreq Cave or Stalactites Cave , is a 5,000 sq m cave in Israel, unique for its dense concentration of stalactites....
 Nature Reserve near Beit Shemesh, to moshav
Moshav

Moshav is a type of Israeli settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms settlered by the Labor Zionisms during the second aliyah ....
 Nes Harim
Nes Harim

Nes Harim is a moshav in central Israel. Located in the Judean foothills near Beit Shemesh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council....
.

See also

  • Nahal Sorek Regional Council
    Nahal Sorek Regional Council

    Nahal Sorek Regional Council is a Regional Councils in Israel in the Center District of Israel. The Seat of the council is Yad Binyamin. The council is named for the Nahal Sorek....
  • Timnah
    Timnah

    Biblical Timnah is identified with the modern archeological site of Tel Batash, in the Sorek Valley of Israel, near Kibbutz Tal Shahar.The site was first settled in the Middle Bronze Age by creating an earthen rampart that enclosed the 10 acre / 40 hectare site....
  • Zorah
    Zorah

    Zorah , perhaps "place of wasps," a town in the low country of Kingdom of Judah, afterwards given to Dan , probably the same as Zoreah A Tzora is now located nearby....