By Israel Katz, Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

 

We were standing on a hill, looking down at the Valley of Elah, and my Rabbi started telling us the story of the battle between David and Goliath as if we were suppose to relate to it somehow. 

 

Then he pointed down and said “The valley down there, that’s where David and Goliath fought.” 

 

All of a sudden I realized the uniqueness of Israel. 

 

Where else in the world can you come, pull out a bible, and stand in the place where this exact event happened thousands of years later? 

 

It was at this point that I started to realize how special Israel was to me, and to the rest of the Jewish nation. People study history, some people even enjoy digging up history.