A Meeting of Continents
The Land of Israel lies at the junction of three continents - Europe, Asia and Africa - closely linked to the African continent at Sinai. This geographic location is the clue to the origin of Israel's vegetation. Plants from widely different parts of the world may be found, including ones from as far away as America, South Africa and Siberia.

Due to Israel's variegated climate, including desert, subtropical and Mediterranean regions, plants from widely differing areas of the world easily strike root in their new habitat. It is interesting to note that some fruits regarded as typically Israeli turn out to be "guests" in the country. For example, the Jaffa orange was brought to Israel from China by Portuguese traders as late as the 16th century. Among the trees, the eucalyptus and casuarina come from India.

Ancient Trees
Although Biblical descriptions of dense forests in Eretz Yisrael leave much to the imagination, the presence of tall trees that have sprung up over the devastated landscape bear witness to a once mighty primeval forest. It can be said with certainty that the northern half of Israel was once almost entirely covered with trees, some of which today are centuries old and have developed enormous crowns and massive trunks.

These lone giants were often revered by the local population, inducing the Author of the Torah to repeatedly attack the idolatrous rites connected with them.

The Trees of the Book
Oaks (alon)and terebinths (elah) are among the more common trees mentioned in the Bible in connection with historical events. Others include the tamarisk (". . . and Abraham planted a tamarisk at Beersheba. . . .") and the gourd under which sat the ungrateful prophet, Jonah (". . . and the Lord God, provided a gourd. . . .").

God had provided the weary prophet with the gourd to protect him from discomfort. But when He also caused a hot easterly wind to cause the plant to wither, Jonah says: "I would rather die than live." The Scripture then unfolds a powerful message concerning appreciation for both people and plants:

"Then the Lord said: 'You cared about the plant, which you did not work for and which you did not grow, which appeared overnight and perished overnight. And should I not care about [the people of] Nineveh. . . ?' " - Jonah, 4:10-11

Revival
With the return of the Jewish people to their homeland, great efforts were made to revive the all-but-vanished forests. Since the beginning of the resettlement movement at the end of the 19th century, more than 100 million trees have been planted. The work of afforestation is carried out by the Jewish National Fund which has played a monumental role in turning Israel once more into a land of green landscapes and colorful fruit orchards.

It could be said that these changes in Israel's landscape match the prophet's view of Nature's metamorphosis in latter days: