Ephraimite
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no.56
The Brit-Am Rose
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no.56
The Brit-Am Rose
Official Symbol of Brit-Am
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What are the chances that you are a descendant of King David? Is it certain? No, not until we find all the links, and enough historically-true evidence that can be accepted as proof. Is it possible? According to the Bible (Chronicles I-3) King David had a total of 22 sons (one died in infancy) and one daughter. Assuming each of his sons had 2 children, and figuring this for 100 generation (about 30 years per generation), we would get thousands and thousands of descendants. Even if we assumed that only two sons had descendants to the present, we would still count thousands of them (the 12th generation alone would count 2,048!). Yes, it is possible...
Water is a scarce resource in Syria as it is throughout the Middle East, but Syria is more fortunate than many other countries. Sufficient rainfall supports cultivation in an arc from the southwest, near the border with Israel and Lebanon, extending northward to the Turkish border and eastward along that border to Iraq. The other main area of cultivation, although dependent on irrigation, is along the Euphrates River and its major tributaries.
Rainfall is highest along the Mediterranean coast and on the mountains just inland; Syria's limited forestry activities are concentrated in the higher elevations of these mountains. Rainfall diminishes sharply as one moves eastward of the mountains paralleling the coast and southward from the Turkish border. The arc of cultivation from the southwest (and east of the coastal mountains) to the northeast is largely semiarid, having as annual rainfall between 300 and 600 millimeters. Areas south and east of the arc receive less than 300 millimeters of rain annually, classifying the land as arid. Grass and coarse vegetation suitable for limited grazing grow in part of this arid belt, and the rest is desert of little agricultural value.
Rainfall is concentrated between October and May. Without irrigation, cropping is finished by summer, when the climate is very hot and dry. Moreover, the amount of rainfall and its timing varies considerably from year to year, making rain-fed farming extremely risky. When rains are late or inadequate, farmers do not even plant a crop. Successive years of drought are not uncommon and cause havoc not only for farmers but for the rest of the economy. In the mid-1980s, about two-thirds of agricultural output (plant and animal production) depended on rainfall.
Extension and improvement of irrigation systems could substantially raise agricultural output. For example, in 1985, because of the expansion of irrigation systems, Syria's agricultural output rose 10 percent above the drought-plagued yield of 1984. Yields from irrigated fields have been several times higher than from rain-fed fields, and many irrigated areas could grow more than a single crop a year. Development of irrigation systems, however, is both costly and time consuming.
Syria's major irrigation potential lies in the Euphrates River valley and its two major tributaries, the Balikh and Khabur (Nahr al Khabur) rivers in the northeast portion of the country. The Euphrates is the third largest river in the Middle East (after the Nile in Egypt and the Tigris in Iraq) and its headwaters rise in Turkey, where relatively heavy rainfall and snow pack provide runoff much of the year. The river flows southeastward across the arid Syrian plateau into Iraq, where it joins the Tigris River shortly before emptying into the Persian Gulf. In addition to Syria, both Turkey and Iraq use dams on the Euphrates for hydroelectric power, water control, storage, and irrigation. In the mid-1980s, about one- half of the annual Euphrates River flow was used by the three nations.
Syrians have long used the Euphrates for irrigation, but, because the major systems were destroyed centuries ago, they make only limited use of the river's flow. In the mid-1980s, the Euphrates River accounted for over 85 percent of the country's surface water resources, but its water was used for only about two-fifths (200,000 hectares) of the land then under irrigated cultivation. In 1984, about 44 percent of irrigated land still used water from wells.
Israel is currently fighting a war for her very survival as a Jewish State. As this is being written Israel's borders are in jeopardy due to the demographic threat of being out numbered. The Arab birthrate is 4.6 double the Jewish birth rate of 2.3. It is forecasted that the Arabs will be the majority in Israel by the year 2020, less than fifteen years from now.
Israel has lost more than one and a half million Jewish children to abortion since 1948. In a country of about 5.5 million Jews this number has great demographic significance. Imagine how much stronger Israel would have been today with one million more Jews. Imagine if we could create an "Inner Aliyah" of 10 to 15 thousand Jews a year. At a cost of just $1,000 per "Oleh" Efrat is a bargain compared to other Aliyah projects. And the Israeli government wouldn't even have to pay for housing or airfare as the potential Olim are already in Israel just waiting to be born!
Good for the Mothers too.
Many women who undergo an abortion later in life regret their decision. Many of these women suffer feelings of guilt, depression, or suffer physical problems due to the abortions such as difficulty getting pregnant again. Some of these women, when they look back on their lives, wished that they had chosen to have that child. In great contrast to that, not one of the over 20,000 mothers Efrat has helped over the years regretted her decision to have her child once she sees her son or daughter. On the contrary, she is very happy with her choice and her child.
Not only Efrat directly strengthens both Israel and the Jewish People demographically but it is also spares many women of having to go through a most unpleasant procedure which is often regretted later in life, and gives them the joy of having their own child instead!
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