Congregation Ohav Sholom

Travel in Israel - The Soreq Cave

Off the Beaten Track in Israel - The Soreq Cave and the Judean Hills

by Michael Rosenbloom (spidermr@aol.com)

About 20 years ago, a beautiful tourist attraction opened to the public with much fanfare. One had to purchase tickets, months in advance, in order to gain entry to see The Soreq Cave. The attraction is a breathtaking stalagmite and stalactite cave in the foothills of the Judean Mountains.

These days, advance reservations are no longer needed and The Soreq Cave is included in most organized tour itineraries, a sign that perhaps the site is not really off the beaten track. Still, it is well worth visiting and writing about. The cave is situated about three or four miles from Beit Shemesh (as the crow flies). There used to be an unpaved road which reached the cave from the Beit Shemesh-Sha’ar HaGai road (near Kibbutz Eshtaol). Now, the cave can be reached either from the back roads of Jerusalem or from Beit Shemesh. I suggest you travel the Jerusalem back roads.

The ride through the Judean hills on way to the cave from Jerusalem is a treat. It gives you the opportunity to explore Jerusalem’s backyard. After doing so, you will no doubt come to the conclusion that the Judean hills are exquisite in their loveliness and need not take a back seat to any other area of the country, not even the Galilee, in terms of sheer beauty.

From the artist’s village of Ein Kerem on the western outskirts of Jerusalem, you drive along a road through the forests of the Judean hills. With steep ravines on one side of the road, the unlucky driver (unlucky for he cannot feast his eyes on the scenery while driving) must be extremely careful not to take his eyes off the road, lest a joyous jaunt turn into a terrible tragedy. There are places along the road to stop the car, so that not only the passengers, but the driver too can enjoy the view. Several of these parking areas have picnic benches and tables. The view is spectacular as the road winds its way past forests, kibbutzim and villages. Don’t be surprised if you see deer scampering in the hills.

The cave is magnificent. When it was first opened, it was one of the more active stalagmite and stalactite caves around the world, and may still be so today. Prior to entering the cave, a short movie in English provides an explanation of the geological history of the site. A guide fluent in the language of your choice will take you through the cave and show you the interesting formations, provide you with the relevant geological statistics as well as answer any questions you may have. Great care is taken to keep the cave in good shape. Walkways were built so that active formations would be kept active and not walked on. A cave’s active state can be felt by its moist air and seen by the mineral-rich droplets making their way down stalactites and depositing themselves onto stalagmites, in a process that has been on-going for hundreds of thousands of years. Flash photography is not permitted. The cave can be explored in an hour or less, since it is not a very large cave. Like the Ayalon Institute (July 1999), its size is actually an advantage. The cave is a world class site. Compared to other stalagmite and stalactite caves you may have seen on the east coast of the United States, the Soreq Cave is much more impressive, not in size, but in its state of activity.

Once you’ve completed your tour of The Soreq Cave, it would be an excellent opportunity to explore and study the area, near Beit Shemesh: The Burma Road, Roman mile markers, the Yemenite moshavs of Yishi and Eshtaol (and the transformation of the kibbutz and moshav in modern Israel), the Beit Gubrin caves, Tel Beit-Shemesh and on and on. But wait! These are subjects for future articles, aren’t they?

January 2000

Next article: An Evening at the Rishon LeZion Wine Cellar Nightclub

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