Galilee Acorn Postcard

An acorn on an oak tree in Ma'alot, Israel. Oaks are common is Israel. The Hebrew word for oak, "allon"(אלון) means strong. All three species are tall and long-lived with hard wood, though today many of the trees more closely resemble bushes as a result of frequent cutting and being chewed on by goats. When cut down oaks can put put new shoots from the stump and regrow into a, new full-sized tree. The prophet Isaiah alluded to this ability when he referred to an old oak near the gate Shallekhet in Jerusalem that was cut cut down only to put new shoots, "holy seed," (Isa. 6:13). Also Isaiah 11:1: "And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, and a twig shall grow forth out of his roots" is a continuation of this chapter. The very old and well-known famous "the oak of Abraham" in Hebron is a current example. This tree, or a predecessor, is mentioned in the Apocrypha – Jubilees and Tobit – as the tree under which Abraham received the kings. Josephus (Ant., 1:186; cf. Wars, 4:533) also speaks of it. Since the third century many Jewish and Christian pilgrims have mentioned that this tree is considered sacred. It is an evergreen of the species Quercus calliprinos, which constitutes most of the groves in the hills of Judea and Galilee.