In Parshat Ekev, Dvarim 8:7-9 we read:

For the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, grapes and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of oil, olives and honey; a land wherein you shall eat bread without scarcity, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you will mine copper.

When touring Israel, you can’t miss the fulfillment of this prophecy when seeing the beautiful brooks and springs and the seven species that you pass as you walk down the street. Each time you eat from the fruits of the land you are reminded of what a great miracle it is to have our homeland back.

Have we found precious stones in Israel? Has that part of the prophecy come true?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe told the mayor of Haifa that there are precious gems in the Haifa area. However, they are concealed in the depths of the earth and we will need to find them.

According to the Israeli business daily “Globes”, Australian Professor William Griffin, a renowned expert on the earth’s crust came to Israel last year and discovered that Israel has enough precious stones and diamonds to warrant commercial mining. He examined the activities of Shefa Yamim, the only company dealing with the exploration of diamonds and precious stones in Israel and discovered moissanite, rubies sapphires and diamonds. The company’s explorations have mainly been in the Carmel area, Emek Zevulun, The Jezreel Valley and Ramot Menashe. Last year they found a 1.7 karat, 8.26 mm ruby.

The Ramban explains a passage from the Targum Yerushalmi that states that the land will have great stones, costly stones, hewn stones with which to build houses, walls and towers, unlike the land of Egypt and many lands where people dwell in houses of clay which are not as sturdy.

When walking through Jerusalem and seeing the original Jerusalem stone homes one can understand what the Targum Yerushalmi is describing.

We are lucky to be living at a time where we can see the fulfillment of God’s prophecies of what the Land of Israel has to offer. Now we have to work on the last prophecy which is eradicating poverty to make sure that nobody in the land ever goes hungry.