Hi, my name is Miriam Green. I am a dual American-Israeli citizen living in Israel in the city of Beer Sheva, which is the capital of the Negev desert.
When Israel was founded in 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, is famously quoted as saying, “It is in the Negev that the creativity and pioneer vigor of Israel shall be tested.”
But the history of Beer Sheva begins more than 4,000 years ago when our forefather Abraham came and built an altar and a well and planted a tamarisk tree. Today there is a site call “Abraham’s Well,” which is situated around an old tamarisk tree and an ancient Byzantine well that tell the story of Abraham’s sojourn here.
Modern-day Beer Sheva was founded in 1900. In 1917, during World War I, a famous battle took place here. The Ansatz soldiers, the Australian and New Zealand army corp on horses, charged through the desert in a surprise attack against the Turkish forces and overcame the city, winning access to the wells.
The Battle of Beer Sheva was the first major battle victory for Britain in the war and is remembered as the last great cavalry charge in history. That history makes me proud of my city.
I moved to Israel to make a difference in my own life, to live a life fully Jewish in a Jewish state and to raise a family on Torah values, but I want to keep helping those who come after me, who are on their own, and I’d love to bring peace to this magnificent corner of the earth.
