A historic moment took place in Tiveria, where the legendary Ma’ayan Mei Dekalim mentioned in Shas was re-identified. The well-known mekubal of Tiveria, Rav Dov Kook, drank from the waters of Ein Yamka, and his close talmid, Rav Yizhar Yosef Gati, mechaber of Zocher HaNishkachos, was zocheh to make the rare brocha of “Borei Mei Refuos.” This is a brocha that had not been heard for nearly two thousand years.
Chazal’s Description of the Spring
The Mishnah in Maseches Shabbos tells us: “Kol ha’ochelin ochel adam l’refuah b’Shabbos, v’chol ha’mashkin shoseh, chutz mi’Mei Dekalim.” The Gemara explains that it refers to a unique spring flowing between two dekalim in Eretz Yisroel, whose waters were a refuah for intestinal machalos. The Yerushalmi adds that the one who drinks from these waters says a special brocha: “Baruch shebara mei refuos.”
Gedolei Yisroel through the generations identified Tiveria as the place of this ma’ayan. The Aruch already in the 11th century wrote about “waters that purge” in Tiveria. Rav Shmuel Sirilio of Tzefas in the 1500s stated clearly that it was the spring between the dekalim of Tiveria. Even Yosef ben Mattisyahu (Josephus) described the “Har Barzel” near Tiveria with its palms and medicinal springs.
In more recent times, talmidei chachomim pointed to Ein Yamka, on the banks of the Kinneret, as the likely location — its waters warm, slightly salty, and long known to the locals for their healing properties.
Rav Kook’s Reaction
When the research was presented to Rav Dov Kook, who himself suffers from digestive problems, he responded with great excitement: “Zeh malei Torah! Tzarich lehavi mei ha’mayim ha’eilu!” He sent people more than once to draw water for him, instructing that they should be drunk on an empty stomach in the morning.
On one occasion, despite being in the middle of a taanis, Rav Kook tasted from the waters. At that moment, his talmid, Rav Gati, recited the ancient brocha “Borei Mei Refuos.” The moving moment was recorded and publicized.
Rav Rafael, a son-in-law of Rav Kook, testified: “Ani yachol lomar she’zeh oseh pe’ulah ba’me’ayim. The water isn’t as salty as Chamei Tiveria, but it’s saltier than the Kinneret — and fit to drink.” Another family member related that he personally saw that the waters behaved exactly as the Gemara described.
Tests of the nearby springs showed salinity levels several times higher than the regular Kinneret, which matches perfectly the description of Chazal regarding Mei Dekalim.
Rav Kook praised the sefer HaMekomos HaNedarim, which documents the rediscovery, saying: “Zeh mitzvah gedolah lechaber Yehudim l’Eretz Yisroel. V’haGaon miVilna omer, kol inyan shel Eretz Yisroel, ha’gevulos v’hamekomos, zeh gufei Torah.”
In fact, Tiveria fishermen once opposed desalination of the Kinneret because blocking Ein Yamka would harm what they themselves called the “refuah clinic for fish,” where sick fish came to heal — another eerie echo of Chazal’s words.
Researcher Yisroel Shapira, who worked on the project, expressed: “It is a zechus not only to identify an ancient ma’ayan, but to bring back to life a forgotten brocha that disappeared in galus and now has returned b’chasdei Hashem.”
Gedolei Yisroel of the previous generation also addressed this brocha. The Minchas Elazar of Munkatch held that the brocha of Borei Mei Refuos should indeed be said on healing waters. Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook zt”l likewise wrote that even though the poskim did not mention it, “Birchas ha’refuah la’olam ra’ui levarech.”
{Matzav.com Israel}
bracha leevatola?
This is what we have been missing!!! Now we are whole again