The rescue of Nes-Ya

The city of Dimona is surrounded by desert. Occasionally, sick, weak and wounded donkeys who are unable to walk long distances will wander into town searching for food and water.

The donkey is a naturally curious animal and the great wide open calls him and intrigues him, very often leading him straight into trouble.

The Bedouins who live around the city tie-up the donkeys' legs to stop them from straying far or being hit by cars on the road and causing accidents.

That is apparently what happened to this mare walked up to Dimona desperately seeking food and water. The way her legs were tied it is likely that she hurt her legs stepping into a pothole, as her movement was limited, but luckily she still managed to find her way into town.

Lior, Moshe and Ilay, 3 boys from Dimona who set out on a trip to the desert spotted the exhausted
mare with her legs tied. The boys saw that her right leg was swollen and realized she was in distress. They freed her legs and led her back toward their home, where they fed her and gave her water and then called us and told us the story.

We called Doctor Natalia Forost, the municipal vet for the city of Dimona, and asked her to check into the matter as it was reported by boys. Indeed within half an hour she arrived at the scene, accompanied by Haim Verzky, head of the city's Development Department. They verfied the boys' story about the mare and called us immediately. Doctor Natalia examined the mare's leg and said that it was badly hurt and that we should get there as soon as possible before any other teenagers try to ride her or harass her.

When we arrived and saw here, we realized it was nothing short of  a miracle. Two more days of wandering in the desert with no water and those badly injured, and tied legs, she wouldn't have survived.

Today we light the first candle of Hanukkah, and this is definitely a Hanukkah miracle, which is why we decided to call her NES-YA (a miracle from God in Hebrew). Happy Hanukkah to all of us and please make a wish tonight when you light the candle, that horses and donkeys will get a little more light in their lives as well!