Palm Sunday and “Holy Week”

On Sunday, 2 April, Christians will be remembering Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

For those of you who might be looking for High-Resolution images related to the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, the Last Supper in the “Upper Room,” and the events clustered around the final week in his earthly life I will be posting some useful links in the days ahead.

To view 10 images (with commentary) of a modern procession commemorating this event Click Here.

Use the following links to find High-Resolution images related to Gethsemane, the Upper Room, a Rolling Stone Tomb, Gordon’s Calvary, the Garden Tomb, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

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New Museum at Caesarea Maritima

On a recent visit to Caesarea Maritima I had a chance to visit the recently opened museum.

This photo is of the exterior of the new museum at Caesarea Maritima

The museum is built into four of the fourteen vaults that Herod the Great built to support the platform of the temple of Augustus and Roma.  To the left (north) of the museum, reconstruction work continues—note the reconstructed staircase that leads up to where the Temple stood.

This is what the area looked like back in the 1970s.  And also Here 2000s.

Inside of the second vault is a theater where a short, 12-minute, movie on the life of Herod the Great and the construction of Caesarea Maritima is shown.

This photo is of the interior of the theater of the new museum at Caesarea Maritima.

The other three vaults contain artifacts, or replicas of artifacts from the excavations at Caesarea Maritima.

One of the displays, in the first vault, is composed of sequencing images of the layout of Caesarea Maritima at various stages in its history.

This image is of one of the rotating displays of the city of Caesarea Maritima at various periods. This image seems to depict the city in the early Byzantine Period.

To view additional images of Caesarea Click Here.

Domus Galilaeae — Near Korazin

Visitors to Israel will often stop at the Second Temple/Talmudic site of Korazin (Chorazin: Matt 11:21; Luke 10:13) where an impressive basalt synagogue has been partially reconstructed.  To the west of Korazin, on the south side of route 8277 is beautiful is a Roman Catholic retreat center known as Domus Galilaeae.  It opened in 2000 and was blessed by Pope John Paul II.  It is generally not open to visitors so I thought I would share a few of my images of the place.

View from the patio of Domus Galilaeae of Jesus teaching his disciples
In the background is the Sea of Galilee — 3 mi. distant

The main chapel of Domus Galilaeae

Library Reading Area
Inside of the beautiful deep blue plexiglass reading area
Note the desk and in the center is a scroll of scripture

To view additional images of the retreat center Click Here.

The Holiest Druze Site in Israel

On the road that leads to the top of the Arbel Cliffs, on the west side of Lake Galilee, there is a turn off that leads to the most sacred Druze site in Israel.  Today, April 26, the Druze  will celebrate the Nebi Shu’eib holiday.

View from the Nabi Shu’ayb complex looking northeast. The Arbel Cliffs and the Sea of Galilee are visible in the distance.

This site is located on the lower northeastern slope of the Horns of Hattin and commemorates Nabi Shu’ayb (=”the prophet Shu’ayb” = Jethro).   The identification of Shu’ayb with Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses is a Muslim and Druze tradition.

View of the entrance ways into the main room that houses the “tomb” of Nabi Shu’ayb.

In the picture above, note the man on the left who is putting on a gray cape that covers him from head to calf.  Of course, one removes their shoes before entering the room.  As a non-Druze I was not permitted to enter the tomb area via the main doorway, but had to enter and exit via a side door—I was escorted by a Druze elder.  I was not permitted to take pictures within the room.

View of a courtyard with a fountain that is located west of main room that houses the “tomb” of Nabi Shu’ayb. No one used the fountain while I was visiting the site.

Since 1948 this shrine has been under Druze control (= holy property [wakf]).  It was rebuilt in the late 20th century and is a place of pilgrimage for Israeli Druze.  On April 25th, the Druze community has an annual meeting (celebration) here.  Usually new Druze soldiers in the Israeli army swear loyalty to the state at this site.

This is one of 4 or 5 places where Shu’ayb is said to be buried.  The main tomb of Shu’ayb is in Jordan and there are several candidates in Sinai.

To view 9 images of this sacred site Click Here.

For a quick overview of the Druze Religion Click Here.

Yom Kippur 1973 — Did Golda Meir Know An Attack Was Coming?

Today, September 18/19 2018, is Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement)—the Jewish Fast Day when there is no work, no traffic, no TV, no radio, etc.,.  On Yom Kippur 1973, Saturday, October 6, my family and the family of Jim Monson were walking below the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament,  when we saw a few cars racing up and down the street.

Israel’s Kenesset—Parlement.

We wondered what was going on, in light of the fact that driving, especially in Jerusalem, was/is forbidden on the day.  Soon the air raid sirens went off!!   In a coördinated surprise attack, both Egypt and Syria had attacked Israel on its most sacred day (BTW it was also Ramadan!).

The Monson’s headed back to their house, and we headed back to our apartment.  When we arrived at our apartment we found our neighbors cleaning out old mattresses, bicycles, etc., from the bomb shelter.  The husband of one of our friends was stationed in one of the Israeli forts on the east side of the Suez Canal—the ones that the Egyptians overran.  But his fort was the only one not to be overrun!

How much of a surprise was the attack?  A  telegram (pre-internet age) from the head of Mossad, Zvi Zamir, to Prime Minister Golda Meir, warned, in the morning of Yom Kippur, that Egypt would attack that afternoon.

See Ynet for the telegram and English summary and commentary please see the interesting article:

Telegram exposes Mossad chief’s warnings about Yom Kippur War

We all know what happened!

The 10th Red Heifer? And Dominus Flevit?

I usually don’t following items such as this but I find it rather interesting that some Rabbis in Israel are quite excited about the birth of a perfect Red Heifer.  From an article in BreakingNews Israel “Harbinger to Messiah: Red Heifer is Born.” [ME: really?]

Red Heifers were used, along with cedar wood, hyssop, and wool or yarn, in a mixture that was used by the ancient Israelites/Judeans for ritual purification (Numbers 19).  According to Rabbinic sources 9 Red Heifers were slaughtered from the time of Moses until the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

In order for the temple to be rebuilt and sacrifices to be reinstuted, the priestly line would need to be purifed—and a RH would be needed to produce the necessary purification material.

Years ago they thought that a RH had been produced in Nebraska (USA)—but due to Israeli laws such an animal could not be imported to Israel.

Almost three years ago the Temple Institute inaugurated its Raise a Red Heifer in Israel program. Due to laws restricting the importation of live cattle into Israel, the Temple Institute imported frozen embryos of red angus, implanting them in Israeli domestic cows. The pregnant cows were raised on cattle ranches in different locations throughout the country. The cows are giving birth this summer with several calves already having been born.

One week after it’s birth, the newborn red heifer was certified by a board of rabbis as fulfilling all the Biblical requirements. The rabbis emphasized that the heifer could, at any time, acquire a blemish rendering it unsuitable. They will be inspecting the calf periodically to verify its condition.

The red heifer was the main component in the Biblically mandated process of ritual purification for impurity that results from proximity or contact with a dead body.  Because the elements needed for this ceremony have been lacking since the destruction of the Second Temple, all Jews today are considered ritually impure, thereby preventing the return of the Temple service.

The red heifer is described in the Book of Numbers.

“This is the ritual law that Hashem has commanded: Instruct B’nei Yisrael to bring you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid. Numbers 19:2

Several heifers have been found in recent years that seemed to qualify but ultimately were unsuited for the ritual. . . .

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No less stringent than the laws pertaining to the heifer are the laws pertaining to the site where the heifer is burned. Almost 30 years ago, Rabbi Yonatan Adler, who is also an archaeologist, performed an in-depth study into the textual references to the site where the red heifer was burned, publishing his results in  in the Torah journal Techumin. His calculations, based on the Holy of Holies being located where the Dome of the Rock stands today, led him to a spot where Dominus Flevit, a Catholic Church built in 1955, now stands. Archaeological surveys discovered unique characteristics of the site that corresponded to descriptions in the Talmud.

View from the Temple Mount area toward Dominus Flevit—the site of the slaying of the Red Heifer?

View from Dominus Flevit towards the Temple Mount (aka Haram esh–Sharif).

The Six Days War — Fifty Years Ago Today (June 5, 1967)

Fifty years ago today, 5 June 1967, according to the Gregorian Calendar, the Six Days War began.  At the time my wife Mary and I were students at the Institute of Holy Land Studies (now the Jerusalem University College) which then was located in a Christian Missionary Alliance building on 55 Street of the Prophets.  Much has been written about this war (see below for a great book on the subject) but I thought I would share eight pictures that I took at that time.

The spring class of 1967 at the Institute of Holy Land Studies (now “Jerusalem University College”) at 55 Street of the Prophets in then west Jerusalem.

In the center middle Gorgina “Snook” Young and behind her, to the right, Dr. G. Douglas Young (founder and visionary of the Institute of Holy Land Studies). Carl Rasmussen (red shirt on left) content provider to this site, and his wife Mary, blue dress front left.  Below and to the right of Dr. Young, Dr. Donald Dayton. Back left, Dr. Paul Ferris and below him to the right his wife Lois.

There were no “bomb shelters” in our area so we gathered in the lowest level of our three–story building.  Most of the other houses in the area were one–story tall, so the neighbors gathered in our building for protection.

The well-dressed lady with the poodle is Gorgina “Snook” Young, the wife of the founder of the IHLS, Dr. G. Douglas Young in our “shelter.”

The first night of the war the shelling was rather intense in our area.  Some plaster was falling off the walls but we were never directly hit.

Makeshift sleeping conditions in the basement.  My wife Mary is on the right side of the image.  The dresser is positioned to help prevent shattering glass from hitting the area.

Jerusalem city buses (that had transported troops who were fighting in the Old City and elsewhere). Note the blacked out headlights.

The Israel Defense Forces had called up all kinds of civilian vehicles to transport troops.

Looking down at one of the army vehicles outside our building.

During the war some of the Israeli troops rested during the daylight hours.  We offered them refreshing juice (mitz).

My wife Mary at the entrance to the YMCA in “West Jerusalem.”

The “joke” in Mary’s family is that two of her brothers served in the USA military, but Mary has been though 2 wars (yes, we were in Israel for the Yom Kippur War).

Sandbags in the windows of the hospital next to our school.

Sidelight: during the (1967) war Mary and I went to help at a hospital called Misgav Ladach.  Later, in 1977, our third son Andrew was born in that same hospital!

For a well–researched (and written) book on the war see Oren, Michael B. Six Days of War — June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.

And for a recently disclosed Israeli Go Nuclear Option see Here  (I am glad we missed this one!).

Jacob’s Well — Then and Now

Just to the northeast of the modern city of Nablus is the small suburb of Askar (New Testament Sychar).  It was in the vicinity of Sychar that Jesus met the Samaritan Woman at “Jacob’s Well” (John 4 and especially 4:12).

In 1860 the Greek Orthodox purchased the property and restored the crypt that included the famous 75 ft. deep well.  Although the foundation and walls of a church were begun in the 20th century, the church was not completed until 2007.

View of the uncompleted interior of the Greek Orthodox Church in the 1970/s. The “outhouse-looking” structures are the entrance and exit to the subterranean well.

The image below is the current beautiful interior of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Interior of the Greek Orthodox Church — 21st Century — Click on Image to Enlarge and/or Download

In the image above note the iconostasis and especially the two staircases down to the well.  Compare the current state of the church with its prior status pictured above!

View of the grotto and the well head that is located under the altar area of the Greek Orthodox Church (ca. 1934). — This picture is from the Matson Photograph Collection, Library of Congress, call number LC-M32-A[P&P].

 Tradition has it, that this is the spot where Jesus, at mid-day, met the Samaritan woman who had come to draw water (John 4).

View looking down from Mt. Gerizim, where the Samaritan Temple was built, at the Greek Orthodox Church built over the site of “Jacob’s Well” (see John 4).

 

Mysterious Bridge

Many of you have traveled across the Aijalon Valley (where the moon stood still; Joshua 10:12) and have seen the massive bridge that crosses the valley.

High Speed Railroad Bridge across the Aijalon Valley.

The folk over at Ynetnews have posted an informative article, “Travelling the tracks to connect Israel’s largest two cities,” that describes the bridges and tunnels for the high speed railroad from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  It will only take 28 minutes for the journey at speeds up to 100 miles per hour!

Aijalon Bridge Detail — Photo: Sasson Tiram

Jerusalem: Cutting Edge High Tech?!

And you (and I) thought Jerusalem was all antiquities and ultra religious people!

Well, did you know that:

Entrepreneur Magazine named Jerusalem among its top five places outside of Silicon Valley for tech startups to launch and thrive, calling Israel’s capital a ‘flourishing center for biomed, cleantech, Internet/mobile startups, accelerators, investors and supporting service providers.’

Jerusalem has 500 companies working in tech today.
7 High-tech industrial parks
500+ Startup companies
350+ Tech Events

HT  Israel 21c.