The Holy Land And Judaism

Is Israeli Society Unraveling?

2012-01-10T13:02:00.001-05:00

On balance, Israeli society is extremely healthy.

Unemployment is at record lows. At a time of global recession, the Israeli economy is growing steadily.

Israeli Jewish women have the highest fertility rate in the Western world with an average of three children per woman. Education levels have risen dramatically across the board over the past decade with dozens of private colleges opening their doors to more and more sectors of the population.

Israel's diverse Jewish population is becoming more integrated. Sephardic and Ashkenazi intermarriage has long been a norm. Secular Jews are becoming more religious. A new educational trend that received significant media attention in recent months involves secular parents who send their children to national religious schools to ensure that they receive strong educational grounding in Judaism.

And as secular Jews become more religious, both the national religious and ultra-Orthodox sectors are becoming increasingly integrated in nonreligious neighborhoods and institutions. Ultra-Orthodox conscription rates have increased seven-fold in the past four years. In 2010, 50 percent of ultra-Orthodox male high school graduates were conscripted.

The IDF assesses that by 2015, the rate of conscription will rise to 65%.

While this is still below the general conscription rate of 75% among male 18-year-olds, the rapid rise in ultra-Orthodox military service is a revolutionary development for the sector.

With military service comes entrée to the job market. The trail towards employment integration was blazed by ultra-Orthodox women. Over the past decade, ultra-Orthodox women have matriculated en masse in vocational schools that have trained them in hi-tech and other marketable professions and so enabled them to raise their families out of poverty.

These ultra-Orthodox women, who are now being followed by their IDF veteran husbands, are part of a general trend that has seen women fully integrated in almost every sector of society and the economy. The fact that women make up the senior leadership echelons in both business and government is not a fluke. Rather it is a product of the largely egalitarian nature of Israeli society.

True, as is the case everywhere, Israeli women suffer from male chauvinism. And like the rest of the world, Israel has its share of sexual abusers, rapists, and criminal and social misogynists. But imperfection does not detract from the fact that women in Israel are free, educated, empowered and advancing on all fronts.

As for the national religious community, its youth remain committed to serving as pioneers in strengthening Israel as a Jewish democracy. Not content to limit themselves to national religious communities in Judea and Samaria, more and more young national religious families are moving to poor towns and communities from Dimona to Ramle to Kiryat Shmona to strengthen their educational, economic and social underpinnings.

Modern Orthodox women are taking on expanded roles in religious councils, synagogues, religious courts and other bodies. Soldiers from the national religious sector remain overrepresented in all IDF combat units and in the officer corps.

Israel's growing social cohesion and prosperity is all the more notable as we witness neighboring states aflame with rebellion and revolution;extremist Islamist forces voted to power from Morocco to Egypt; and economic forecasts promising mass privation.

And in the Age of Obama, with cleavages between liberals and conservatives growing ever wider in America, and with the future of the European Union hanging in the balance as the euro zone teeters on the edge of an abyss, the fact that Israeli society is becoming increasingly fortified is simply extraordinary.

In light of these integrationist trends, the media circus in recent weeks that has portrayed Israeli society as frayed through and through has been startling. With women in Israel presented as underprivileged victims, national religious youth presented as terrorists and the ultra-Orthodox community presented as a gang of misogynist, violent crazies set to transform Israel - in the words of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - into another Iran, an average news consumer can be forgiven for wondering how he missed his country's demise.

What explains this sudden flood of gloom and doom stories? Certainly it is true that in a highly competitive news environment, media coverage tends to over represent marginal social forces. Sensational stories make for banner headlines. And it is at the margins of society that a reporter is most likely to find sensational stories.

So it is that when reporters wish to push a socialist agenda, they descend on urban slums and talk to people hanging out on the street doing nothing. As a rule, these stories will not feature visits to vocational training schools that are educating poor people out of poverty.

Just as poor, uneducated single mothers in Lod can be depended on to blame their troubles on an insensitive government, so groups of ultra-Orthodox extremists in Beit Shemesh, whose own communities decry them, can be trusted to treat nonreligious women poorly.

None of this is to say that we should stand by and allow poor single moms and their children to go hungry or that we should accept abuse of women by ultra-Orthodox bullies. The former is an issue for social services. The latter is an issue for law enforcement bodies. And to the extent that these institutions are failing in their missions, they should be required to improve their performance.

But just as the majority of single mothers, who are not impoverished, don't deserve to be placed in the victim column, so, too, the majority of ultra-Orthodox Israelis do not deserve to have their reputation besmirched because of the bad behavior of a small, vocal and easily provoked minority.

ALL OF this brings us to the issue at hand. Stories highlighting the deviant behaviors of marginal social forces tend to be simplistic and misleading, and to serve identifiable political forces. And so, with our national discourse suddenly dominated by stories describing the demise of Israeli democracy, women's rights and the rule of law at the hands of modern Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jews, we need to consider who benefits from the stories.

It is notable that the seam lines being opened by all of the stories, which are again, about deviations from the norm of Israel's social cohesion, all fall within the governing coalition. Stories of "Jewish terrorists" set the security hawks against the ideological hawks. They set the likes of Defense Minister Ehud Barak and his supporters against the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and their representatives in the Likud, Israel Beiteinu, Habayit Hayehudi and other coalition parties.

Stories about ultra-Orthodox misogynists make it politically costly for the Likud and Israel Beiteinu to sit in the same government as ultra-Orthodox parties such as Shas and United Torah Judaism. They also serve to weaken Shas among its non-ultra-Orthodox voters. The fact that the ultra-Orthodox bus lines were inaugurated with the support of the Kadima government in 2007 is beside the point. It is the Likud that is now being blamed for their existence.

The current media-supported outcries against the national religious and ultra-Orthodox sectors follow the pattern of last summer's social justice protests in Tel Aviv. The purpose of those protests was to discredit the government in the eyes of working class voters and young people.

The current protests also follow in the footsteps of the protests of 1998 and 1999 that brought down Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's first government. Those protests pitted his Russian immigrant coalition members against Shas. They pitted secular Israelis against his ultra-Orthodox coalition members. They alienated young voters from his leadership. They set his socialist partners against his capitalist partners.

The cleavages wrought in Netanyahu's coalition made members of his own party as well as his coalition partners fear the electoral cost of maintaining their membership in his government. And so one by one, they bolted his government until it finally fell.

Notably, many of the same forces - from the New Israel Fund to various political consultants who work for the Israeli Left to European NGOs - who were active in the protests in 1999 and in the social justice protests last summer are also playing a role in the current protests. The New Israel Fund raised NIS 200,000 in "emergency funds" to pay for buses to transport protesters to Beit Shemesh last week.

It also paid for two rallies in Jerusalem attacking religious bans on female vocalists earlier last month.

Last summer, Israel's New Left movement led by leftist political consultant Eldad Yaniv took credit for organizing the anti-free market protests. Yaniv and his colleagues were assisted in conceptualizing the protests by US Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg, who was also the architect of the social protests in 1998-99.

Indications of how the political Left has been impacted by the current wave of demonstrations are mixed. A Shvakim Panorama poll from last week, which posited the existence of a new anti-religious party led by popular television personality Yair Lapid and a new anti-capitalist Sephardic party led by former Shas leader Arye Deri, indicated that the Left as a whole has been strengthened against the Right. While Kadima would lose most of its Knesset seats to Lapid's party, it is Deri who would be the undoing of the Right.

The poll claimed that Deri, who since his release from prison has strengthened his bonafides as a secular-friendly political dove, would win seven mandates. Shas would drop from its current 11 seats to five. Deri's rise would decrease the political Right in all its various forms from its current 67-seat majority in the 120 seat Knesset to a minority of 57.

The media have trumpeted this poll as the first harbinger of spring for Israel's political Left. And certainly it provides some reason for celebration among leftist political forces. Like the protests in the late 1990s, and like last summer's anti-capitalist protests, the current batch of anti-religious campaigns serves to turn Israeli against Israeli by feeding on and inflaming sectoral envies and insecurities. And given their success, we can certainly expect them to continue.

For the good of society as a whole, we must hope that the basic health and cohesion of Israeli society that has grown so miraculously over the past decade will prevail in the current contest. We have far more that unites us than separates us. If we focus on this, there is no force either within or without our society that can defeat us.

But if we give in to the forces of contention and chaos, we risk endangering everything we hold dear.

Originally published in The Jerusalem Post.

Beware! Paypal/Craigslist/EbayClassified Scam Alert!!

2011-10-28T19:21:00.003-04:00

Craigslist - EbayClassified Scam

Paying via PayPal

I want to warn everyone of this new way to scam via "Paypal". While the real Paypal is reliable and trustworthy, there are many scammers out there trying to use Paypal's good reputation to scam others. I had someone offer to buy my most expensive item for sale on Craigslist and they wanted to pay me through paypal if I shipped it to them because they're in IL. Because I've had some successful sales this way to some out of town mamas, I sent them my paypal address. I then received a bogus Paypal confirmation of a pending payment email that looked pretty official but had some variances from real Paypal emails. It looked suspicious to me, so I answered it to Paypal's spoof@Email.com address and this is their reply:

Hi,
I have made the payment now. You will be receiving the payment confirmation message from PayPal regarding the payment. The shipping company wants $400 for pick up and delivery. So I made a total payment of $1,050. $600 for the Beautiful Dining Table, $400 for the shipping company, and $50 for whatever Western Union will be charging you to send the money to them. Please let me know as soon as you send them the money ASAP. Here is the shipping company details for you to send the $400:

NICK BEARD
1707 Honeysuckle Dr,
Mansfield, Ohio
44905
USA
Victoria
Regards..

NOTE: Nick or Marisa Beard
There is a scam which often originates from Craigslist. Names associated with this can be Nick Beard or Marisa Beard. The victim is asked to send a check to 1707 Honeysuckle Dr., Mansfield, OH. DO NOT SEND ANYTHING TO THIS ADDRESS! EVERYTHING SENT HERE WILL BE REFUSED!

I am STILL getting emails from the fraudulent person claiming they've sent me the money, but nothing has shown up in my paypal account (always open a new browser window and NEVER click on links whenever you have a suspicious email), either pending or received. This person is slick, claiming that I must ship the item first, then Paypal will "release" the money into my account.

Furthermore, if you receive any suspicious emails and refuse to send the item OR cash via Western Union (the "over paid" balance), you will then get a fake "warning message from Paypal", but don't fall in this trap:

The trick to avoiding being scammed in this way is to always make sure the money is actually in your account and if you have any doubts whatsoever, ask PayPal ensuring you have asked through the actual site and not relied on a link to paypal through an email.

Warning:

If you get email that looks like it was sent by PayPal, and it's asking you to update your details such as your name, surname, address, bank account, credit card, etc, while you see the 'text boxes' of the "form" in this email, NEVER write your details, nor reply to this email. If you'll do so, you will send your financial details to the scammer. This is NOT the way PayPal works. PayPal's team asks you to sign into your account to update such details.

This is a scam.

Paying by Cashier Check OR Money Order Scam

The most common Craigslist scam is the fake check. Many people selling top dollar items will not accept checks at all, even if they are cashier’s checks. This is something that you should consider doing yourself, once you are aware of the fake checks now being used to rip unsuspecting sellers off.

It usually starts with someone showing seemingly sincere interest in a high price item you have listed. Sometimes they may haggle with the price to appear to be a legitimate buyer, but often they will simply accept your asking price. However, they will almost always have some excuse as to why they cannot just come purchase the item directly from you.

Some may say they are on vacation or away on business, while others may just say they live in another area or another state and would like to send you a check and have the item shipped to them, or they could claim to have someone else pick the item up later.

Next, they either send you a fake check for the item that will eventually be rejected by your bank after deposit or they will request that you give them your name, address, and phone number so they can fill out a cashier’s check to you.

In the first case they are trying to get the item for free. The fake check will eventually be dishonored by your bank, leaving you with an overdrawn account, fees for INSF checks and no item. In the second case, they are not interested in your item at all. They want your personal information to use for illegal purposes. Escrow companies are now becoming a popular Craigslist scam. Many people have been using escrow services as a way of ensuring transactions dealing with larger amounts of money are safe for both the buyer and the seller. The problem is many of these little known escrow companies are owned by the scammer on one end of the transaction.

In this case, a scammer will set up the escrow account and list an expensive item on Craigslist for a very low, tempting price. When they rope in unsuspecting buyers, they instruct them to use the escrow account to ensure everything goes smooth. The victims go to the website for the scammer’s escrow account (no knowing it is owned by the seller) and put in their personal information, including bank account or credit card number. The scammer, or “seller,” then has their personal information and access to their credit card or bank account and simply disappears to use it.

In other cases, they use the excuse that their "assistant" or "secretary" overpaid you, and they trust you to send the "balance" back via Western Union. Whay they really hope is you're cashing the Cashier Check/Money Order in a cashing sevice agency (not your bank). You will get the money and send the balance to them, but when the check is rejected, the cash agency will chase you in court to get this money back into their hands.

Here is some example:

Hello,
I urgently have bring something to your notice. I just found out that my Assistant overpaid you. The payment meant for another transaction was made out in your name and sent to you. However I want to believe I wont have a problem with you on this. Once you receive the payment,
Please proceed to the bank and cash the Money order, deduct your money and send back the balance to me. So I can proceed with arrangement for pick-up. Once more, I hope I can fully trust you with this? I will await your response on this so my mind can be at rest.
Thanks

Cashier Check Example:

Craigslist Scam Sites

taking advantage of Craigslist by setting up scams.....

Another common misconception that fools users online is that they accidently mistype Craigslist.org, and end up on another site. (make sure you don’t type in craiglist.org or craigslist.com) These sites are designed to look just like Craigslist, but in reality it is another scam. However, there are hundreds of typo’s that lead people to scam sites, if you are ever in doubt; go back and type it in, or Google it to make sure you are at the correct site.

4) Familiarize yourself with the Craigslist scam involving a shipper. The buyer will say the product will be picked up by a shipper--and usually also promises to wire you more money than the item actually costs. This is the most common Craigslist trick.

Tips & Warnings:

1) Type the words "for local pick up only" and "cash only" prominently in your ad--and make no exceptions. This drives away a good share of potential scammers.

2) Never deal with anyone from Craigslist that wants to pay you more than the price you listed. Never ship to an address that has not been verified by Paypal.

3) Never deal with anyone from Craigslist that mistakenly "overpaid" you.

4) Pay attention to the email address where the message came from.

5) If you are a Craigslist buyer/seller, bookmark the page, that way you will not falsely arrive at a site that is not really Craigslist.

6) Do not ever deal with anyone on Craigslist you cannot meet face to face and who won't pay cash - follow that simple rule and you'll avoid almost all scams.

7) Anyone asking you to ship is a scam.

8) Be aware of scams involving fake checks or money orders. A good fake check or money order can pass through the bank's initial screening process--then, days later, you'll get penalized for trying to cash a counterfeit check. By then, the scammer will be long gone. This is why you want to make your transaction cash only. => If you have any doubt, contact PayPal or the company which issue the Cashier Check/Money Order. You might give them the check's serial number to find out if it's a real or fake check.

9) Delete emails from potential buyers who have lengthy sob stories or complicated explanations of why they need to pay by check or money order. Anyone who says their "secretary" will take care of the transaction because they are in a foreign country or are too busy as a famous archaeologist to make the purchase in person is most likely a fraud.

10) Don't accept Western Union or other wire transfers.

11) Never give out any personal financial information to someone who has contacted you through Craigslist.

12) Find the differences:

Fake Email Notification, pay attention for the ® symbol near the word PayPal:

Real Email Notification:

13) When you get in the email message, pay attention if there is a little symbol near the word Paypal. In this case, the symbol is ® - Here is some example: ®service@PayPal.com

14) Pay attention to the email address where you got the email from. In this case, the email address is: pp207@OfficeEmail.net - here is some example:

15) Paypal will never send you such an email, ordering you to pay via Western Union:

16) And finally, notify the Federal Trade Commission of any attempted or successful scams by calling 877-FTC-HELP.

World Jewish Population

2011-07-30T20:06:00.000-04:00

by Ner LeElef

1. OVERVIEW

The worldwide Jewish population is 13.3 million Jews. Jewish population growth worldwide is close to zero percent. From 2000 to 2001 it rose 0.3%, compared to worldwide population growth of 1.4%.

In 2001, 8.3 million Jews lived in the Diaspora and 4.9 million lived in Israel. Just about half of the world’s Jews reside in the Americas, with about 46 percent in North America. (top)

Approximately 37% of worldwide Jewry lives in Israel. Israel's Jewish population rose by 1.6% the past year, while the Diaspora population dropped by 0.5%.

Europe, including the Asian territories of the Russian Republic and Turkey, accounts for about 12 percent of the total. Fewer than 2 percent of the world’s Jews live in Africa and Oceania.

Metropolitan Tel Aviv, with 2.5 million Jews, is the world's largest Jewish city. It is followed by New York, with 1.9 million, Haifa 655,000, Los Angeles 621,000, Jerusalem 570,000, and southeast Florida 514,000.

In 2001, 8 countries had a Jewish population of 100,000 or more; another 5 countries had 50,000 or more. There is not a single Diaspora country where Jews amounted to 2.5 percent of the total population. Only 3 Diaspora countries had more than 1 percent. Gibraltar (24.0 per 1000), United States (20.1), Canada (11.9), France (8.8), Uruguay (6.7), Argentina (5.3), Hungary (5.2), and Australia (5.1) had the highest ratios.

The top twelve Jewish populations in the world are:

1. USA: 6,500,000

2. Israel: 4,950,000

3. France: 750,000

4. Russia: 650,000

5. Canada: 364,000

6. Britain: 275,000

7. Argentina: 250,000

8. Germany: 115,000

9. Ukraine: 112,000

10. Hungary: 100,000

11. Brazil: 97,500

12. South Africa: 65,000-88.000

Current Demographic Shifts

Countries with growing populations:

(Mainly due to immigration)

Germany

Canada

Australia

Hong Kong

Panama

Germany is the fastest growing community of any size due to mass emigration from USSR. The non-Russian population of Germany is quite small, about 15,000 out of approximately115,000 Jews today.

Countries with Decreasing Jewish Populations:

South Africa - now between 88,000 and 65,000, down from a peak of 120,000 or possibly more. Immigration primarily to: Sydney, Melbourne, Atlanta, Toronto, Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, Israel and to a lesser degree London, Manchester, Perth and New Zealand.

Argentina – Leaving for Mexico City, Miami, Spain and Israel. However, the vast majority of Argentineans are staying put.

Russia – Population beginning to stabilize due to a developing economy and the Israeli security situation. However, together with all CIS countries, still experiencing emigration. Largest current exodus is to Germany, followed by Israel and the USA.

Ukraine – Represents the biggest immigrant group to the USA over the last 10 years.

Mexico – Steady immigration to the States. However, replenished by immigration from other Latin American countries to Mexico. Those leaving are much wealthier than those coming, though immigration to Mexico has positively impacted on its Judaism. Most Klei Kodesh in Mexico today are from Argentina.

Projections for the Future:

One study predicted that in the next 80 years America's Jewish population would decline by one-third to 3.8 million if current fertility rates and migration patterns continue. In the same period, according to the study, the number of Jews in Israel would likely double, swelling to 10 million. The study also anticipated a severe decline in the number of Jews in the former Soviet Union. By 2080, the data suggested, the Jewish community there would be virtually non-existent.

Among the study's conclusions was that Israel would be home to the world's largest Jewish community as early as 2020, and the majority of the world's Jews by 2050. Between the years 2030 to 2040 the majority of Jews will be living in Israel rather than in the Diaspora, where communities are aging.

In 2000, 48.35% of Jewish children 14 and under lived in Israel. By 2020, that number is expected to reach 59.20%.

The study noted in particular the rapidly aging Diaspora community, saying that by the year 2080, more than 40 percent of Diaspora Jews would be 65 and older.

Ira Sheskin of the University of Miami, a principal architect of the 2000 National Jewish Population Survey, which is currently under way, called the recent projections "a great starting point for discussion." But, he added: "Think if this were the year 1900, what could we have predicted? The Holocaust? The State of Israel? The very concept" of projections "is a difficult one."

Historical Perspective:

In 1939, there were 17 million Jews in the world, and by 1945 only 11 million. While in the 13 years following the Holocaust the Jewish population grew by one million, it took another 38 years for it to grow another million. These sobering figures reflect how severely Jewish population growth has slowed down over the past 40 years. Even a fertility increase of 0.4% will add millions of Jews over the next 50 years. But this is not happening right now.

As we know, the distribution of the Jewish population now is completely different from before WW II. Europe was decimated of its Jewish population and Israel and America became the new major centers of Jewry. France, the Soviet Union and Hungary were the three Holocaust-hit countries left with reasonable populations. The war left 250,000 displaced Jews who were mainly supported by the Joint Distribution Committee until they could relocate.

But there were further changes after the war. The Moslem countries emptied out, and the world Jewish population has continued to consolidate over time in fewer countries with large urban Jewish populations over time. The main counter trend in Europe has been Germany, with a large Russian immigrant influx of over 100,000 Jews.

The Jews from Arab Moslem countries went in the main to Israel, but not always. The Algerian Jews, and also considerable numbers of Moroccans (75,000) and Tunisians (80,000), especially the more wealthy ones, went to France, doubling the French community from 300,000 to 600,000 overnight and creating a large Sephardic presence. (The Algerian Jews had French citizenship already in Algeria and had automatic rights of immigration to France.) The vitality of Orthodoxy in France today is largely a result of these immigrants, giving France a high kiruv potential to this day.

Many people do not realize how large and vital the Jewish populations of these Moslem-Arab countries were, with our historical consciousness swamped by Holocaust and pre-Holocaust literature. A number of these countries would make it to the top ten in numbers, were they to exist today. Morocco had 285,000 Jews, Iraq 140,000, Algeria 135,000, Iran 120,000 and Tunisia an estimated 105,000. Several others would be in the next ten. Libya, which was down to 20 Jews in 1974, had a population of 48,000 in 1948. Egypt had 75,000. Of these, possibly the most tragic was Iraq, for the community there had a direct lineage back to the original exile in Babylonia.

Some 150 Iraqi Jews have managed to leave the country in the past five years, leaving just 38 Jews in Baghdad, and a handful in the Kurdish-controlled northern areas of the country. There are just two or three young people left. Whereas Baghdad once had 53 active synagogues, only one remains open. Amazingly, Saddam Hussein's regime has in recent years shown reasonable tolerance toward the Jewish community, even refurbishing the tombs of Yechezkiel Hanavi and Ezra HaSofer (also considered sacred by Muslims), as well as that of Yonah.

2. The State of Orthodoxy

The present estimate for Orthodox Jews in Eretz Yisrael is between 900 thousand and one million; in North America, between 550-650 thousand; and in the rest of the world between 120-150 thousand, making for a total of between 1.67-1.8 million.

In virtually every city in the world, institutional Orthodoxy is on the rise. As an example, in 1975 there were 480 Chabad institutions worldwide. By the year 2000, there were 2,600. Or take the number of Yeshivas and Kollelim that have been established outside of North America and Israel in the last ten years. Cities that can be counted here include Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Caracas, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Moscow, Saratov, Tula, Kiev, Budapest, Berlin and Manchester amongst others.

In Russia and other former Soviet countries, Orthodoxy is the overwhelming presence. Claims by Reform in Russia are widely exaggerated, with many of the Reform communities barely existing or not at all. Orthodox shuls are the majority in Germany too, though other streams of Judaism remain well represented. (Below we will discuss Russia and Germany in greater depth.)

In South Africa, there is no Conservative, with almost no Reform to speak of. Becoming frum in South Africa is as legitimate a choice as becoming a lawyer or a doctor. Like England, Australia and many Southern towns in the USA, a good deal of the South African Orthodox are mechalelei Shabbos, but would fire the Rabbi if they caught him breaking Shabbos. South Africa has the most successful outreach movement of any country outside of Israel. Australia has the largest Lakewood Kollel in the world (Melborne), though in kiruv terms it is still waiting to take off.

South America is also dominated by the Orthodox in the main. Buenos Aires has 50 Orthodox synagogues, five Conservative, and one Reform. In Uruguay, there are 14 Orthodox synagogues and a Conservative one. There are some 15 synagogues in Venezuela, all but one considered Orthodox.

Yet, not everywhere is Orthodoxy already at the forefront. In Hungary, Orthodoxy can boast only one Orthodox shul and another two minyanim. Most Synagogues are Neolog, which as a movement is more observant than Conservative, and at least two Neolog Shuls are fully halachik. However, despite the painful tragedy of Hungarian Jewry, there is now a little kollel of locals and an initiative is underway to open a yeshiva. Alternatives to Orthodoxy remain strong in Brazil as well. Until 1930 the main religious stream was Orthodox. Today most synagogues are Conservative or Reform. However, there too the direction is definitely towards Orthodoxy.

In some countries, notably France and Argentina, there is a notable distinction between Sephardim who are quite involved with their Judaism, and Ashkenazim, who are overall more well to do and much more assimilated. In Argentina, 80% of the Jews are Ashkenazi, but 80% of the frum Jews are Sephardic. Moreover, the religious population is highly ghettoized, and in one area, Villa Crespo, there is one Shul left to service a population that may be as high as 50,000 Jews. The Israeli baal teshuva movement also attracts few Ashkenazim, though efforts by Shorashim and others are showing that this need not be the case.

Orthodoxy in Israel:

Last year, the AviChai foundation put out the results of a study it commissioned on the relationship of Israelis with Judaism in 2000. The results were in the main very encouraging. While 43% of the population described itself as non-religious, only 5% of the population described itself as anti-religious. A majority described themselves as traditional or more (35% traditional, 12% religious, 5% haredi), and even the secular population keeps quite a few Mitzvot as we shall see. The Israeli population still overwhelmingly identifies itself with their Jewish identity. 98% put up Mezuzahs, and a large majority fast on Yom Kippur, don’t eat chometz on Pesach, have a Seder and light Menorahs on Chanukah.

Yet, in a much smaller way, Israelis are beginning to mimic the trends of personalized religion we wrote about Americans in our last edition. On the one hand belief in G-d is slightly up from the 1990 survey (from 63% - 65%). Belief in reward and punishment, that the Torah is G-d given, and that we are the Chosen Nation is all up. Yet, the number of people defining themselves as traditional has dropped from 42% to 35% while the number who define themselves as non-religious has risen from 38% to 43%. This reflects a greater polarization of Israeli society, and it means that future kiruv efforts towards the secular Israeli population are likely to become more challenging.

3. Assimilation and Birthrate

Established (approximate) assimilation figures for the year 2000:

Over 70% of Jews in Russia, Ukraine and some Western countries, with small Jewish communities. (Moscow may be as high as 90%)

55% for Europe overall.

54% for South America overall.

53% for former CIS countries overall.

50-52 % among Jews of America and France.

Close to 40% among British Jews.

Over 30% among Jews in Canada and Australia.

Overview:

It is difficult to come up with exact population figures on a country by country basis, let alone city by city around the world. Figures for Russia and other CIS countries are but educated guesses. Chabad and the Jewish Agency tends to give the highest figures, although the Jewish Agency is talking about Zakaeh Aliyah (Right of Return), making no pretense that most of those are not Jewish. In addition, some countries have large numbers of missing Jews, those who do not identify with being Jewish in any way. For example, the official figures for Buenos Aires show a Jewish population of 200,000 Jews. However, all leading communal figures believe that the figure could be as much as twice that. France is given a population of 600,000 Jews. In the field, a figure of 750,000 is used. We have generally put the official figure down first, with a second ‘field’ estimate in parentheses.

Israel

On eve of 5761, (2000/01) Israel’s population reached 6.3 million. During 5760, the country's population grew by 2.5%, or 165,000, slightly less than in the previous year.

Jews and immigrants arriving under the Law of Return constituted 82% of the population, growing 2.5% to 4.95 million, a growth rate that is still high by world standards, where the average rate is 1.3%. Registered Jews were 78.57% of the total population.
There are some 200,000 non-Jewish immigrants and their families living here, of which 180,000 are Christian and 20,000 unclassified.

The Arab population reached 1.15 million, 18% of the total. This includes Moslems, Druse, and Christians and has remained constant for the past few years.
Net immigration constituted 34% of the rise in the Jewish population, compared to the previous year's 36%. Some 63,000 immigrants arrived, down from the previous year's 73,000. Almost 90% of the immigrants came from the former Soviet Union, 36% from the Russian Federation.

Israeli populations abroad:

Israelis are included in the figures for Israel and not the host country. However, this is misleading, since most Israelis are de facto permanent residents of the host country. Current figures are

US: 350,000 - 500,000

Canada: 40,000

France: 40,000

UK: 30,000

South Africa: 10,000 - 15,000

Germany: 8,000

Australia: 5,000

In 2001, the Indian embassy in Israel noted a 50% increase on applications for immigration of Israelis to India. The British embassy recorded a 25% increase and the American embassy a 10% increase. (These figures may include Israeli Arabs and West Bank Arabs.)

Demographic Balance with Israeli Arabs:

The overall fertility rate of the Moslems is 4.6%, while that of Israeli Jews is 2.6%. The 110,000 Bedouins of the Negev have the highest fertility rate, with a 5.9% growth rate. Half the Bedouins are below the age of 13. The population doubles every 12 years. Excluding the Bedouins, the Moslem growth rate is 3.2%, still way above the 2.6% of the Jews. Put differently, there are 2.6 births per Jewish woman, against 4.6 births per Moslem woman. (In 1970, there were 9 births per Moslem woman.)

Within the Jewish population, the Hareidim as well as the Ethiopians have a growth rate of 3.5%. The annual growth rate of the rest of Israeli Jews is about 0.8%, somewhat higher than the average in Western countries.

Since independence, the Arab population has risen more than sixfold, from 160,000 in 1949 to 1.1 million today.

The immigration policy of Israel also favors a demographic shift away from a Jewish population. It is generally believed that 60% of those who have made aliyah in the last ten years are not Jewish.

Total immigration to Israel has in any case fallen significantly. In 2001 it was down to 33,858 and by September of 2002 there were 25,296 immigrants. Only 13,792 came from Eastern Europe this year, meaning probably less than 6,000 Jews. (This is compared to close to 26,000 the previous year and close to 38,000 for 2000.)

There are an additional 1.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank and a further 1 million in Gaza.

Read More:
Simple to Remember

What Is Judaism?

2011-07-06T18:35:00.001-04:00

What is Judaism? What does it mean to be a Jew? Most people, both Jewish and gentile, would instinctively say that Judaism is a religion. And yet, there are militant atheists who insist that they are Jews! Is Judaism a race? If you were to say so, most Jews would think you were an antisemite! So what is Judaism?

Is Judaism a Religion?

Clearly, there is a religion called Judaism, a set of ideas about the world and the way we should live our lives that is called "Judaism." It is studied in Religious Studies courses and taught to Jewish children in Hebrew schools. See What do Jews Believe? for details. There is a lot of flexibility about certain aspects of those beliefs, and a lot of disagreement about specifics, but that flexibility is built into the organized system of belief that is Judaism.

However, many people who call themselves Jews do not believe in that religion at all! More than half of all Jews in Israel today call themselves "secular," and don't believe in G-d or any of the religious beliefs of Judaism. Half of all Jews in the United States don't belong to any synagogue. They may practice some of the rituals of Judaism and celebrate some of the holidays, but they don't think of these actions as religious activities.

The most traditional Jews and the most liberal Jews and everyone in between would agree that these secular people are still Jews, regardless of their disbelief. See Who is a Jew? Clearly, then, there is more to being Jewish than just a religion.

Are Jews a Race?

In the 1980s, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Jews are a race, at least for purposes of certain anti-discrimination laws. Their reasoning: at the time these laws were passed, people routinely spoke of the "Jewish race" or the "Italian race" as well as the "Negro race," so that is what the legislators intended to protect.

But many Jews were deeply offended by that decision, offended by any hint that Jews could be considered a race. The idea of Jews as a race brings to mind nightmarish visions of Nazi Germany, where Jews were declared to be not just a race, but an inferior race that had to be rounded up into ghettos and exterminated like vermin.

But setting aside the emotional issues, Jews are clearly not a race.

Race is a genetic distinction, and refers to people with shared ancestry and shared genetic traits. You can't change your race; it's in your DNA. I could never become black or Asian no matter how much I might want to.

Common ancestry is not required to be a Jew. Many Jews worldwide share common ancestry, as shown by genetic research; however, you can be a Jew without sharing this common ancestry, for example, by converting. Thus, although I could never become black or Asian, blacks and Asians have become Jews (Sammy Davis Jr. and Connie Chung).

Is It a Culture or Ethnic Group?

Most secular American Jews think of their Jewishness as a matter of culture or ethnicity. When they think of Jewish culture, they think of the food, of the Yiddish language, of some limited holiday observances, and of cultural values like the emphasis on education.

Those secular American Jews would probably be surprised to learn that much of what they think of as Jewish culture is really just Ashkenazic Jewish culture, the culture of Jews whose ancestors come from one part of the world. Jews have lived in many parts of the world and have developed many different traditions. As a Sephardic friend likes to remind me, Yiddish is not part of his culture, nor are bagels and lox, chopped liver, latkes, gefilte fish or matzah ball soup. His idea of Jewish cooking includes bourekas, phyllo dough pastries filled with cheese or spinach. His ancestors probably wouldn't know what to do with a dreidel.

There are certainly cultural traits and behaviors that are shared by many Jews, that make us feel more comfortable with other Jews. Jews in many parts of the world share many of those cultural aspects. However, that culture is not shared by all Jews all over the world, and people who do not share that culture are no less Jews because of it. Thus, Judaism must be something more than a culture or an ethnic group.

Are the Jews a Nation?

The traditional explanation, and the one given in the Torah, is that the Jews are a nation. The Hebrew word, believe it or not, is "goy." The Torah and the rabbis used this term not in the modern sense meaning a territorial and political entity, but in the ancient sense meaning a group of people with a common history, a common destiny, and a sense that we are all connected to each other.

Unfortunately, in modern times, the term "nation" has become too contaminated by ugly, jingoistic notions of a country obsessed with its own superiority and bent on world domination. Because of this notion of "nationhood," Jews are often falsely accused of being disloyal to their own country in favor of their loyalty to the Jewish "nation," of being more loyal to Israel than to their home country. Some have gone so far as to use this distorted interpretation of "nationhood" to prove that Jews do, or seek to, control the world. In fact, a surprising number of antisemitic websites and newsgroup postings linked to this page (in an earlier form) as proof of their antisemitic delusions that Jews are nationalistic, that Israel is a colonial power and so forth.

Because of the inaccurate connotations that have attached themselves to the term "nation," the term can no longer be used to accurately describe the Jewish people.

The Jewish People are a Family

It is clear from the discussion above that there is a certain amount of truth in the claims that it is a religion, a race, or an ethnic group, none of these descriptions is entirely adequate to describe what connects Jews to other Jews. And yet, almost all Jews feel a sense of connectedness to each other that many find hard to explain, define, or even understand. Traditionally, this interconnectedness was understood as "nationhood" or "peoplehood," but those terms have become so distorted over time that they are no longer accurate.

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz has suggested a better analogy for the Jewish people: We are a family. See the third essay in his recent book, We Jews: Who Are We and What Should We Do. But though this is a new book, it is certainly not a new concept: throughout the Bible and Jewish literature, the Jewish people are referred to as "the Children of Israel," a reference to the fact that we are all the physical or spiritual descendants of the Patriarch Jacob, who was later called Israel. In other words, we are part of his extended family.

Like a family, we don't always agree with each other. We often argue and criticize each other. We hold each other to the very highest standards, knowing that the shortcomings of any member of the family will be held against all of us. But when someone outside of the family unfairly criticizes a family member or the family as a whole, we are quick to join together in opposition to that unfair criticism.

When members of our "family" suffer or are persecuted, we all feel their pain. For example, in the 1980s, when Africa was suffering from droughts and famines, many Jews around the world learned for the first time about the Beta Israel, the Jews of Ethiopia. Their religion, race and culture are quite different from ours, and we had not even known that they existed before the famine. And yet, our hearts went out to them as our fellow Jews during this period of famine, like distant cousins we had never met, and Jews from around the world helped them to emigrate to Israel.

When a member of our "family" does something illegal, immoral or shameful, we all feel the shame, and we all feel that it reflects on us. As Jews, many of us were embarrassed by the scandals of Monica Lewinsky, Jack Abramoff and Bernie Madoff, because they are Jews and their actions reflect on us all, even though we disapprove. The Madoff scandal was all the more embarrassing, because so many of his victims were Jews and Jewish charities: a Jew robbing from our own "family"! We were shocked when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was killed by a Jew, unable to believe that one Jew would ever kill another member of the "family."

And when a member of our "family" accomplishes something significant, we all feel proud. A perfect example of Jews (even completely secular ones) delighting in the accomplishments of our fellow Jews is the perennial popularity of Adam Sandler's Chanukkah songs, listing famous people who are Jewish. We all take pride in scientists like Albert Einstein or political leaders like Joe Lieberman (we don't all agree with his politics or his religious views, but we were all proud to see him on a national ticket). And is there a Jew who doesn't know (or at least feel pride upon learning) that Sandy Koufax declined to pitch in a World Series game that fell on Yom Kippur?

Judaism101

Adolf Hitler's First Antisemitic Writing

2011-06-12T15:40:00.000-04:00

Hitler returned from a military hospital to Munich in early 1919. There he underwent a Reichswehr sponsored course of systematic political education for demobilizing soldiers that featured PanGerman nationalism, antisemitism, and antisocialism. These same themes were prominent in Bavarian politics following the repression of the Munich revolution of 191819. Because antisemitism had not played a notable part in Bavarian politics prior to the revolutionary disturbances, a Herr Adolf Gemlich was prompted to send an inquiry about the importance of the "Jewish question" to Captain Karl Mayr, the officer in charge of the Reichswehr News and Enlightenment Department in Munich. Mayr referred him to Hitler, who had distinguished himself in the abovementioned course by the vehemence of his radical nationalist and antisemitic views, and by his oratorical talents. Hitler was already feeling his way toward a political career; four days before responding to Gemlich in the letter translated below, he had paid his first visit to the German Workers' Party (eventually renamed, the National Socialist Workers' Party) as a confidential agent of the Reichswehr.

In the letter to Gemlich he appears anxious to establish his credentials as a knowledgeable and sober anti-Semite. Compared to the inflammatory massmeeting oratory that he was soon to make his specialty, Hitler's rhetoric here is quite tame, stressing the need for a "rational" and "scientific" antisemitism. Some historians have interpreted the letter's call for the "irrevocable removal [Entfernung]" of the Jews from German life as a prefiguring of the Holocaust. But it is clear from the context and from later statements that, at this point, Hitler meant segregation or expulsion rather than systematic liquidation.

The letter, Hitler's first explicitly political writing, impressed his Reichswehr superiors and he soon gained a reputation among radical rightist and socially respectable nationalist conservative groups as a man who could help inoculate the masses against revolution and whose antisemitic rhetoric could help discredit the democratic Weimar Republic. The letter may thus be seen as the launching of his political career. Source: Eberhard Jäckel (ed.), Hitler. Sämtliche Aufzeichnungen 19051924. (Stuttgart, 1980), pp. 8890. Translated by Richard S. Levy.'

Now, the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles has acquired what it believes may be the original version of the document, known as the Gemlich letter and the center bought it in cost of $150,000. In July, the center plans to put it on public view for the first time, at its Museum of Tolerance, making the letter the centerpiece of its Holocaust exhibit.

TEXT [September 16, 1919]

Dear Herr Gemlich,

The danger posed by Jewry for our people today finds expression in the undeniable aversion of wide sections of our people. The cause of this aversion is not to be found in a clear recognition of the consciously or unconsciously systematic and pernicious effect of the Jews as a totality upon our nation. Rather, it arises mostly from personal contact and from the personal impression which the individual Jew leavesalmost always an unfavorable one. For this reason, antisemitism is too easily characterized as a mere emotional phenomenon. And yet this is incorrect. Antisemitism as a political movement may not and cannot be defined by emotional impulses, but by recognition of the facts. The facts are these: First, Jewry is absolutely a race and not a religious association. Even the Jews never designate themselves as Jewish Germans, Jewish Poles, or Jewish Americans but always as German, Polish, or American Jews. Jews have never yet adopted much more than the language of the foreign nations among whom they live. A German who is forced to make use of the French language in France, Italian in Italy, Chinese in China does not thereby become a Frenchman, Italian, or Chinaman. It's the same with the Jew who lives among us and is forced to make use of the German language. He does not thereby become a German. Neither does the Mosaic faith, so important for the survival of this race, settle the question of whether someone is a Jew or nonJew. There is scarcely a race whose members belong exclusively to just one definite religion.

Through thousands of years of the closest kind of inbreeding, Jews in general have maintained their race and their peculiarities far more distinctly than many of the peoples among whom they have lived. And thus comes the fact that there lives amongst us a non German, alien race which neither wishes nor is able to sacrifice its racial character or to deny its feeling, thinking, and striving. Nevertheless, it possesses all the political rights we do. If the ethos of the Jews is revealed in the purely material realm, it is even clearer in their thinking and striving. Their dance around the golden calf is becoming a merciless struggle for all those possessions we prize most highly on earth.

The value of the individual is no longer decided by his character or by the significance of his achievements for the totality but exclusively by the size of his fortune, by his money.

The loftiness of a nation is no longer to be measured by the sum of its moral and spiritual powers, but rather by the wealth of its material possessions.

This thinking and striving after money and power, and the feelings that go along with it, serve the purposes of the Jew who is unscrupulous in the choice of methods and pitiless in their employment. In autocratically ruled states he whines for the favor of "His Majesty" and misuses it like a leech fastened upon the nations. In democracies he vies for the favor of the masses, cringes before the "majesty of the people," and recognizes only the majesty of money.

He destroys the character of princes with byzantine flattery, national pride (the strength of a people), with ridicule and shameless breeding to depravity. His method of battle is that public opinion which is never expressed in the press but which is nonetheless managed and falsified by it. His power is the power of money, which multiplies in his hands effortlessly and endlessly through interest, and which forces peoples under the most dangerous of yokes. Its golden glitter, so attractive in the beginning, conceals the ultimately tragic consequences. Everything men strive after as a higher goal, be it religion, socialism, democracy, is to the Jew only means to an end, the way to satisfy his lust for gold and domination.

In his effects and consequences he is like a racial tuberculosis of the nations.

The deduction from all this is the following: an antisemitism based on purely emotional grounds will find its ultimate expression in the form of the pogrom.[1] An antisemitism based on reason, however, must lead to systematic legal combating and elimination of the privileges of the Jews, that which distinguishes the Jews from the other aliens who live among us (an Aliens Law). The ultimate objective [of such legislation] must, however, be the irrevocable removal of the Jews in general.

For both these ends a government of national strength, not of national weakness, is necessary.

The Republic in Germany owes its birth not to the uniform national will of our people but the sly exploitation of a series of circumstances which found general expression in a deep, universal dissatisfaction. These circumstances however were independent of the form of the state and are still operative today. Indeed, more so now than before. Thus, a great portion of our people recognizes that a changed stateform cannot in itself change our situation. For that it will take a rebirth of the moral and spiritual powers of the nation.

And this rebirth cannot be initiated by a state leadership of irresponsible majorities, influenced by certain party dogmas, an irresponsible press, or internationalist phrases and slogans. [It requires] instead the ruthless installation of nationally minded leadership personalities with an inner sense of responsibility.

But these facts deny to the Republic the essential inner support of the nation's spiritual forces. And thus today's state leaders are compelled to seek support among those who draw the exclusive benefits of the new formation of German conditions, and who for this reason were the driving force behind the revolutionthe Jews. Even though (as various statements of the leading personalities reveal) today's leaders fully realized the danger of Jewry, they (seeking their own advantage) accepted the readily proffered support of the Jews and also returned the favor. And this payoff consisted not only in every possible favoring of Jewry, but above all in the hindrance of the struggle of the betrayed people against its defrauders, that is in the repression of the antisemitic movement.

Respectfully,
Adolf Hitler

NOTE

[1] Pogrom in Russian means devastation. Until recently, the term described exclusively the organized or spontaneous massacres of Jews. In Russia the worst pogroms occurred in 1881, 1903, 1905, and during the civil war following the Revolution of 1917 in areas controlled by the antiBolshevik White armies, especially the Ukraine.

Renewed Spirit for Israel

2011-06-09T16:33:00.001-04:00

Ten Commandments aim to ensure that yesterday’s slaves do not become evil masters

by Avraham Burg

On the sixth day of Sivan, in the year of the Exodus from Egypt, the former slaves gathered at the foot of the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments; ten defining commandments from God. The commandments are fascinating both in what they say and in what they choose not to mention.

The Commandments attach sanctity to holidays and history - “…who brought you out of the land of Egypt - and not to places, temples or people. Also, the Commandments indicate a normative relationship with one’s friends, surroundings and Creator, without saying anything about the relationship with government, the sovereign, or any other human authority.

Unlike many biblical narratives that are intentionally set outside of any specific historical time, for “there is no ‘early’ or ‘late’ in the Torah,” the Ten Commandments are fixed in their specific time and place: exactly forty nine days after the Exodus from Egypt at the foot of Mt. Sinai (very soon after leaving and a long while before finally reaching the Promised Land.)

Why so? Any reasonably intelligent reader grasps that those few dramatic weeks that elapsed from that fatal moment when centuries of bondage ended were hardly sufficient to negate the experiences of slavery or to counterbalance them. It is obvious that many generations have to pass in order to rectify the results of national trauma on such a scale.

It is equally obvious that, less than two months after the bondage of our ancestors in Egypt ended unexpectedly and miraculously, they could not have been expected to understand, assimilate or apply those absolute values of freedom expressed in the declaration of independence to which they pledged allegiance at Mt. Sinai.

Nevertheless, the timing is of immense importance for creating the foundations of values which would become the underpinnings for Jewish culture throughout the ages. At the time, the covenant was contracted between God on the giving end and the people on the receiving end; eventually, it became a contract of basic social existence, for controlling our sometimes animal instincts, overcoming desire, and subjugating power and force.

When we in modern day Israel talk about the chances of reaching an agreed constitution, the discussion nearly always peters out in a collective sigh of “oh, well, too bad.” Too bad that Ben-Gurion failed to draft a constitution back in 1948. Things that are feasible upon the establishment of a state often become impossible over the intricate course of life.

This was understood quite well by God and Moses, who therefore proceeded to articulate the first stage of the constitution at the very first opportune moment. The principles underlying the Ten Commandments, along with the way in which they were delivered, make them one of the most relevant events for modern man, and a good point of departure for the renewal of the Jewish spirit in our time.

They – God via Moses - addressed, in the first person, each individual who was present at that event, and, through them, each and every one of us. God addressed not the collective but each individual conscience.

You shall not murder” – yes, you! “Honor your” father and your mother” – your own, personal parents. “I the Lord am your God” – it’s between the two of us, all alone, intimately, without the corrupting mediation of the establishment and its organizations.

Hence, the Ten Commandments are a Law for the individual; for the individual’s rights and liberty.

In the circumstances of contemporary life during this festival, it becomes evident that the Ten Commandments can serve as a moral platform for a new relationship between individuals. What is a covenant between individuals? There are two basic methods for the governance of society. One is by metaorganization: state, community, or ghetto where the source of power and authority filter down from the organization to the individuals.

Another method is a social, constitutional agreement upon the basic rights of each human being, which can never be compromised. Men and women have innate liberties of which they cannot be deprived, under any circumstances whatsoever. The social organization of individuals sanctifies the rights of the individual just as we dreamt of in Egypt, and just as we pledged at Sinai.

Henceforth, the Exodus from Egypt will no longer be merely a heroic, symbolic slave uprising but an effort toward a renewed beginning for human culture and interaction. The totalitarianism and tyranny of the Egyptian empire left no room for individual sense of self or personal liberty. In this sense the violent empire and the beast of prey are identical: inhuman creatures, insatiable, with uncontrollable desires.

Such animal totality is the object of the rebellion by Moses and the Israelites, with the Ten Commandments as its alternative: from bondage to freedom. But not to be free of one’s shackles only to become a savage, driven by animal appetites; on the contrary, the Israelite who signed that accord committed to being a free man who can curb his own whims, by choice. Not to kill, or steal or do other things harmful to the liberty of others.

In contradistinction to the Egyptian monarchy with insatiable desire for unlimited power, we set up a model existence of a human being who is attentive and sensitive to his or her surroundings, with the freedom to master his or her instincts and not to live at the mercy of animal appetites.

The values of the Ten Commandments are set up in order to create a better future, ensure that yesterday’s slaves do not become the evil masters of tomorrow. This is not just a chapter in the history of a nation and of Egypt; it is a call for the utopia for which every human reality must strive. For we are the citizens of the new, alternative empire; the empire of Israeli values, which came into being in the desert but has yet to fully manifest itself.

The piece originally appeared in Tikun Olam, a collection of articles published by The New Israel Fund on the occasion of Shavuot. All the articles are available here

Anti-Semitic OWNED on Youtube!

2011-05-15T18:56:00.002-04:00

Hasn't Steve Pallister been locked up before? That guy needs some serious meds and should not be allowed anywhere near a computer. The walls of solitary confinement would be too good for that guy. Hell, he LOOKS insane; he never quit promoting anti-Semitism also when the Australian police put him behind bars time after time and he get time after time sue at the court by the Australian anti-Defamation League. He is sending death threat to people on Youtube and put money on their head for killing them, this guy should be behind bars for good.

Well he's officially lost it...

Please keep reporting Steve Pallister to the Australian police at:

CANNING VALE POLICE STATION
Address: 449 Nicholson Road, Canning Vale, WA , 6155
Phone number: (08) 9456 9555
URL: http://www.police.wa.gov.au/

Emails:
Direct: Media@police.wa.gov.au

Through their website: http://www.police.wa.gov.au/ContactUs/tabid/922/Default.aspx

Messianic Jews Are Not Jews

2011-04-29T17:58:00.000-04:00

by Rabbi Jonathan Waxman

What's in a Name

Hebrew Christian, Jewish Christian, Jew for Jesus, Messianic Jew, Fulfilled Jew. The name may have changed over the course of time, but all of the names reflect the same phenomenon: one who asserts that s/he is straddling the theological fence between Judaism and Christianity, but in truth is firmly on the Christian side.

Theological Divide

Over the centuries, Jews who converted to Christianity left behind their Jewish heritage. Some returned to the community to attempt to convert other Jews to their form of Christianity, but the Christianity they offered was devoid of Jewish content, of Jewish imagery, and of Jewish connections. Beginning, however, a few decades ago, a new phenomenon emerged: Jews who meta-physically wanted to have their cake and to eat it, too. They adopted Christianity but brought along Jewish trappings, perhaps to make the abandonment of their natal religion more palatable. Hence they conduct their services on Shabbat instead of Sunday, they hold sederim, albeit with a few significant changes (i.e., the three Matzot symbolize the Trinity); they wear kippot and tallitot; they pray and chant in Hebrew and more. These converts to Christianity (and that is what they are) pose both an enigma and a serious challenge to the Jewish community. Though they may argue that they are reviving the pattern of the early Jewish Christians, a great theological divide separates them from their so-called theological ancestors and most importantly from those of us still firmly in the Jewish community.

What are we to make of these people? They often appear to be more observant of Jewish ritual than many other Jews, including members of our own congregation. Shouldn't we welcome them? There is a rabbinic declaration to the effect that a Jew remains a Jew though he sins. (Sanhedrin 44a) Although this is true, nevertheless, we must affirm as did the Israeli Supreme Court in the well-known Brother Daniel case that to adopt Christianity is to have crossed the line out of the Jewish community.

What follows are highlights of the points in contention; demonstrating how Messianic Jews have indeed crossed the line out of the Jewish community.

Mistaken Jewish Notions of the Messiah

Don't we Jews believe in the coming of the Messiah? Yes, we do. At our seder we make arrangements for Elijah, the fore-runner of the Messiah. Similarly, in Havdalah we sing about Eliyahu HaNavi coming to us as a foreshadowing of the messianic era. Several prayers refer to the Messiah. For example, in the weekday Amidah we find the following passage: "Bring to flower the shoot of your servant David. Hasten the advent of Messianic redemption.".

Historically, of course, Jews have labeled various men as the Mashiach (the Hebrew term). In the second century, many Jews believed that Simeon Bar Kosiba, better known by his messianic name Bar Kokhba, to have been the awaited redeemer. Similarly, countless Jews believed that the 17th century pretender Shabbtai Tsvi was the Mashiach. Some of the great rabbis of these and other ages were beguiled and seduced by the prospect of having the messiah in their midst. Ultimately, they, and those who believed in these men and the many other claimants were wrong. Though the messianic era did not dawn, that did not make these messianic believers any less Jewish.

How is it different then with people who believe in Y'shua (their designation for Jesus)? Why should the assertion that Jesus was the messiah place a Jew outside of the community, any more than other mistaken messianic beliefs?

Christian Conclusions

First is the assertion that Jesus remains the messiah, though dead for over 19 centuries. Judaism has held that the Mashiach will come and usher in a new era; not that he will proclaim his arrival, die and wait centuries to finish his task. To continue to assert that Jesus was the Mashiach goes against the belief that the Mashiach will transform the world when he does come, not merely hint at a future transformation at some undefined time to come. One should note that a substantial part of Christian Bible scholarship recognizes that the claims for Jesus' return were of a very temporal nature. For example, Luke 9:27 declares that the kingdom of God will arrive while some of those whom Jesus is addressing are still alive. This is one example that underlying the Christian Bible is a sense of imminent messianism, not one deferred for two millennia. For this reason alone, one must look askance at the claims of current Messianic Jews that Jesus is the Mashiach. We would admit that the claim by some in Lubavitch that the late Rebbe was the Mashiach and continues to be active in that role, though deceased since Tammuz 5754/June, 1994, undermines this argumentation. Therefore, it is no wonder that many in the Jewish community including many within Lubavitch itself are sorely disturbed by these beliefs. This false belief, however, has not impelled its believers to abandon their fidelity to Jewish praxis.

Secondly, it is acting upon those beliefs. When some Jews continued to believe that despite his conversion to Islam that Shabbtai Tsvi was the Mashiach, the rabbis of that era made an effort to suppress them. The religious leadership was adamant because the believers asserted that with Shabbtai Tsvi a new era had begun. For his followers things previously forbidden were not permitted, in particular forbidden sexual acts.

Christianity has made the bolder assertion, that Jesus ushered in a new era, one in which Halakhah, Jewish law, is no longer of significance. What matters is but faith and belief in Jesus, as Romans 10:11 asserts: "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." Belief in Jesus as the divine messiah and son of God is all that is necessary. Messianic Jews accept this belief but recognize that some Jewish observances are permissible if it makes the "product" more palatable. Judaism rejects the claim that a new covenant was created with Jesus and asserts instead that the chain of Tradition reaching back to Moshe continues to make valid claims on our lives, and serve as more than mere window dressing.

The use of Hebrew. "Y'shua makes me more Jewish" is one of their assertions. We would argue that giving Jesus a Hebrew name does not make their beliefs any more Jewish than before. More problematic in terms of appeal, but none the less still "unkosher" as an approach in Judaism. Similarly, reciting prayers in Hebrew doesn't ensure membership in the Jewish community. If Israeli Christians recite their prayers in Hebrew, that does not make them Jewish.

The use of Jewish objects and ceremonies. They may pray with tallit and kippah, they may designate their religious leaders as "rabbis", they may light Hanukah candles, etc.; none of that vouchsafes their acceptability. They have taken the externals of Judaism and altered them. Their prayers include mention of Jesus and/or of the Holy Spirit. Ceremonies are given Christological spins. As previously noted, the three matzot of the Seder have come to symbolize the Trinity and the Seder itself is seen as a recollection of the Last Supper.

The use of Biblical citations by Messianic Jews as prooftexts. This practice goes back to the Christian Bible which used texts from the Tanakh in a midrashic fashion, wrenching verses and fragments of sentences out of context and applying them to the mission of Jesus. For our purposes here it is enough to know that Biblical verses are frequently misused as proof texts by midrashically minded authors.

Messianic Jews Misuse, Misinterpret, and "Mis-Midrash" Texts

Example #1. We begin with the classic, "A virgin shall conceive" cited in Matthew 1:23. In our text from Isaiah 7:14, the Hebrew word translated as virgin is "Almah", which means young woman not virgin. There is a perfectly good Hebrew word for virgin: "Betulah". It is conceivable that behind that Greek text there was an alternative textual tradition which in fact had "Betulah", but that foray into textual analysis takes us astray and is not even the essence of the argument. We would hasten to note that the child born is given the name Jesus not Emanuel as per Isaiah. Beyond the issue of language is the issue of the message. Isaiah offered his prophecy as one of hope to King Ahaz in the late eighth century B.C.E. What kind of hope would have been implicit in a message whose fulfillment would be 700 years in the making? "How could Ahaz receive consolation from prophecy, the fulfillment of which he was not to live to see?" (Isaac of Troki, Faith Strengthened, p.231) By and large, if one reviews the words of the prophets, the visions are not for some far distant time, but for the proximate future.

Example #2. A few verses earlier in the same gospel, Matthew 1:14 and 15, we find a description of the "flight into Egypt", where Jesus and his family remained until the time of Herod's death "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying 'out of Egypt have I called my son.'" The quotation from the prophet Hosea is clearly a distortion of the original text. The full verse in Hosea 11:1 proclaims: "When Israel was young I did love it; and out of Egypt I called my son." It is obvious that for the prophet Hosea the son is none other than the people of Israel mentioned in the first half of the verse.

Example #3. In speaking of Jesus' resurrection, Luke 24:46 cites as prooftext Hosea 6:2 "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead." The first issue is that of chronology: Sunday, the day of the resurrection, was only the second day. (In Matthew 12:40, Jonah 1:17 is cited as proof of Jesus's forthcoming three day and night burial before resurrection. Clearly, this citation is even more problematic in terms of matching elapsed time with predicted time and even less relevant to Jesus' mission as it speaks of being "in the belly of the fish", not of death.) Secondly, it is clear that the reference point of Hosea is not to the revival of the messiah (Christ is simply the Greek word for messiah capitalized), but rather to the revival of the people of Israel as is clear from the previous verse (Hosea 6:1): "Come, let us return to God, Although he tore us apart he will heal us. Although he smashed us, he will bandage us."

Example #4. Isaiah 53, often referred to as the chapter about the suffering servant, has been applied to Jesus, beginning with the Christian Bible Epistles and the Gospels. (So, for example, I Peter 2: 24-25 and Matthew 8:17.) Modern scholarship is sharply divided as to the identity of the servant but we would cite John L. McKenzie who wrote in his Anchor Bible: Second Isaiah commentary: "The Servant is not the same figure as the Messiah, but a parallel figure which as it stands, cannot be reconciled with the messianic king. A higher synthesis of the two figures, such as Christians believe was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, was not within the vision of the prophets of the Jewish Bible. Each figure, it seems, reflects the period of Israelite history in which it arose..." (pp. il-l)

Warning

Note. Unless you are very familiar with Biblical texts, do not attempt to debate. We have offered but a few of the many Biblical citations found in Christian Scripture (New Testament) literature and used by those who wish to mislead Jews unfamiliar with the entire corpus of Biblical literature. There are many more!

Differences Between Judaism and Messianic Jews

* Adoption of Christian Testament as part of their scriptural tradition. Messianic Jews may still refer to the Tanakh by that name or by Hebrew Scripture, but that does not disguise the fact they have grafted onto their canon the Christian Scripture (New Testament). Whether they read it in Hebrew or in English is irrelevant. The Christian Scripture (New Testament) has never been part of the Jewish Biblical tradition.

* The adoption of the Christian concept of original sin. In brief form the concept is that we are all sinful from birth because of the sin of the first couple and only the sacrificial cleansing blood of Jesus can remove this stain. This is contrary to Jewish belief which asserts that we are born with free will and each of is the author of our own life. Adam and Eve sinned and they were punished by exile from Eden. The taint of their sin has not been transmitted through the genes.

* The Pascal (Passover) sacrifice was not a sin offering. The association in the Gospel of John of Jesus with the pascal sacrifice is faulty. For example, John 19:36 cites "Not a bone of him shall be broken". This is a reference to the protocol for the pascal lamb found in Exodus 12:46. (The idea of Jesus as pascal sacrifice appears also in the Pauline epistle, I Corinthians 5:7.) One should also know that the other three Gospels place the crucifixion a day later, on the first day of Passover, posing a problem for Christian Biblical exegesis in terms of reconciling the divergent traditions.

* Jesus/Y'shua as part of the Trinity. When we proclaim the opening words of the Sh'ma, we assert God's unity as the heart of our faith. No theological fudging of three-in-one will allow for the transformation of the One God into three distinct personalities of God. It is true that we speak of different characteristics of God: God as compassionate; God as just. Furthermore it is true that the mystics speak of various forms of Godhead. No part of the Jewish tradition ever allowed for a trisecting of God, and that is what Christianity has done and what Messianic Jews accept.

Conclusion

One is reluctant to preclude from membership anybody, especially those who seem to be more spiritual, perhaps more observant. However, because a line has clearly been crossed, as we have demonstrated above, there is no place for so-called Messianic Jews or Hebrew-Christians within our congregations and within the Jewish community.

by United Synagogue of Conservative Jews

Jewish Roots in Judea and Samaria

2011-04-29T15:32:00.001-04:00

JEWISH, NOT ARAB, ROOTS IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA

by Hillel Fendel (IsraelNationalNews)

U.S. Pres. Barack Obama’s demand that Israel not settle Jews in the Biblical areas of Judea and Samaria ignores thoroughly-documented Jewish roots in the Land of Israel, and in Judea/Samaria in particular.

Yoram Ettinger, a former liaison for Congressional affairs in Israel’s Washington embassy, lists in the latest of his periodic position papers some of the evidence showing that Judea and Samaria has Jewish, not Arab, roots.

Area Always Known as “Judea and Samaria” – Ettinger negates Obama’s claim – enunciated during his June 4, 2009 speech at Cairo University – that “the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in” the Holocaust. For one thing, Ettinger notes, many world-renowned travelers, historians and archeologists of earlier centuries refer to “Judea and Samaria,” while the term “West Bank” was coined only 60 years ago.

Jordan gave the region this name when it occupied it after Israel’s War of Independence. No nation on earth other than Britain and Pakistan recognized Jordan’s claim to Judea and Samaria.

Among the travelers, historians and archeologists who referred to Judea and Samaria are H. B. Tristram (The Land of Israel, 1865); Mark Twain (Innocents Abroad, 1867); R.A. MacAlister and Masterman (“Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly”); A.P. Stanley (Sinai and Palestine, 1887); E. Robinson and E. Smith (Biblical Researches in Palestine, 1841); C.W. Van de Velde (Peise durch Syrien und Paletsinea, 1861); and Felix Bovet (Voyage en Taire Sainte, 1864). Even the Encyclopedia Britannica, as well as official British and Ottoman records until 1950, used the term Judea and Samaria, and not the West Bank.

Ettinger goes even further back, and says that the name “Palestine”, which had nothing to do with a people that existed, but was given to the Holy Land for the sole purpose of erasing the previous name of the country – Judea – from human memory. The Romans, whose plan this was, similarly sought to extinguish Jewish presence in Jerusalem by renaming it Aelia Capitolina.

Arabs Came in the Last 150 Years – When speaking of “Palestinian national rights,” it must be similarly kept in mind, Ettinger notes, that most Arabs residing today in Israel – anywhere between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean – have their origin in a massive 19th-20th century migration from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and other Moslem countries. They adopted the title “Palestinian”, which gives the impression of ancient ties to the land.

Town Names Betray Their True History – Finally, Ettinger says that almost all Arab localities in Judea and Samaria have retained Biblical Jewish names, thus reaffirming their Jewish roots.

Examples include the following:

• Anata is Biblical (and contemporary) Anatot, the dwelling of the Prophet Jeremiah.
• Batir is Biblical (and contemporary) Beitar, the headquarters of Bar Kochba, the leader of the Great Rebellion against the Roman Empire, which was suppressed in 135 AD.
• Beit-Hur is the biblical (and contemporary) Beit Horon, site of Judah the Maccabee’s victory over the Assyrians.
• Beitin is biblical (and contemporary) Beit El, a site of the Holy Ark and Prophet Samuel’s court.
• Bethlehem is mentioned 44 times in the Bible and is the birth place of King David.
• Beit Jalla is biblical (and contemporary) Gilo, in southern Jerusalem, where Sennacherib set his camp, while besieging Jerusalem.
• El-Jib is biblical (and contemporary) Gibeon, Joshua’s battleground known for his command to stop the sun and moon (Joshua 10:12).
• Jaba’ is the biblical (and contemporary) Geva, site of King Saul’s son Jonathan’s victory over the Philistines.
• Jenin is the biblical (and contemporary) Ein Ganim, a Levite town within the tribe of Issachar.
• Mukhmas is biblical (and contemporary) Mikhmash, residence of Jonathan the Maccabee and site of King Saul’s fortress.
• Seilun is biblical (and contemporary) Shilo, a site of Joshua’s tabernacle and the Holy Ark and Samuel’s youth.
• Tequa is biblical (and contemporary) Tekoa, hometown of the Prophet Amos.

Arabs Never Wanted Palestinian State – In another of his posts, Ettinger has negated the US government position that a Palestinian state is the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict and that its formation would resolve the situation. He cites proofs from recent history showing that Arab antipathy to Israel not only predates Palestinian concerns, but often sidesteps such interests.

Israel’s war for its independence in 1948-9, for instance, was conducted by the Arab countries at the expense of local aspirations. Though Egypt conquered Gaza, and Jordan took Judea and Samaria, and Syria claimed the Golan, in none of these areas was a government of local Arabs allowed.

When Egypt conquered the Gaza Strip, it proceeded to prohibit “Palestinian” national activities and expel its leadership. Not only did Jordan not grant locals independence to Judea and Samaria, it actually annexed these areas to its own country. When Syria occupied and annexed the Hama area in the Golan Heights, the Arab League outlawed a provisional “Palestinian” government there.

In short, it can be concluded that Arab “rights” to a state in Judea and Samaria are historically weak and were long ignored by other Arab countries.

This article was posted on Thursday, April 21st, 2011 and is filed under Articles.

Israel Foreign Policy Manuel Project

2011-04-28T12:33:00.007-04:00

About the FOREIGN POLICY MANUAL PROJECT
The Foreign Policy Manual Project has created this Foreign Policy Manual in order to provide the Israeli government with a comprehensive, Zionist “rights based” foreign policy. Israel is currently facing a diplomatic disaster, due to its self-defeating foreign policy positions, based on the false premise that surrendering Israel's national rights will advance Israel's quest for peace. The fault lies not in Israel's failure to explain its policies, but in their substance. The Foreign Policy Manual Project proposes to act as think tank, which can provide Israel with a winning strategy in dealing with its enemies. Support for the Foreign Policy Manual Project is greatly encouraged. Comments, criticisms, and new ideas are welcome. November 10, 2010 For more information on the Foreign Policy Manual Project: Contact: Alan M. Lurya, Esq.(949) 440-3230
alanlurya@yahoo.com

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http://www.docstoc.com/docs/document-preview.aspx?doc_id=61350763

Foreign Policy Manual 11-10-10

Israel a Safe Haven for Arabs

2011-04-27T20:06:00.001-04:00

Israel is only place in Middle East where Arabs are entitled to full democratic rights

Eddie Yair Fraiman

The Tunisian revolution began when a green grocer, Mohamed Bouazizi, self-immolated after suffering from severe police harassment. Through this brave, desperate act, he was transformed into the symbol of the new Arab revolution. Reflecting on Bouazizi’s ultimate act of protest, one can hardly conceive of what atmosphere and surroundings would compel an individual to resort to such an extreme.

The Arab states in the Middle East are ruled by dictators who act without mercy towards their own people and deprive them of their basic civil democratic rights. The anger rooted in decades of oppression and repression has finally bubbled up to the surface and erupted in the so-called “Arab Spring,” the wave of revolution and protest sweeping the region.

This cathartic expression of Arab peoples demanding their rights has in turn been met not with reform or concession, but with brutal, bloody crackdowns. The images broadcast from our regional neighbors are hard to watch: Live fire directed at protesters with lethal intentions in Syria and Yemen; missile fire on rebel and civilian positions in Libya; shelling, rape and mass killings of civilians by regime forces in Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Syria.

Civilian protests and freedom of expression are basic principles integral to and respected in any advanced state. The violence unleashed against protesters is antithetical to these important values, but reflective of the old patterns that Arab regimes have consistently employed; brutality and political repression have been the hallmark of Arab political control for more than half a century.

Even those states which offer some democratic privileges to their citizens are in fact engaged in a type of political theater - their elections are farcical in that the despotic leadership fails to allow any real pluralism. Opposition groups are denied true free expression and a real, effective voice.

Full civil rights

The extreme events we witnessed in recent weeks are contrary to all democratic and enlightenment principles. But they are the expected response from regimes that have already long demonstrated their total disregard for human rights and international values. Exactly as happened after Hamas took control of the Gaza strip in June 2007, these regimes have shown the inevitable outcome that results when non- and anti-democratic forces are given free rein over their populations.

Perhaps ironically, the only place in the Middle East where Arabs enjoy full democratic rights is the State of Israel. Arab citizens of Israel take for granted their freedom of movement, freedom of speech, the right to elect and be elected, freedom of assembly and protest - in short, all the individual and collective rights that are the essential and unassailable prerogatives of any citizen in any democratic state.

These rights don’t exist in any Arab state, but in Israel all of us, Jewish and Arab citizens alike, receive full civil rights. Everyone is equal in the eyes of Israeli law; all receive national insurance, education and national health care. Israel’s Arab citizens are also afforded affirmative action measures in educational institutions and government offices.

A poll published two months ago showed that a majority of east Jerusalem Arabs prefer to stay under Israeli rule rather than come under Palestinian Authority control. Many claimed they would be willing to leave their homes and relocate into Israel if their cities are transferred to PA control. Those living in Jerusalem are familiar with the phenomenon of east Jerusalem residents moving into Jewish neighborhoods - a trend in large part fueled by the fear that certain Arab communities in the city may be turned over to the PA. Apparently, Palestinian Arabs understand what we Israelis have often forgotten in recent years - the uniqueness of the state of Israel in the wild east.

Maybe the revolution in the Arab world will bring change, and the death and slaughter will bring about freedom of expression and, eventually, democracy. Alternatively, Islamic organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood, which represent a significant portion of the opposition, may take power, and true democracy will remain a distant dream.

One thing is certain: Israeli Arabs have nothing to worry about. They can freely exercise their democratic rights, and nobody will shoot them in the streets.

Ynet News

Qumran Caves

2011-04-25T20:26:00.003-04:00

The Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls

In the spring of 1947 Bedouin goat-herds, searching the cliffs along the Dead Sea for a lost goat (or for treasure, depending on who is telling the story), came upon a cave containing jars filled with manuscripts. That find caused a sensation when it was released to the world, and continues to fascinate the scholarly community and the public to this day.

The Qumran site and the Dead Sea.

The first discoveries came to the attention of scholars in 1948, when seven of the scrolls were sold by the Bedouin to a cobbler and antiquities dealer called Kando. He in turn sold three of the scrolls to Eleazar L. Sukenik of Hebrew University, and four to Metropolitan Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel of the Syrian Orthodox monastery of St. Mark. Mar Athanasius in turn brought his four to the American School of Oriental Research, where they came to the attention of American and European scholars.

It was not until 1949 that the site of the find was identified as the cave now known as Qumran Cave 1. It was that identification that led to further explorations and excavations of the area of Khirbet Qumran. Further search of Cave 1 revealed archaeological finds of pottery, cloth and wood, as well as a number of additional manuscript fragments. It was these discoveries that proved decisively that the scrolls were indeed ancient and authentic.

Between 1949 and 1956, in what became a race between the Bedouin and the archaeologists, ten additional caves were found in the hills around Qumran, caves that yielded several more scrolls, as well as thousands of fragments of scrolls: the remnants of approximately 800 manuscripts dating from approximately 200 B.C.E. to 68 C.E.

The manuscripts of the Qumran caves include early copies of biblical books in Hebrew and Aramaic, hymns, prayers, Jewish writings known as pseudepigrapha (because they are attributed to ancient biblical characters such as Enoch or the patriarchs), and texts that seem to represent the beliefs of a particular Jewish group that may have lived at the site of Qumran. Most scholars believe that the Qumran community was very similar to the Essenes, one of four Jewish "philosophies" described by Josephus, a first century C.E. Jewish historian. Some have pointed to similarities with other Jewish groups mentioned by Josephus: the Sadducees, Pharisees, and Zealots.

We do not know precisely who wrote those sectarian scrolls, but we can say that the authors seemed to be connected to the priesthood, were led by priests, disapproved of the Jerusalem priesthood, encouraged a strict and pious way of life, and expected an imminent confrontation between the forces of good and evil.

The Qumran library has proven to be enormously informative. From these texts we have increased our understanding of the transmission of the Bible, we have learned more about the development of early Judaism, and we have gained insight into the culture out of which emerged both Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity.

Photographs by Bruce and Kenneth Zuckerman, West Semitic Research.

Commentary by Marilyn J. Lundberg.

Cave 1

Allegedly discovered by a Bedouin shepherd chasing a stray, the initial Dead Sea Scrolls found here changed the study of the Old Testament.

The seven scrolls were the Manual of Discipline, War of Sons of Light, Thanksgiving Scroll, Isaiah A and B, Genesis Apocryphon and Habakkuk Commentary.

Cave 3

The Copper Scroll was found in this cave in 1952. This was the only scroll photographed in site.

The Copper Scroll is on display in the Amman Museum and lists 63 treasures hidden in the Judean wilderness and Jerusalem area.

Cave 4

This most famous of the Dead Sea Scroll caves is also the most significant in terms of finds. More than 15,000 fragments from over 200 books were found in this cave, nearly all by Bedouin thieves. 122 biblical scrolls (or fragments) were found in this cave. From all 11 Qumran caves, every Old Testament book is represented except Esther. No New Testament books or fragments have been found.

Cave 4 Interior

The scrolls found in this cave were poorly preserved because they were not stored in jars. The practice of paying "per piece" led to the creation of multiple fragments from single pieces by the Bedouin thieves.

This cave was among those looted by the Bedouin in the free afternoons of the days they were in the employ of the Qumran archaeologists.

Cave 5 (foreground)

This eroded cave was discovered by the archaeologists (Bedouin found caves 1, 2, 4, 6, 11). It is one of those in the marl terrace close to the site of Qumran (also caves 4, 7, 8, 9, 10). Archaeologists estimate that there were originally 30-40 caves in the marl terrace.

Cave 6

This cave was not used for inhabitation, but only for the deposit of scrolls.

This is the most accessible of the Dead Sea Scrolls to visitors today (follow the aqueduct from Qumran to the hills and it's on the left).

Cave 7 (right), 8 (left)

Everything found in Cave 7 was in Greek. The cave collapsed shortly after the scrolls were hidden.

In Cave 8 were discovered 8QMezuzah, Genesis, and a hundred squares of small leather with strips. The guy who lived here had the job of making these strips.

Cave 10 (right)

Only one ostracon was found in Cave 10. Complete scrolls were found only in caves 1 and 11.

In all 11 caves, some biblical books were found in large numbers:

34 copies of Psalms
27 copies of Deuteronomy
24 copies of Isaiah
20 copies of Genesis

Cave 11

The last Dead Sea Scrolls found to date were found in this cave. Thirty scrolls were found including Leviticus and the Temple Scroll.

The Temple Scroll was held by the antiquities dealer Kando until 1967 when being put in jail by Yadin, he agreed to sell it "of his own free will" for $110,000.

Bible Places

Jerusalem - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-25T19:35:00.000-04:00

When you drive up the main road from the airport and Tel Aviv into the mountains, you might expect some major landmark to welcome you to Jerusalem, but it's not like crossing the Golden Gate Bridge to enter San Francisco, spying the Empire State Building on the way to Manhattan, riding down the Champs-Elysées into the heart of Paris or taking the vaporetto across a canal into Venice. The entrance to Jerusalem is more abrupt; one minute you're on the highway and the next you've been transported to a different world. Almost immediately you find yourself on narrow streets with low-level buildings, many dating back decades. The sidewalks are typically filled with people scurrying about, hasidim in their distinctive garb, students dressed like students anywhere, soldiers with guns casually slung over one soldier and a knapsack over the other. The unparalleled mixture of the ancient and modern, the secular and religious is apparent at once. You feel that something is different and, intellectually and spiritually, you know this is a place unlike any other.

One of its many unique qualities is that Jerusalem almost completely shuts down on Shabbat. This is a time of incredible quiet, like nothing you can experience in any other major city, when the observant Jews head for the Western Wall, synagogues and family gatherings, and less observant Jews enjoy their one day off from work, spend the day with their families, relax and take in the breathtaking beauty of the city. A handful of restaurants stay open and people still roam the streets, but most activity ends mid-day Friday and doesn't pick up again until after dark on Saturday.

Jerusalem is the largest city in Israel and the nation's capital. It is a place where you can have fun, but it is more spiritual than spirited. Of course, sometimes the spirit moves people a little too far. In fact, psychologists have identified something they call the "Jerusalem syndrome" to describe people who become so intoxicated with the city they act irrationally, sometimes to the point of believing themselves to be the messiah.

For purposes of this tour, we’ve divided the city into four sections. The first offers an overview of the city's long and rich history. This includes a discussion of the current controversy over the future of the city.

The next stop is the Old City, roughly 220 acres surrounded by walls built by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century. This is the heart of the city and has both political and religious significance. The Old City is divided into quarters — Jewish, Armenian, Muslim and Christian. The holiest place for Jews is the Western Wall in the Jewish Quarter. Two of Islam’s most important shrines, the Dome of the Rock and al-Aksa Mosque are in the Muslim Quarter on the Temple Mount. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Christian Quarter is revered by Christians as the site of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here you can imagine life centuries ago and even walk on original 2,000-year-old stones.

The neighborhoods beyond the Old City walls include Yemin Moshe, the first Jewish neighborhood built outside the walls, which is identifiable by its distinctive – and unusable – windmill; Mount Scopus, home of the Hebrew University; the Mount of Olives, the site of several important Christian shrines and the cemetery where Jews have buried their dead for centuries and Mea She’arim, an island in time where ultra-Orthodox Jews dress and behave in traditional ways and strictly observe Jewish law.

The "new" city is the more modern part of Jerusalem that was mostly built after Jordan occupied the Old City and the rest of the eastern half of the city following the 1948 war. This is where Israel has established most of its government offices, including the Knesset and the magnificent new Supreme Court building. It is also where you can find the world-renowned Hadassah Hospital, with its famous Chagall windows; Mt. Herzl, the final resting place of most of Israel’s leaders and Yad Vashem, Israel museum and memorial to the Holocaust. Most visitors stay in this part of the city, which also has beautiful parks and a lively downtown with clubs, shops and restaurants.

For believers, this is the place where the call to God is a local one. For everyone else, it is a place of great beauty and history that is unlike anywhere else on earth.

Jerusalem - History

Around the year 1010 B.C.E., King David defeated the Jebusites in Jerusalem and decided to make the city his administrative capital. When he brought the Ark of the Covenant to the city, he stripped the Twelve Tribes of the spiritual source of their power and concentrated it in his own hands.

King David wanted to build a great Temple for God as a permanent resting place for the Ark of the Covenant. According to Jewish tradition, David was not permitted to build the Temple because he had been a warrior. The task was to fall to a man of peace, David's son, Solomon. The Temple would become the focus of Jewish veneration from that point to the present.

After Solomon died in 931 B.C.E., a civil war led to a split in the Israelite nation. Jerusalem became part of the southern kingdom of Judah, while ten of the northern tribes formed the new kingdom of Israel. That kingdom lasted until 722 B.C.E., when it was conquered by the Assyrians.

Exile

Israel Fact
If you think modern punishments are harsh, after his defeat by Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah's sons were murdered in front of him and then his eyes were gouged out.

Meanwhile, Judah staved off the Assyrians and other potential invaders until the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, led his army into Jerusalem and captured the city in 597 B.C.E. He deported thousands of Jews and appointed 21-year-old Zedekiah, a descendant of King David, to serve as king, expecting him to be a puppet ruler. Zedekiah had different ideas, however, and mounted a revolt. After an eighteen-month siege, Nebuchadnezzar razed Jerusalem. Most of the population was deported to Babylon in 586 B.C.E.

In 560 B.C.E. a new empire emerged, the Persians, led by Cyrus the Great. Cyrus conquered Palestine and then unexpectedly told the Jews they could return to their homeland. While he was probably motivated primarily by the desire to have someone else rebuild Palestine and to make it a source of income for the Persian Empire, the impact on the Jews was to reinvigorate their faith and stimulate them to reconstruct the Temple. The Second Temple was completed in 516 B.C. Over the next 150 years, Judea flourished as the Jews rebuilt Jerusalem and developed the surrounding areas.

Israel Fact
The family of Mattathias became known as the Maccabees, from the Hebrew word for "hammer," because they were said to strike hammer blows against their enemies. The family is more commonly known as the Hasmoneans.

In 332 B.C.E. a new power swept through the Middle East. This time it was Alexander the Great who became Palestine's ruler and introduced Greek culture and ideals -- Hellenism. Though many Jews had been seduced by the virtues of Hellenism, the extreme measures adopted over the years helped unite the people. When a Greek official tried to force a priest named Mattathias to make a sacrifice to a pagan god, the Jew murdered the man. Responding to Greek reprisals, the Jews rose up in 167 B.C.E. behind Mattathias and his five sons and fought for their liberation. Three years later, Jerusalem was recaptured from the Greeks by the Maccabees and the Temple purified, an event that gave birth to the holiday of Chanukah.

The last Jewish kingdom survived only 76 years. The grandsons of the Maccabees who had won Jewish independence lost it in large part because of their jealousy and greed. In all likelihood however, with their own empire expanding, the Romans would not have permitted the Jews to keep their kingdom much longer anyway. After three years of fighting, Herod's Roman-backed army wrested control of Jerusalem and the rest of Judea from the Jews in 63 B.C.E.

Rome Rebuilds the Temple

The most significant of Herod's projects was the rebuilding of the Second Temple in the first century B.C.E. It took 10,000 people and a thousand priests nine years to complete the project. The original Temple of King Solomon was a relatively small building on top of Mount Moriah. Herod doubled the area of the Temple Mount and surrounded it with four massive retaining walls. The western wall is the longest, about 1600 feet (485 meters), and includes the Jewish area of prayer known as the Kotel or Western Wall.

In 66 A.D., after the procurator Florus provoked the Jews through a variety of activities that ranged from stealing silver from the Temple to desecrating the vestments of the High Priest, the Zealots started a revolt. The Jews initially met with success, routing Roman armies in Jerusalem, but the Romans returned with a larger force. The Jews hoped to hold off the Romans in fortified Jerusalem, but they began a fratricidal battle in which the Zealots murdered Jewish leaders who refused to go along with their rebellion. The Romans laid siege to the city and in the year 70 A.D. overwhelmed the remaining defenders and destroyed the Second Temple. Some of the Zealots escaped and made their last stand at Masada.

Though the mighty Romans had been held at bay for four years, their ultimate victory was never in doubt and the consequences of the Jews' defeat was devastating. Not only was the Temple destroyed, but perhaps as many as one million Jews were killed and many survivors enslaved.

Israel Fact
Scholars now believe Jesus Christ was born between 4 and 7 B.C.E. and was crucified either in 30 or 33 C.E. Like other major figures in religious history (including Moses and Mohammed), little is known about Christ's childhood beyond the fact that he visited Jerusalem when he was about 12. He does not reappear in the Gospel until he is 30, when he is baptized by John the Baptist.

After the suppression of the Jewish revolt, relative calm settled on the Holy Land for nearly 60 years. The Emperor Hadrian had even talked at one point of rebuilding the Temple. He did build a temple; however, it was in honor of Jupiter rather than the god of the Jews. He also renamed Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina and made it a Roman city.

This insult, along with other indignities that went along with being Roman subjects, provoked yet another rebellion beginning in 132 A.D., this time under the charismatic leadership of Simeon Bar-Kokhba. It took nearly three years for the Romans to pacify the country and, when they were done, roughly 600,000 Jews were dead (including Bar-Kokhba) and Judea had been devastated. The Emperor renamed the entire province Syria Palaestina, Jerusalem became a pagan city that Jews were forbidden to enter, and the persecution of Judaism became widespread.

After the destruction of the Second Temple, the center of Jewish life shifted from Jerusalem to Yavneh, where Yochanan ben Zakkai established an academy to train scholars. Meanwhile, the influence of Christianity began to grow in the region, culminating in 330 C.E. with Emperor Constantine's decision to move the capital of the empire from Rome to the city of Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople (now Istanbul).

The Rise of Islam

The Islamic conquest of Palestine, which began in 633, was the beginning of a 1,300-year span during which more than ten different empires, governments, and dynasties were to rule in the Holy Land prior to the British occupation after World War I.

In 638, the Jews in Palestine assisted the Muslim forces in defeating the Persians who had reneged on an agreement to protect them and allow them to resettle in Jerusalem. As a reward for their assistance, the Muslims permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem and to guard the Temple Mount.

The Muslims fended off their rivals until the end of the 11th century. In 1095, Pope Urban II called for Crusades to regain Palestine from the infidels. They succeeded in 1099 and celebrated by herding all the Jews into a synagogue and burning them alive. Non-Christians were subsequently barred from the city.

Saladin succeeded in expelling the Crusaders and recaptured Jerusalem for the Muslims in 1187. Two years later, the Christians mounted the Third Crusade to retake Jerusalem, but Saladin's forces repelled them.

Here Come the Turks

The next important phase in the history of Jerusalem was the conquest of the Ottoman Turks at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The Turkish sultan then became responsible for Jerusalem. The Holy Land was important to the Turks only as a source of revenue; consequently, like many of their predecessors, they allowed Palestine to languish. They also began to impose oppressive taxes on the Jews.

Neglect and oppression gradually took their toll on the Jewish community and the population declined to a total of no more than 7,000 by the end of the seventeenth century. It wasn't until the nascent Zionist movement in Eastern Europe motivated Jews to return to Palestine that the first modern Jewish settlement was established -- in Petah Tikvah in 1878.

The Ottoman Empire held its own against rivals from Europe and Asia for roughly 400 years. They chose, however, to engage in a battle they could not win -- World War I -- and lost their empire. Palestine was captured by the British, who subsequently were awarded a mandate from the League of Nations to rule the country.

Politics & Religion Mix

Ever since King David made Jerusalem the capital of Israel 3,000 years ago, the city has played a central role in Jewish existence. The Western Wall in the Old City — the last remaining wall of the ancient Jewish Temple, the holiest site in Judaism — is the object of Jewish veneration and the focus of Jewish prayer. Three times a day for thousands of years Jews have prayed, “To Jerusalem, thy city, shall we return with joy,” and have repeated the Psalmist's oath: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.”

Jews have been living in Jerusalem continuously for nearly two millennia. They have constituted the largest single group of inhabitants there since the 1840's (map of Jerusalem in 1912). Today, the total population of Jerusalem is approximately 662,000. The Jewish population in areas formerly controlled by Jordan exceeds 160,000, outnumbering Palestinians in "Arab" East Jerusalem.

The Dome of the Rock

Muslims also revere the Holy City. According to Islam, the prophet Mohammed was miraculously transported from Mecca to Jerusalem, and it was from there that he made his ascent to heaven. Still, despite controlling the city for more than a thousand years, Jerusalem was never the capital of any Arab entity. In fact, it was a backwater for most of Arab history.

For Christians, Jerusalem is the place where Jesus lived, preached, died, and was resurrected. While it is the heavenly rather than the earthly Jerusalem that is emphasized by the Church, places mentioned in the New Testament as the sites of his ministry and passion have drawn pilgrims and devoted worshipers for centuries.

A City Divided

When the United Nations took up the Palestine question in 1947, it recommended that all of Jerusalem be internationalized. The Jewish Agency, after much soul-searching, agreed to accept internationalization in the hope that in the short-run it would protect the city from bloodshed and the new state from conflict. The Arab states were as bitterly opposed to the internationalization of Jerusalem as they were to the rest of the partition plan. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, subsequently, declared that Israel would no longer accept the internationalization of Jerusalem.

In May 1948, Jordan invaded and occupied east Jerusalem, dividing the city for the first time in its history, and driving thousands of Jews — whose families had lived in the city for centuries — into exile. For the next 19 years, the city was split, with Israel establishing its capital in western Jerusalem and Jordan occupying the eastern section, which included the Old City and most religious shrines.

In 1950, Jordan annexed all the territory it occupied west of the Jordan River, including east Jerusalem. The other Arab countries denied formal recognition of the Jordanian move, and the Arab League considered expelling Jordan from membership. Eventually, a compromise was worked out by which the other Arab governments agreed to view all the West Bank and east Jerusalem as held "in trust" by Jordan for the Palestinians.

From 1948-67, the city was divided between Israel and Jordan. Israel made western Jerusalem its capital; Jordan occupied the eastern section. Because Jordan — like all the Arab states at the time — maintained a state of war with Israel, the city became two armed camps, replete with concrete walls and bunkers, barbed-wire fences, minefields and other military fortifications.

Broken grave stones in the Mount of Olives cemetery

In violation of the 1949 Armistice Agreement, Jordan denied Israelis access to the Temple Wall and to the cemetery on the Mount of Olives, where Jews have been burying their dead for 2,500 years. Jordan actually went further and desecrated Jewish holy places. King Hussein permitted the construction of a road to the Intercontinental Hotel across the Mount of Olives cemetery. Hundreds of Jewish graves were destroyed by a highway that could have easily been built elsewhere. The gravestones, honoring the memory of rabbis and sages, were used by the engineer corps of the Jordanian Arab Legion as pavement and latrines in army camps. The ancient Jewish Quarter of the Old City was ravaged, 58 Jerusalem synagogues — some centuries old — were destroyed or ruined, others were turned into stables and chicken coops. Slum dwellings were built abutting the Western Wall.

Jews were not the only ones who found their freedom impeded. Under Jordanian rule, Israeli Christians were subjected to various restrictions, with only limited numbers allowed to visit the Old City and Bethlehem at Christmas and Easter. Because of these repressive policies, many Christians emigrated from Jerusalem, leading their numbers to dwindle from 25,000 in 1949 to less than 13,000 in June 1967.

Jerusalem is Unified

In 1967, Jordan ignored Israeli pleas to stay out of the Six-Day War and attacked the western part of the city. The Jordanians were routed by Israeli forces and driven out of east Jerusalem, allowing the city's unity to be restored. Teddy Kollek, Jerusalem’s mayor for 28 years, called the reunification of the city "the practical realization of the Zionist movement's goals." Today, a museum devoted to promoting dialogue and coexistence, the Museum on the Seam, is located at the junction of East and West Jerusalem.

Freedom of Religion

The Temple Mount

After the war, Israel abolished all the discriminatory laws promulgated by Jordan and adopted its own tough standard for safeguarding access to religious shrines. "Whoever does anything that is likely to violate the freedom of access of the members of the various religions to the places sacred to them," Israeli law stipulates, is "liable to imprisonment for a term of five years." Israel also entrusted administration of the holy places to their respective religious authorities.

Muslim rights on the Temple Mount, the site of the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aksa Mosque, have not been infringed, and the holy places are under the supervision of the Muslim Waqf. Although it is the holiest site in Judaism, Israel has left the Temple Mount under the control of Muslim religious authorities.

Since 1967, hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Christians — many from Arab countries that remain in a state of war with Israel — have come to Jerusalem to see their holy places. Arab leaders are free to visit Jerusalem to pray if they wish to, just as Egyptian President Anwar Sadat did at the El-Aksa mosque.

Along with religious freedom, Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem have unprecedented political rights. Arab residents were given the choice of whether to become Israeli citizens. Most chose to retain their Jordanian citizenship. Moreover, regardless of whether they are citizens, Jerusalem Arabs are permitted to vote in municipal elections and play a role in the administration of the city.

The Final Status of Jerusalem

The Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles (DoP) signed September 13, 1993, leaves open the status of Jerusalem. Other than this agreement to discuss Jerusalem during the final negotiating period, Israel conceded nothing else regarding the status of the city during the interim period. Israel retains the right to build anywhere it chooses in Jerusalem and continues to exercise sovereignty over the undivided city. Meanwhile, the Palestinians maintain that Jerusalem should be the capital of an independent Palestinian state.

Jerusalem is one issue on which the views of Israelis are unanimous: The city must remain the undivided capital of Israel. Still, efforts have been made to find some compromise that could satisfy Palestinian interests. For example, one suggestion is to allow the Palestinians to set up their capital in a West Bank suburb of Jerusalem — Abu Dis.

The Road to Jerusalem

Ben-Gurion Airport is located in the town of Lod (also known by its Greek name, Lydda), an ancient city dating to the time of the Canaanites. It was an exclusively Jewish town at the time of the Maccabees, but the inhabitants were all sold into slavery in 43 B.C.E. Much later, it became a home of the Crusaders. The remains of the 12th century church they built is now part of the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George.

When you leave Ben-Gurion Airport and head out on the road to Jerusalem, hopefully the adrenalin rush of finally reaching Israel will help you overcome jet lag. Tempting as it may be to sleep, you don't want to miss the scenery along the road.

One of the things that might strike you here and elsewhere in the country is how sparsely populated it is. Reading the newspaper and watching the news often gives the impression that the country is overflowing with people, but, even with a population of more than six million now, there's plenty of room for growth.

Besides some beautiful scenery as you approach Jerusalem, you might notice some monuments along the road and old, rusted military vehicles. These are reminders of the battles that took place along the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem corridor during Israel's fight for independence in 1948. Before the Arab states invaded on May 15, irregular forces were blockading the route, making it difficult and, at times, impossible to bring supplies to the Jews living in Jerusalem. Memorial at Kiryat Anavim to the fallen of Harel Palmach Brigade, who opened the road to Jerusalem

The Israeli paramilitary forces that preceded the founding of the Israel Defense Forces, the Haganah, Irgun and Lehi, battled Arab villagers and soldiers who infiltrated across the porous borders of Palestine after the United Nations partition decision to create a Jewish and an Arab state in Palestine. While the Jews accepted the decision, the Arabs did not, and almost immediately launched violent attacks to prevent the UN decision from being implemented.

It became vital for the Jewish forces to capture some of these Arab towns to keep the road open. On April 9, during one such battle, a combined force of Lehi and Irgun fighters attacked the village of Deir Yassin in one of the most notorious and misrepresented confrontations in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Memorial for those who fell in the battles for the road to Jerusalem.

After the Arab invasion and the war began in earnest, the situation in Jerusalem became even more bleak. An American soldier then played a key role in the battle for the roads. Michael Stone, better known as Mickey Marcus, was the one who decided it was necessary to construct the "Burma Road" (named for the road paved by the Allies from Burma to China during World War II), a make-shift winding path through the seemingly unpassable mountains around Jerusalem that bypassed the main road. This allowed the Jewish forces to relieve the Arab siege on June 9, just days before the United Nations negotiated a cease-fire. Had the convoys not gotten through, the Jews remaining in Jerusalem would have starved or been forced to surrender. For this courageous act and other contributions to the defense of Israel, David Ben-Gurion named Marcus a general, making him the first general in the army of Israel in nearly two thousand years (for a Hollywood version of the story, rent Cast a Giant Shadow, starring Kirk Douglas as Marcus and co-starring John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Yul Brynner).

The road provided relief to the beleaguered Jews in Jerusalem for nearly five months, until December 1948, when the road connecting the Nachshon and Shimshon Junctions was opened. The road has been restored and is now marked with signs indicating places of historic significance.

The road that is now the principal artery between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem was completed around the time that Anwar Sadat made his momentous visit to Israel, which paved the way [forgive the pun] for the peace treaty with Egypt. The road was not yet open to the public, but was used to transport Sadat for security reasons.

Nearby Sites

Along the road to Jerusalem, near the junction to the main artery south, is Latrun, the site of many famous military battles. Here, Joshua commanded the sun to stand still and the Maccabees, Romans, Crusaders, Arabs and British marched through here on the way to Jerusalem. In Israel's War for Independence, some of the fiercest fighting of the war took place at Latrun. From 1948 to 1967, the Israelis were unable to gain control of the road and had to build a detour to circumvent the Arab legion. Known as no-man’s land, the UN had to supervise this area of land, until it was retaken by Israel in 1967.

Anyone who ever liked playing with soldiers and tanks as a kid, or still finds military hardware and strategy of interest, will love the Museum of the Israel Defense Forces Armored Division. The museum has a memorial to the brigade that fought here and more than 100 tanks used in Israel’s wars are displayed. You can climb on some of the earliest tanks made and compare them to ultra-modern versions built by Israel’s own military-industrial complex and those imported from the United States.

Ideal especially for younger kids is nearby Mini Israel, a park where you can tour a miniaturized version of the major landmarks in Israel.

The Latrun Monastery, which was founded in 1890 by a group of Trappist monks from France, is across from the tank museum. Damaged in World War I, the monastery was restored and rebuilt in 1927. The monks have taken a vow of silence, but those selling wine grown from the local vineyards to tourists are given a special dispensation to speak.

Another interesting site is the remains of a 12th century Crusader fortress, Le Toron des Chevaliers. Saladin wrecked the fortress on his march to stop Richard the Lion-Heart from advancing into Jerusalem. Next to the Crusader fort is an abandoned British police station, which was held by the Arabs in the 1948 war and later used by the Jordanians.

Roughly half-way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv is the Neot Kedumim Biblical Landscape Reserve. With more than 600 acres, this beautiful expanse is a living museum in which every plant mentioned in the Bible and Talmud can be found growing. Trails devoted to different sections of the Bible — The Forest of Milk and Honey, the Dale of the Song of Songs, Isaiah's Vineyard — are designed to bring the ancient texts to life.

The site of a key battle in the 1948 war is Castel, which is atop a mountain 2,600 feet high along the road to Jerusalem, about 6 miles outside the city. The city is named for a fortress built in Roman times. During the mandate period, an Arab village occupied this strategic high ground and the Haganah decided in early 1948 it was necessary to take the hilltop to keep open the road to Jerusalem. After a fierce battle, the village was conquered on April 9. Today, the site has a model of the battles.

Just off the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway is Bet Shemesh, a historic town that dates back to the third century B.C.E. The city is mentioned numerous times in the Bible, including I Samuel 5, when it is the site of the recovery of the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines. Recent archeological findings indicate that settlement continued throughout the Temple and Roman periods. The modern town was originally founded as a farm by Bulgarian immigrants in 1895, and was later the scene of heavy fighting during the War of Independence. Today, the primarily Orthodox town is home to some 21,000 inhabitants, many of them immigrants from North America and England.

The Old City

In the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones threatens to blow up the Ark of the Covenant. His nemesis pats the ark and says: "You and I are just passing through history. This is history." That is the feeling one gets in the Old City of Jerusalem. Just walking through the narrow streets and alleys, never mind the shrines holy to three faiths, one is immersed in history.

The Old City covers roughly 220 acres (one square kilometer). The surrounding walls date to the rule of the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566). Work began on them in 1537 and was not completed until 1541.

The Old City has a total of 11 gates, but only seven are open (Jaffa, Zion, Dung, Lions’ [St. Stephen's], Herod’s, Damascus [Shechem] and New).

Israel Fact
Jews aren't worried about the Golden Gate being closed. As one tour guide put it, "If the Messiah came this far, he'd find a way in."

One of the closed gates is the Golden Gate, located above ground level and below the Temple Mount. It is only visible from outside the city. According to Jewish tradition, when the Messiah comes, he will enter Jerusalem through this gate. To prevent him from coming, the Muslims sealed the gate during the rule of Suleiman.

You may notice the original gates are angled so that you can't enter directly into the city without making a sharp 90-degree angle turn. This was to prevent enemies on horseback from charging full-speed, straight ahead through them, and to make it difficult to use a long battering ram to break them down. Also, you can see above some of the gates, such as Zion Gate, outside the Armenian and Jewish quarters, a hole through which boiling liquids could be poured on attackers.

The main entrance to the city is the Jaffa Gate, built by Suleiman in 1538. The name in Arabic, Bab el-Halil or Hebron Gate, means "The Beloved," and refers to Abraham, the beloved of God who is buried in Hebron. A road allows cars to enter the city here. It was originally built in 1898 when Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visited Jerusalem. The ruling Ottoman Turks opened it so the German Emperor would not have to dismount his carriage.

The Four Quarters

The Old City is divided into four neighborhoods, which are named according to the ethnic affiliation of most of the people who live in them. These quarters form a rectangular grid, but they are not equal in size. The dividing lines are the street that runs from Damascus Gate to the Zion Gate — which divides the city into east and west — and the street leading from the Jaffa Gate to Lion's gate — which bifurcates the city north and south. Entering through the Jaffa Gate and traveling to David Street places the Christian Quarter on the left. On the right, as you continue down David Street, you'll enter the Armenian Quarter. To the left of Jews Street is the Muslim Quarter, and, to the right, is the Jewish Quarter.

A great way to visit the Old City is simply to wander through the labyrinthine paths and let yourself get lost. For safety reasons, it's best not to travel alone and to be careful about wandering beyond the main thoroughfares of the Muslim Quarter. It is also prudent to explore during the day, though the views of many of the sites -- when you know how to find them -- are often best at night.

Just inside Jaffa Gate, on the left beyond the Tourist Information Office, is a small enclosure with two graves nearly hidden beneath the trees. These are believed to be the graves of the two architects whom Suleiman had rebuild the city walls. They were supposedly murdered either because the Sultan wanted to be sure they could never build anything more impressive for anyone else, or because he was angered by their failure to include Mount Zion within the walls.

David's Tower

From the Jaffa Gate side of the city, the most striking landmark is the Citadel, which is marked by David's Tower, a misnomer given that the cylindrical structure dates from the 16th century. By contrast, the tall, square tower is 2,000 years old and was built by Herod. Inside the Citadel is a courtyard and museum with exhibits on the history of the Citadel and Old City.

The best way to immerse yourself in the city is simply to head straight down David Street from Jaffa Gate into the Arab market, the souk, where you can expect to be verbally accosted by shopkeepers trying to entice you into their stores and to keep you occupied long enough to buy something. It's a great place to bargain, but keep in mind the shopping tips offered under trip preparation.

The Souk

As you make your way through the souk, you'll reach different forks. Head to the left to go toward the Christian or Muslim Quarter and the right to reach the Jewish Quarter. The path to the major shrines, the Western Wall, Temple Mount and Church of the Holy Sepulcher, are not very well marked, but anyone you ask should be able to direct you.

If you head toward the Muslim Quarter, or enter the Old City coming from the North from Mea She'arim or somewhere else off Suleiman Street, you'll want to look for Damascus Gate. This is where most Arabs enter the city and you'll find a bustling open-air market filled with people, carts, food and trinkets. Below the gate is a surviving arch built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in 135 as the main entrance to the city he called Aelia Capitolina.

The Jewish Quarter

The current Jewish Quarter, which today looks almost brand new and usually sparkling clean, dates to roughly 1400. The oldest synagogues — the Elijah the Prophet and Yohanan Ben Zakkai — are roughly 400 years-old. These synagogues are below street level because at the time they were built Jews and Christians were prohibited from building anything higher than the Muslim structures.

In the main plaza, an arch stretches skyward where one of the walls of the Hurva Synagogue once stood. Originally the Great Synagogue, the Hurva was built in the 16th century, but was destroyed by the Ottomans. The synagogue was rebuilt in the 1850's, but was damaged in the 1948 war and then destroyed after the Jordanians took control of the Old City. Some consideration has been given to rebuilding the synagogue, but, for now the arch remains as a memorial. Nearby is the Ramban Synagogue, named for Rabbi Moshe Ben-Nahman — the Ramban — who helped rejuvenate the Jewish community in Jerusalem in 1267, after it had been wiped out by the Crusaders.

Just off the plaza is the Cardo, which was a Byzantine road, roughly the equivalent of an eight-lane highway, that ran through the heart of the city. Today, a small area is preserved with some of the original Roman columns. Just beyond the columns is an underground mall with a number of Jewish stores and art galleries. This is a good place to purchase Judaica, and it is possible to haggle with shopkeepers. Compare the prices with the shops downtown before you buy.

The Jewish Quarter of today is located on the remains of the upper city from the Herodian period (37 B.C.E-70 C.E.). The Wohl Archaeological Museum contains what are now the underground remains of a residential quarter where wealthy families belonging to the Jerusalem aristocracy and priesthood constructed homes overlooking the Temple Mount. Some archaeologists believe the palace of the Hasmoneans (also known as the Maccabees) is among the ruins.

Israel Fact
Since the 2nd century, refuse has been hauled out of the city through Dung Gate, hence the name.

Two gates lead into the Jewish Quarter. One, just outside the Western Wall plaza, is the Dung Gate. The other is Zion Gate. If you want to bypass most of the tourists, take the path from Yemin Moshe down the hill, across Jaffa Road and up the snake path along the wall to Zion Gate. This was the last gate constructed (in 1540), probably because Mount Zion was inadvertently let outside the city walls. In Arabic it is known as "the Prophet David's Gate" because it faces Mount Zion where David is supposed to be buried. Like other fortress gates, this was built in an L-shape to prevent armies on horseback from charging through the entrance. Today, you only have to worry about cars charging through.

The Western Wall

When Rome destroyed the Second Temple in 70 C.E., only one outer wall remained standing. The Romans probably would have destroyed that wall also, but it must have seemed too insignificant to them; it was not even part of the Temple itself, just an outer wall surrounding the Temple Mount. For the Jews, however, this remnant of what was the most sacred building in the Jewish world quickly became the holiest spot in Jewish life. Throughout the centuries, Jews from throughout the world traveled to Palestine, and immediately headed for the Kotel ha-Ma'aravi (the Western Wall) to thank God. The prayers offered at the Kotel were so heartfelt that non-Jews began calling the site the "Wailing Wall."

A large plaza offers access to the Wall. You may take pictures — except on Shabbat — from outside the fenced enclosure near the Wall. The area is open 24-hours and is especially nice to visit when it is quiet late at night or during holidays and bar-mitzvahs when the area is filled with worshipers.

The area near the Wall is divided by a fence — a mechitza — with a small area for women only on one side and a larger area for men on the other. If you don't have a yarmulke, a box at the entrance has paper ones to use while you're near the Wall.

Go right up to the Wall and feel the texture of the stones and take in the awesome size of the structure. The largest stone in the wall is 45 feet long, 15 feet deep, 15 feet high, and weighs more than one million pounds. The Wall is 65 feet (20 meters) high.

Israel Fact
A Jew goes to the Wall every year and puts a prayer in the crack saying: "God please help me win the lottery." Year after year he loses. Finally, after several years, God speaks to him: "Nudnick, will you go and buy a ticket."

Praying at the Wall is a unique experience, one that makes believers feel as close as it is possible to get to the Almighty. You'll notice scraps of paper in the Wall when you are standing up close. These kvitlach, are messages and prayers that people write and put in the Wall, hoping they will be answered.

Entering a tunnel at the prayer plaza, one turns northwards into a medieval complex of subterranean vaulted spaces and a long corridor with rooms on either side. Incorporated into this complex is a Roman and medieval structure of vaults, built of large dressed limestone. The vaulted complex ends at Wilson's Arch, named after the explorer who discovered it in the middle of the 19th century.

Along the outer face of the Herodian western wall of the Temple Mount, a long narrow tunnel was dug slowly under the supervision of archeologists. As work progressed under the buildings of the present Old City, the tunnel was systematically reinforced with concrete supports. A stretch of the Western Wall — nearly 1,000 feet (300 meters) long — was revealed in pristine condition, exactly as constructed by Herod. In this confined space, you are walking on the original pavement from the Second Temple period and following in the footsteps of the pilgrims who walked here 2,000 years ago on their way to participate in the rituals on the Temple Mount.

At the end of this man-made tunnel, a 65 foot (20 meters) long section of a paved road and an earlier, rock-cut Hasmonean aqueduct leading to the Temple Mount were uncovered. A short new tunnel leads outside to the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews oppose organized women's prayer services at the Wall; prayer services they maintain, may only be conducted by males. Public pressure has grown over the years to allow women to pray collectively at the Kotel. Similarly, Jews from the Conservative and Reform movements have been fighting with the Orthodox authorities who control access to the Wall for the right to conduct their own services. Clashes have unfortunately turned violent in recent years; however, the political trend has been moving in the direction of greater pluralism.

Near the Wall, men are often approached by Orthodox Jews who want them to put on tefillin. A few rabbis also hang out in the area and will approach young people and ask them for the time or strike up a conversation. Their intent is to persuade you to go with them to a yeshiva. Going with them can be a rewarding experience -- some people stay for years -- but don't let yourself be intimidated or misled about their purpose.

The Muslim Quarter and Temple Mount

Around the corner from the Western Wall, below the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount, is the Ophel Archeological Garden. This excavation reveals 2,500 years of Jerusalem's history in 25 layers of ruins from the structures of successive rulers. The ancient staircase and the Hulda Gate, through which worshippers entered the Second Temple compound, and the remnants of a complex of royal palaces of the 7th century Muslim period are among the antiquities excavated.

A path up from the Western Wall plaza leads to the Temple Mount, or Haram es-Sharif (the Noble Enclosure in Arabic). This 40 acre plateau is dominated by two shrines, the Dome of the Rock (which is not a mosque) and the al-Aksa mosque. The shrines, built in the seventh century, made definitive the identification of Jerusalem as the "Remote Place" that is mentioned in the Koran.

Israel Fact
The Dome of the Rock is often incorrectly referred to as the "Mosque of Omar" after the Arab caliph Omar Ibn-Khatib who built a mosque nearby. The Dome of the Rock was built 50 years later, in 691, by the Ummayyad caliph, Abd el-Malik.

Muslims remove their shoes and express their devotion to Allah inside the Dome of the Rock, which was built around the rock on which Abraham bound his son Isaac to be sacrificed before God intervened. According to some old maps and traditions, this is the center of the earth. This is also the place where the Koran says Mohammed ascended to heaven. Muslim tradition also holds that the rock tried to follow the Prophet, whose footprints are said to be on the rock. For many years, pilgrims would chip off pieces of the rock to take home with them, but glass partitions now prevent visitors from taking souvenirs. A special wooden cabinet next to the rock holds strands of Mohammed's hair.

Under the rock is a chamber known as the Well of the Souls. This is where it is said that all the souls of the dead congregate.

The Al-Aksa mosque (Ministry of Tourism)

At the southern end of the Temple Mount is the gray-domed al-Aksa mosque. The name means "the distant one," and refers to the fact that it was the most distant sanctuary visited by Mohammed. It is also the place where Mohammed experienced the "night journey," which is why it is considered the third holiest Islamic shrine after Mecca and Medina. In 1951, King Abdullah of Transjordan (Jordanian King Abdullah's great-grandfather) was assassinated in front of the mosque.

Between the mosques is a great water fountain used by Muslims to wash their feet before entering the holy places. Visitors must also remove their shoes. Both mosques are closed to tourists during the five times each day when Muslims pray. The Temple Mount also has a small museum .

A radical group of Orthodox Jews have periodically issued threats against the Muslim shrines in hopes of rebuilding the Temple there. These threats are treated seriously by the Israeli authorities and the group is kept away from the Temple Mount. More mainstream Orthodox opinion forbids Jews from walking on the Temple Mount because of the possibility of unwittingly defiling the place where sacrifices were once offered. Non-Orthodox Jews typically accept the opinion of other authorities who argue the sanctity of the Temple Mount ended when the Temple and altar were destroyed and that it is permissible for Jews to go there so long as they show respect for what was once a holy place.

Despite the name, the Muslim Quarter is also the site of many important Christian sites, including the Church of St. Anne, the Convent of the Sisters of Zion, and the Ecce Homo Church. The Via Dolorosa begins in this section of the city and most of the Way of the Cross is actually in the Muslim rather than the Christian Quarter.

Most Muslims who live inside the Old City have homes in the Muslim Quarter, but this is an area where Jews resided for decades. In recent years, some Jews have moved back to this part of the city, an act viewed by Muslims and many others as unnecessarily provocative, though the Jewish residents would argue they have every right to live anywhere in their capital.

The Ramparts

Visitors tour the inside of the Old City of Jerusalem, but most do not know they can climb on top of the ramparts to get a different perspective. Not only do you get a spectacular view of the city beyond the walls, you get a unique look, especially in the Muslim Quarter, at how people live inside the city.

The path along the walls can be accessed from Jaffa, Damascus, Lion's and Zion Gates. The entrances are surprisingly difficult to find, but worth the effort.

The walls are approximately two-and-a-half miles long. It is not possible to circumnavigate the city atop the walls. The street separates the Citadel and Jaffa Gate at one end of the city. At the opposite end, the wall walk ends at St. Stephen's (Lion's Gate), because you cannot walk along the wall surrounding the Temple Mount. This is where the walk beginning at the Jaffa Gate ends. The walk from the Citadel ends short of the Dung Gate, opposite the Jewish Quarter.

From the Citadel, it is possible to look at what once was a moat surrounding Herod's palace. The Citadel was built by the Crusaders in the Middle Ages as a lookout to guard the road to Jaffa. The walk actually ends atop the police station. Beyond the walls, one gets a spectacular view of the new city, Yemin Moshe, the hotels, and shopping mall outside Jaffa Gate.

As one walks around the wall, you can look inside at an Armenian seminary and a huge vacant lot in one of the most ancient parts of the Old City. It is no doubt invaluable as real estate and as an archaeological site. The Armenian authorities, however, will not allow any excavations.

From the top of the wall, you can see the 1948 border where Arabs shot at Jews living in Yemin Moshe, identifiable by its non-functioning windmill, until the border was settled with Jordan. Just to the right is the King David Hotel and behind it the tip of the YMCA tower is just visible. The Sheraton Hotel and the other few “skyscrapers,” also hotels, mark the skyline of what is otherwise a low-level city.

Israel Fact
Lions' Gate has near its crest four figures of lions, two on the left and two on the right. Legend has it that Sultan Suleiman placed the figures there because he believed that if he did not construct a wall around Jerusalem he would be killed by lions. Christians call it St. Stephen's Gate because he is said to have been martyred nearby. The Israeli assault to recapture the Old City in 1967 was made through this gate.

It is also possible to see the cemetery of Dormition Abbey just beyond the SE corner of the walls. This particular route is separated from the Jewish Quarter by a road inside the wall so that it is not possible to see much. Beyond the walls, however, it is possible to get a panoramic view of what the rest of the world calls the occupied territory. Closer to the Old City, it is possible to see the Arab village of Silwan and, if someone points it out, the City of David excavations. Toward the exit it is possible to see large depressions that are the ruins of cisterns from the 4th and 5th century Byzantine period.

The path along the ramparts in the Muslim Quarter is even more interesting. Making your way toward the Temple Mount from Damascus Gate, it is possible to look inside the courtyards of Muslim homes. Outside, across Suleiman Street, you can see the Rockefeller Museum, which houses antiquities found from archaeological excavations and other exhibits. When you reach the far corner of the City, you can get a wonderful view of Mount Scopus, the Hebrew University, Mount of Olives and various churches.

The Way of the Cross

The best way to follow the Via Dolorosa, or way of suffering, is to enter Lion's Gate (St. Stephen's Gate) from the eastern side of the City (beside the Temple Mount). This is the route Christians believe Jesus traveled carrying the cross from his trial to the place of his crucifixion and burial. The 14 stations commemorate incidents along the way. The first seven stations wind through the Muslim Quarter. The last five are inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The tradition of following the Via Dolorosa dates to the Byzantine period.

Station I -- The place where Pontius Pilate's judgment hall once stood and Jesus was condemned to death.

Station II -- The Monastery of the Flagellation where Jesus was given the cross.

Station III -- The spot where Jesus fell under the weight of the cross for the first time.

Station IV -- Where Mary came out of the crowd to see her son.

Station V -- Simon the Cyrene was taken out of the crowd by the Romans to help Jesus carry the cross.

Station VI -- Recalls the tradition of Veronica stepping up to Jesus and wiping his face.

Station VII -- Where Jesus fell for the second time.

Station VIII -- The place where Jesus consoled the women of Jerusalem.

Station IX -- Where Jesus fell for the third time.

Station X -- Jesus is stripped of his garments.

Station XI -- Jesus is nailed to the cross.

Station XII -- The place where Jesus died on the cross.

Station XIII -- The spot where Jesus' body was taken down.

Station XIV -- The tomb of Jesus.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is revered by Christians as the site of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the 4th century, Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine and a convert to Christianity, traveled to Palestine and identified the location of the crucifixion; her son then built a magnificent church. The church was destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries. The building standing today dates from the 12th century.

Control of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is zealously guarded by different denominations. The Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Armenians and Copts are among those that oversee different parts of the Church. In the 12th century, fighting among different denominations over who should keep the key to the church led the Arab conqueror Saladin to entrust the key to the Muslim Nuseibeh and Joudeh families.

Today, eight centuries later, the 10-inch metal key is still safeguarded in the house of the Joudeh family. Every morning at dawn, Wajeeh Nuseibeh, who took over the job of doorkeeper from his father 20 years ago, picks up the key and opens the massive wooden church doors. Every night at 8:00 p.m. he returns to shut and lock them.

For years, Israel tried to convince the Christian denominations to open a second exit to the Church for safety reasons. In 1840, a devastating fire caused a panic that led to many deaths, and Israeli officials became especially concerned about the danger with the expected crush of tourists arriving for the year 2000 celebrations. Agreement was finally reached in June 1999 to open another exit, but this has provoked a new dispute over who will have the key to the new door.

The Armenian Quarter

The Old City is said to be divided into quarters because of the concentration of Jews, Christians, Muslims and Armenians in corners of the nearly square area enclosed by the Turkish walls. The Armenian section is actually the smallest, comprising about one-sixth of the area of the Old City. If you enter the city from Jaffa Gate and turn left, walk past the Citadel and police station and continue down the narrow street – watch out for cars! – you'll run smack into the Armenian Quarter. From Zion Gate, the first thing you will see are the Armenian shops where you can find beautiful hand-made ceramics.

Israel Fact
The Armenian-style ceramics in the Arab market are usually mass produced. You get the real thing in the Armenian Quarter and can even watch the artisans create their masterpieces.

The Armenians claim a presence in Jerusalem since the first century when an Armenian battalion fought under the Roman emperor Titus. The Armenians adopted Christianity as their official religion in 286 C.E., even before the Romans and, for the last 1,700 years, have been ensconced in Jerusalem, frequently finding themselves between warring factions. The Armenian Quarter was established in the 14th century. Today, approximately 2,500 Armenians live in Jerusalem and another 1,500 elsewhere in Israel.

The Armenians are not Palestinians, but they generally sympathize with their political agenda, although the Armenians have not supported the idea of Palestinian control over the Old City. In fact, during the Camp David Summit, leaders of the Armenian church insisted the Christian and Armenian Quarters were inseparable and expressed their preference for international guarantees.

The Armenian section is almost a city within the city. The walled compound surrounds the Church of St. James, the Convent of the Olive Tree, the Armenian Patriarch residency, a monastery and a number of shops.

St. James Church, built in the mid-12th century, is named for the brother of Jesus, who was the first bishop of the Jerusalem church and for James the Apostle. It is renowned for its beauty. The domed ceiling is illuminated by gold and silver lamps. Jesus' brother James is said to be buried in the central nave and beyond the wooden doors inlaid with mother-of-peal and tortoise shell is a shrine where the head of St. James is buried.

The St. James Monastery, which takes up about two-thirds of the quarter, houses gifts left by pilgrims over the last 1,000 years. It also includes a quiet residential area. The Gulbenkian Library is also inside the monastery. It holds more than 100,000 volumes, many dating back hundreds of years. The Mardigian Museum is nearby and it contains exhibits on Armenian art and culture and the genocide of 1915.

Oddly enough, only one Armenian church is in the Quarter, but four other denominations (Syrian, Maronite Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Anglican) have churches in this part of the city.

Jerusalem - Beyond the Old City Walls

The City of David

The original City of David, Jerusalem of ancient times, is not synonymous with the Old City. In fact, it was located on a narrow ridge south of the present-day Old City. This is the traditional site of King David's tomb. The area is also sacred to Christians because the "coenaculum" or room of the Last Supper is located nearby.

The City of David borders the Kidron Valley where the Gihon Spring, the city's water source, is located. King David understood then, as do Israel's leaders today, that control of the water supply is vital to the nation's survival.

One of David's successors, Hezekiah, King of Judah in the 8th century B.C.E., also recognized the importance of Jerusalem's water supplies. After Judah was invaded by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, Hezekiah built a tunnel to divert the city's water supply to a reservoir. The men dug the tunnel from both ends at once and met in the middle. It is possible to wade through the water still in the tunnel and follow its snaking path about a third of a mile (533 meters) under the city and exit at the Pool of Siloam.

Yemin Moshe

In 1860, British philanthropist Moses Montefiore built new housing on a hill overlooking the Old City to help relieve the congestion and poverty in the Jewish Quarter. The first of several developments was called Mishkenot Sha'ananim. Today, a unique guest house is located there, which is used by visiting writers and artists.

This area is called Yemin Moshe, and easily identifiable by the large windmill at the top of the hill overlooking the Hinnom Valley on King David Street. The windmill, was originally built to serve the milling needs of the residents of Montefiore's new developments, but it was never operational because of the lack of wind where it was situated.

A lovely (and pricey) restaurant is also located just down the stairs from the windmill, which offers a spectacular view of the Old City walls. To the left are much sought after homes in what was once an artists' colony. The popularity of the area, however, has driven prices up to the point where only one art studio remains.

A great route into the Old City is to walk down the stairs past the windmill and through the Yemin Moshe gates to the street and walk across and up the hill to Zion Gate. This takes you into the city right near the Jewish Quarter and is a relatively quick way to get to the Western Wall.

Almost directly across the street from the windmill is Liberty Bell Park, which was established in honor of America's bicentennial. A model of the Liberty Bell is inside the park. Both the original and copy are inscribed: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" (Leviticus 25:10).

Walking downhill toward downton on the same side of the street as Yemin Moshe is another beautiful park that also offers a great view of the Old City and, just beyond that, the famous King David Hotel, the most luxurious (read expensive) hotel in Israel. Along with its reputation for its accommodations, the hotel is probably best known as the target of a bomb by the Irgun, the Jewish underground organization led by Menachem Begin during the fight to gain independence from Britain. The hotel was then the British military headquarters. The bombing on July 22, 1946, killed 91 people.

Across the street from the King David is the International YMCA, one of the most beautiful Ys in the world. Its 152-foot tower is visible from much of the city and the view from the top is unparalleled. The Y also has a hotel that offers reasonable accommodations and inexpensive meals.

Mea She'arim

In 1873, Orthodox Jews founded a settlement a short distance from the Old City, just north of Jaffa Road. It was just the second neighborhood built outside the city walls, and was initially home to 100 families. The name Mea She'arim means "one hundred gates" and comes from the biblical passage, "Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold" (Genesis 26:12).

Today, Mea She'arim is a unique neighborhood where strict interpretations of Jewish tradition rule and people dress in a manner common to Jewish ghettos of 18th and 19th century Europe. Women wear long-sleeved shirts and skirts and those who are married usually have shaved heads covered by wigs (sheitels) or scarves. The men wear long black coats and fedoras or round, fur-covered shtreimels. Some have long white stockings and knicker-like pants, and most have tzitzit hanging below their shirts. Young boys often have very long hair (their first haircuts usually are not until they're three) and older ones long sidecurls (peyis).

Mea She'arim is especially fascinating on Shabbat. People are constantly in the street, coming to or from shul. Dozens of tiny synagogues -- stiebels -- are scattered throughout the neighborhood. Men and women sit separately, usually on different floors of the bigger shuls. Go inside and you may find yourself in a world you don't recognize, where the prayers, songs and rituals are very different from those in even Orthodox synagogues elsewhere.

This is also the home of some of the more ardent guardians of Judaism, who put up barricades to prevent cars from driving by on Shabbat and protest the building of roads or archaeological excavations in areas they believe may have been Jewish burial sites.

Whatever your views on Orthodoxy, you should behave respectfully when in Mea She'arim and other religious neighborhoods. Signs are posted on buildings saying the Torah obligates women to dress appropriately. See our tips on how to dress.

Mount Scopus

Ever since the Hyatt chain built a luxury hotel on Mount Scopus, it has become a more common base from which to tour Jerusalem. Coming from downtown, however, it's quite a hike up to Scopus, so you'll probably want to go by taxi or bus. The main attraction is the spectacular panoramic view of the city, the Hebrew University and the Mount of Olives.

The Hebrew University is one of Israel's seven universities and an excellent school that has outstanding departments in a wide range of disciplines. The university also has numerous connections to the United States, from the large number of students who spend their junior year of college studying there, to the various institutes named after or funded by Americans. To name just two, there is the The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive.

The University opened in 1925 and was followed by the building of Hadassah Hospital in 1934. In April 1948, an Arab force ambushed a Jewish convoy on the way to Hadassah Hospital, killing 77 Jews, including doctors, nurses, patients, and the director of the hospital. Another 23 people were injured. Mount Scopus was subsequently isolated from the rest of Jerusalem by the Jordanians, and, though it remained under Israeli control, the university and hospital were both closed and relocated in West Jerusalem. After Jerusalem was retaken in 1967, they reopened.

A controversial addition to Mount Scopus was the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies built by the Mormons. A beautiful building with a stunning view of the city, it provoked a national debate because of concerns about Mormon missionary activities. The Mormons agreed not to proselytize in the city and they were subsequently allowed to create their center just down the street from the university.

The Mount of Olives

Visitors to the Mount of Olives stand on holy ground. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus stood on this hillside overlooking the Old City making prophesies that would change the world. According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah will come through the Golden Gate (or Gate of Mercy) of the Old City and bring about the resurrection of the dead in the cemetery on the Mount.

Unlike the lush expanses of grass associated with American cemeteries like Forest Lawn or Arlington, the Mount of Olives is a mountainside of stones. One does not even see flowers adorning the markers because Jews place a small stone on the grave to indicate they have visited.

The cemetery sits atop a hill that was once dotted with olive trees. Given the sanctity of the place, the cemetery's terrible condition comes as a shock. Grave stones are broken and scattered. Most of the damage dates to the Jordanian occupation (1948-1967).

According to Christian tradition, Jesus had a prophecy that Jerusalem would be destroyed and went down to the Mount of Olives with his followers on Palm Sunday. He then wandered around the city for about a week and taught his disciples in caves on the Mount of Olives.

On Thursday, the Jewish holiday of Passover, Jesus went to a building on Mount Zion (near where Dormition Abbey now stands at the southeast corner of the Old City) and ate the Last Supper. He and two disciples then left Jerusalem and went to Gethsemane and sat among the olive trees. The grove, at the base of the Mount, is maintained as it was nearly 2,000 years ago. The olive grove is within the walls of the Basilica of the Agony, which stands on the spot where Jesus prayed prior to his arrest. It is located on Jericho Road facing the Golden Gate.

Israel Fact
The olives of the oldest olive tree in the Garden of Gethsemane (derived from the Aramaic for "oil press"), where Jesus was arrested by the Romans, were flown to the Vatican for Pope John Paul II.

Inside the Basilica, pilgrims try to empathize with the suffering of Jesus. The church itself is spartan by European standards, though it has impressive murals depicting the events that took place in Gethsemane. A sculpture of thorns surrounds the spot in the middle of the church where Jesus prayed. A beautiful colored mosaic over the entrance depicts the acceptance of Jesus by the world.

After Jesus was arrested, he was taken a short distance up the hill to where Dominus Flevit ("The Lord Wept") now stands. It is beside the cemetery with a narrow road in between. The grounds also contain a cave where Jerusalemites buried their dead centuries ago. Families put the bodies of loved ones in sarcophagi. Some time later, after the flesh had rotted, the bones were removed and put In small boxes on shelves in caves. Some of these boxes are still in the cave. What is particularly significant about them is that Christian symbols were found carved on the tombs of people with Jewish names. These are the oldest remains of Jews who became the first converts to Christianity.

According to Christian tradition, after the crucifixion Jesus wandered 40 days on the Mount of Olives and ascended to heaven from a point on the hill. A small shrine inside the walls of the Greek Patriarchate contains stone stumps with crosses carved on the tops that mark the spot where the disciples watched the ascension.

Ironically, the Chapel of the Ascension is now run by the Muslims, who built a dome over the rock from which Jesus ascended to the heavens and upon which his footprint can be seen. The Chapel is off the Mount of Olives Road, just above the cemetery as you travel from Mount Scopus. Further down the road is the Tower of the Ascension, today a small Russian Orthodox Church, where Mary watched Jesus ascend to heaven.

Though it has no particular historical significance, the most impressive looking church in Jerusalem is probably the Church of Mary Magdalene. This is the building that looks like all the pictures you see of the Kremlin with golden onion domes rising from the trees.

From the Mount of Olives, you can also see the conical-roofed Absalom's Tomb and the pyramid-roofed Zechariah's Tomb. These are tombs of anonymous second century citizens of Jerusalem and have nothing to do with their biblical namesakes.

Ammunition Hill

Prior to the Six-Day War, Ammunition Hill was Jordan's most heavily fortified stronghold in divided Jerusalem. Its central bunker served as a command post, mess hall and storage area for weapons and other war materiel. A maze of trenches and pillboxes on the hill were connected with the bunker. The battle for Ammunition Hill was fierce and cost the lives of 24 Israeli paratroopers. As a result of the victory, Israeli forces could open the road to Mt. Scopus and the fall of the Old City was greatly facilitated. These two achievements were crucial to the reunification of the city. Today, a memorial and museum are on the site.

Ma’ale Adumim

Ma’ale Adumim is a suburb of Israel’s capital, barely three miles outside Jerusalem’s city limits, a ten-minute drive away. It was established by 23 families on a hilltop in 1975. Today, it is the largest Jewish city in the West Bank, with a population of 27,300. Approximately 6,000 people live in surrounding settlements that are included in what is referred to as the Ma’ale bloc. These communities are part of the “consensus” settlements; that is, those that most Israelis expect to be incorporated into Israel when its final borders are determined.

The heart of the city is located around King George Street, Jaffa Road and Ben-Yehuda Street. This is where you'll find a bustling pedestrian mall filled with people from all over the world, restaurants, souvenir shops and street musicians and artists. It is also where you can find some of the imports from America, such as McDonald's.

If you want a more "sophisticated" evening out, go for tea at the King David Hotel. To see where the foreign journalists congregate, go to the American Colony Hotel in East Jerusalem.

Jaffa Road leads into the Old City. If you head in the opposite direction, you'll pass Mahane Yehuda, the outdoor market where you'll find all sorts of fish, meat, vegetables, fruit and odds and ends. On Friday, the place is really hopping as people stock up on supplies for Shabbat.

Up King George Street toward Yemin Moshe, you'll see the impressive Great Synagogue just across from Independence Park and the Sheraton Hotel. Hechal Shlomo, adjoining the synagogue, is the former headquarters of the Sephardi and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbis.

The Israel Museum

Jerusalem is a wonderful city to explore on foot, but it is a large and hilly place and a few of the more interesting and important sites are not really within walking distance of the hotels where most visitors stay. They are easily accessible, however, by bus or taxi.

The Shrine of the Book (Ministry of Tourism)

One of the premier "modern" attractions in Jerusalem is the Israel Museum where the fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls are exhibited in a special building known as the Shrine of the Book. The distinctive white, domed-shaped ceiling of the building is modeled after the clay jars in which the scrolls were found. The scrolls are the oldest manuscripts of the Old Testament ever found.

The Museum also has a wonderful sculpture garden with masterpieces by Rodin, Henry Moore and others, galleries with works by modern and classical artists, including Rembrandt, Chagall, Picasso and Miró, and archaeological relics dating as far back as the Early Stone Age. The Museum is also known for having perhaps the world's finest collection of Judaica.

The Knesset

Not far from the Israel Museum are many of the Israeli government ministries and the Knesset, Israel's parliament. The Knesset took its name and fixed its membership at 120 from the Knesset Hagedolah (Great Assembly), the representative Jewish council convened in Jerusalem by Ezra and Nehemiah in the 5th century B.C.E.

The Knesset Menorah

When visiting the Knesset and other government offices, be sure to bring a passport. Security is tight and the lines to pass through the gates are sometimes long. Once inside the building, the highlight of the tour is the State Hall where three tapestries and a mosaic created by Marc Chagall decorate the walls and 12 mosaics cover the floor.

Just as most visitors to the U.S. Capitol are surprised when they find few, if any, members of Congress in the chambers most of the time, it is likely the Knesset will also be empty, or nearly so, unless a major issue is being debated while you are there. Unlike Congress, debates in the Knesset are free-wheeling, with frequent shouting and finger pointing. Like the British Parliament, the opposition also heckles the Prime Minister and other government officials.

Across from the entrance to the Knesset is the impressive bronze menorah given to Israel as a gift from the British government in 1956. It depicts events in Jewish history from the time of Moses to modern times. The inscription, from the prophet Zecharia, reads: “Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit says the Lord of Hosts.”

Also nearby are the new Israeli Supreme Court buildings, which have been acclaimed for their contemporary architecture.

The area around the Knesset and Supreme Court also has a beautiful garden, Gan Havradim, which is filled with roses from around the world.

Mount Herzl

As you head out of the center of town, up the hill on Herzl Street you'll reach the memorial park and cemetery dedicated to the founder of political Zionism, Theodor Herzl, whose tomb is at the summit of the mountain.

Along with Herzl, many of Israel's other leaders, such as former Prime Ministers Golda Meir and Levi Eshkol, are buried in the cemetery. Since his tragic murder in 1995, Yitzhak Rabin's grave has also become a magnet for tourists.

Israel's principal military cemetery — its Arlington — is also located here. If you've never been to a Jewish cemetery, you'll notice flowers are not placed at the graves; instead, it is traditional for visitors to place small stones on the tombstones.

Hadassah Hospital

Chagall's stained glass window representing Joseph.

One of the world's premier hospitals is about ten minutes further up the road in Ein Kerem. Besides being an internationally renowned medical facility and research institution, Hadassah Hospital is known for the spectacular stained glass windows of its synagogue. The 12 windows created by Marc Chagall represent the sons of Jacob from whom came the tribes of Israel. The hospital, founded by the women's Zionist organization, was originally built on Mt. Scopus. When that area was lost in the 1948 war, the modern hospital was built here in 1962.

Yad Vashem

A little beyond Mt. Herzl is the Israeli Holocaust museum. Yad Vashem was established by Israeli Law in 1953 to commemorate the six million Jews and their communities wiped out in the Holocaust. It has the largest and the most comprehensive archive and information repositories on the Holocaust, housing more than 50 million pages of documents and hundreds of thousands of photographs and films.

A dream I dreamt of terrible woe,
My people gone, alive no more.
I arose with a shout: "Oh no!, Oh no!"
The dream I dreamt -- It has become so!
"O God on high," shuddering, I cry,
"My people, dead! Wherefore and why?
Wherefore and why? In vain they died,
Not in war, fighting for their lives,
The young, the old, even wife and child,
They are no more -- lament the sorrow!
All day, all night, I weep and cry,
Wherefore, O God? Why, Adonai?"

--Yitzchak Katznelson

The Historical and Art Museums, as well as the Hall of Remembrance, the Valley of the Communities, the Children's Memorial, and other monuments attest to the tragic events that befell the Jewish people and instruct visitors to Yad Vashem on the uniqueness of the Holocaust and its universal lessons. The Hall of Names is part of an effort to collect the names of every Jewish man, woman and child murdered in the Shoah.

The Memorial Plaque of Oskar Schindler

Yad Vashem also pays tribute to the courageous non-Jews, such as Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg, who risked their lives to save Jews from certain death. These rescuers are awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations and given a certificate and a medal with the Talmudic inscription “Whoever saves a single soul, it is as if he had saved the entire world.” A tree is then planted on the walkway, marked by a plaque bearing the name and nationality of the Righteous Person.

The Jerusalem Forest

Some of the most impressive sites in Israel are natural ones. In Jerusalem and its outskirts are some magnificent forests. The Jerusalem Forest is not far from Mount Herzl and is an excellent place to physically contribute to the greening of Israel by planting your own tree.

Israel Fact
Americans are honored throughout Israel. For example, in Tel Aviv, Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson have streets named after them. George Washington Street is in Jerusalem and Martin Luther King has a street and memorial in his honor in the Galilee. A statue of Lincoln is in Ramat Gan and a replica of the Liberty Bell was built in Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Garden.

This forest is also home to a special memorial to President Kennedy. The building resembles the stump of a tree that was chopped down in its prime. It consists of 51 columns in a circle, representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Inside, an eternal flame burns in front of a bust of JFK. The surrounding trees were also planted in the President's honor.

Even this lengthy description of Jerusalem does not do justice to all there is to see and do. Get off the tour and immerse yourself in the city. Until you return, you will never be in a place like this again.

Jewish Virtual Library

Tel Aviv - Jaffa - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-25T19:00:00.000-04:00

Put simply, Tel Aviv is where the action is in Israel. The beaches are clean and white, the sea warm, the nightclubs hopping, the shopping plentiful and the restaurants appetizing. Stroll down the promenade along the sea or the beach itself during the day and down Dizengoff Street at night. Meet up at the sculpture fountain created by the acclaimed Israeli artist Yaacov Agam and go to a club, or just hang out and people-watch from an outdoor cafe. Tel Aviv is also a good base for exploring the northern and southern Mediterranean coasts.

History

Tel Aviv is the first all-Jewish city in modern times. Originally named Ahuzat Bayit, it was founded by 60 families in 1909 as a Jewish neighborhood near Jaffa. In 1910, the name was changed to Tel Aviv, meaning "hill of spring." The name was taken from Ezekiel 3:15, "...and I came to the exiles at Tel Aviv," and from a reference in Herzl's novel Altneuland, in which he foresaw the future Jewish state as a socialist utopia.

Most Jews were expelled from Jaffa and Tel Aviv by the Turks during World War I, but returned after the war when Britain received the mandate for Palestine.
Ben-Gurion reading Israel's Declaration of Independence.

The population of Tel Aviv gradually swelled, particularly as Jews were stimulated to leave predominantly Arab Jaffa by unrest in the 1920s. Arab forces in Jaffa shelled Tel Aviv in 1948 prior to the beginning of the actual war. Jewish forces responded by capturing the city two days before declaring independence. The declaration was made in the home of the city's mayor Meir Dizengoff.

Because Jerusalem was occupied by Jordan after Israel became an independent state in 1948, the temporary capital and home of the government offices was in Tel Aviv. Several government offices remain there and Tel Aviv is still home to foreign diplomats from countries (including the U.S.) that don't recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Modern Tel Aviv

Today, Tel Aviv is Israel's second largest city (after Jerusalem), with a population of 380,000, and among the big city problems it shares is traffic congestion. Things are more spread out in Tel Aviv than the smaller cities, but it's still often easier -- and faster -- to travel by foot. Walk along the Orange Routes, for example, to get acquainted with the city. Though much of the city is a drab gray, many buildings, especially along Rothschild Boulevard, actually have an interesting architectural pedigree that can be traced to the Bauhaus architecture of pre-Nazi Germany. There are over 5000 Bauhaus buildings, the largest number in any one city in the world. In fact, the city's “outstanding universal value” led UNESCO to recognize it as a “World Heritage Site." Tel Aviv is also known as, "The white city", named so in account of the the bright colors of the building style: white, off-white, light yellow. There are over 1,500 buildings marked for historic conservation in Tel Aviv.

Israel Fact
Fifty percent of the polished diamonds in the world came from Israel.

Tel Aviv is the country's business and cultural center. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, founded in 1953, and the Diamond Exchange, are two of major economic institutions in the city. For the arts, the Habima National Theater is excellent and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is world-class. The city also boasts several impressive museums and a top-flight university.

Though no Sears Tower or Empire State Building, the Azrieli Tower is the city’s tallest building, at 614 feet (the tallest in the country is Migdal Shaar Ayir in nearby Ramat Gan at 801 feet). Before the Observation Floor was opened to the public, Israel’s highest observation deck was the 433-foot-high rooftop of the Shalom Meir Tower, which had been Israel’s tallest building for 34 years. Due to terrorism threats, the Azrieli Towers’ mall, one of the busiest in Israel, is probably the world’s most secure shopping center.

In addition to Dizengoff, other streets filled with shops, galleries and restaurants worth strolling are Allenby and Ben Yehuda streets. Off Rehov HaCarmel, for example, you'll find an open-air market. If you walk north (opposite Jaffa) down the seashore, beyond the Yarkon River, you'll reach a hip area of restaurants and clubs around the intersection of Dizengoff and Yirmiyahu streets.

The Tel Aviv Museum on Sderot Shaul Hamelekh is home to magnificent works of art, particularly sculpture and paintings by local artists. Another popular museum is the home of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik. A small, less visited museum is devoted to Nahum Gutman, one of Israel's most well-known artists.

David Ben-Gurion's home in the center of Tel Aviv has also been turned into a museum. The modest digs are impressive because they show the simple way the country's most powerful politician lived. Besides a collection of awards and gifts assembled in the house, his awesome library of 20,000 volumes remains intact, filling much of the upper floor of the house and testifying to the man's thirst for knowledge.

A less well known museum is the Haganah Museum on Sderot Rothschild. It was set up in the apartment of the founder of the Haganah, Eliyahu Golomb. Despite being one of the most wanted men in Palestine, the British never found Golomb's home. Additions to the building now house collections of weapons and exhibits on the struggle for independence.

One can't miss attraction is Beth Hatefutsoth, the Museum of the Diaspora, on the campus of Tel Aviv University. It contains exhibits on the history of the Jewish people covering more than 2,500 years. The University itself is also a nice place to visit and a popular destination for foreign students spending time studying in Israel.

Tel Aviv University is in the suburb of Ramat Aviv. Another academic institution, Bar Ilan University is in the suburb of Ramat Gan. Some of the other well-known neighborhoods in Tel Aviv include the Orthodox enclave of B'nei Brak, the "Beverly Hills" of Israel, Savyon, and one Israel's earliest modern settlements, Petah Tikvah, which was founded in 1878.

Neve Tzedek

The beautiful area of Neve tzedek (Oasis of Justice) was actually the first neighborhood of Tel Aviv. It was established in 1887 on land that belonged to a political activist named Aaron Shlush. You can still see his house as well as other old buildings representative of the architecture of the early days of settlement in Israel. Don't miss the Suzanne Dellal Center for dance and theater, the home of the world famous BatSheva Dance Company. Neve Tzedek is the home of many artists whose works are displayed throughout the area. Pull up a chair at a sidewalk cafe and relax before continuing your tour.

Jaffa

Jaffa has been a fortified port city overlooking the Mediterranean Sea for more than 4,000 years. It is one of the world's most ancient towns. It has been the target of conquerors throughout the ages because of its strategic locations between Asia, Africa and Europe.

Israel Fact
According to the Bible, Jonah left from Jaffa on his fateful voyage before encountering the whale. Christians learn hat St. Peter miraculously restored life to Tabitha in Jaffa.

Up until the early 20th century, when visitors came to Palestine, they usually arrived in Jaffa. The coast there is too rocky for ships to land, so they usually had to anchor offshore and send their passengers to the port in longboats and dinghies.

Today, Jaffa is a popular tourist destination because of its beautifully restored old quarter filled with galleries, shops and restaurants. One of the few religious sites is the house of Simon the Tanner, where, according to the New Testament, Peter first realized the gospel message had to be extended beyond the confines of Judaism.

You can walk from Tel Aviv, but it's a good 40 minutes, and once you get past the strip of hotels not as well-trafficked, especially at night. The easiest spot to locate is Hagana Square where the clock tower stands. It was built in 1906 by the Turkish Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, to commemorate his 30th anniversary as ruler.

If you head toward the minaret towering over the Mahmoudiya Mosque, you'll find yourself in a Middle Eastern buffet, with cafes and kiosks selling all of the region's delicacies.

The Visitors' Center in Kedumim Square has exhibits of archaeological remains and the history of Jaffa. The square is a good place to sit and have a picnic and people watch. At night, bands often play here. The streets off the square are lined with shops, nightclubs and cafes.

The ancient port is now a modern sailing facility and a tourist attraction with restaurants and entertainment.

Jewish Virtual Library

Caesarea - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-25T18:03:00.002-04:00

Thinking Roman city, right? What gave it away? Yes, Caesarea is a city that Herod the Great dedicated to Caesar Augustus more than 2,000 years ago. Today, it is one of Israel's major tourist attractions and an increasingly popular place for Israel's elite to make their homes.

History

The aqueduct, originally built by Herod in the first century BCE, was repaired and expanded by the Romans in the second century CE. It conveyed water to the city from springs at the foot of Mt. Carmel over 10 kms away.

Caesarea was originally called Straton's Tower after its founder Straton, who is believed to have been a ruler of Sidon in the 4th century BCE. In 96 BCE the city was captured by Alexander Yannai and remained in the Hasmonean kingdom until it became an autonomous city by Pompey. After being for some time in the possession of Cleopatra, ruler of Egypt, it was returned by Augustus to Herod.

Once the site of a Phoenician port, over the course of 12 years Herod built Caesarea into the grandest city other than Jerusalem in Palestine, with a deep sea harbor (called Sebastos, i.e., Augustus in Greek), aqueduct, hippodrome and magnificent amphitheater that remain standing today. Herod renamed the city Caesarea in honor of the emperor. The population of Caesarea was half gentile and half Jewish, often causing disputes among the people. In 6 CE, Caesarea became the home of the Roman governors (Procurators) of Judea. The city remained the capital of Roman and Byzantine Palestine.

The Great Revolt of 66-70 CE started in Caesarea when the Jewish and Syrian communities began fighting over a pagan ceremony conducted on Shabbat near the entrance of a synagogue. The Romans ignored the Jewish protests of this provocation and violence soon spread throughout the country. When the Romans finally quelled the revolt, and razed Jerusalem, Caesarea became the capital of Palestine, a status it maintained until the Roman Empire was Christianized by the Emperor Constantine in 325 CE.

Caesarea was also the site where the Romans tortured and executed Rabbi Akiva following the Bar Kochba revolt in 135 CE.

Caesarea is an important site in Christian history. It was the place where Pontius Pilate governed during the time of Jesus. This was where Simon Peter converted the Roman, Cornelius, the first non-Jew to believe in Jesus. Paul was also imprisoned for two years in Caesarea. During the 3rd century, Caesarea was a center of Christian learning. In the 4th century, the site converted to Christianity and became a major center of the Christian Roman Empire.

In 640 CE, Caesarea was the last Palestinian city to fall to the Muslim invaders. After the Muslims swept out of Arabia and across the Middle East, driving out the Romans, Palestine was largely neglected. In 1101, the Crusaders captured the city under the leadership of Baldwin I, only to lose it in 1187 to Saladin. Under the Crusader rule, the Jewish community of Caesaria dwindled until in 1170 only 20 Jews remained. From 1251-1252, the city was entirely reconstructed by Louis IX.

In 1265, Caesarea fell to Baybars, the Mamluk sultan of Egypt, who destroyed the city, which remained in ruins until 1884. In 1884, a small fishing village was established on the remains at Caesarea by Muslim refugees from Bosnia. The city was abandoned by its inhabitants during the War of Independence (1948).

Relics

Today, the amphitheater is not only a spectacular relic of the past, but a modern performing venue where concerts are frequently held. Inside the gate of the theater is a plaque with a replica (the original is in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem) of the inscription found during excavations in 1959-63 with the words "TIBERIVM" and "TIVS PILATUS," references to Emperor Tiberius and Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea at the time of Jesus. This was an important find because it is the only archaeological evidence of Pilate's existence.

Undoubtedly, you'll be informed that the entrances to the theater are known as vomitoria. The name does not come from the reaction of patrons to a show, but is simply a word meaning vaulted passageway. The inside of the theater is not only impressive as a remnant of the glory days of Rome, but for its spectacular view of the Mediterranean.

In 21 BCE, Herod the Great built a massive, two-part harbor, an inner and outer harbor, at Caesarea. The all-weather harbor was constructed by using hydraulic concrete to create breakwaters in the sea. The harbor took twelve years to construct. Herod named the harbor Sebastos, in honor of Emperor Augustus.

The Roman historian Flavius Josephus describes the harbor; "the king triumphed over nature and constructed a harbour larger than the Piraeus, including other deep roadsteads within its recesses. Notwithstanding the totally recalcitrant nature of the site, he grappled with the difficulties so successfully, that the solidity of his masonry defied the sea, while its beauty was such as if no obstacle had existed."

Archeological evidence suggests that the outer harbor had serious structural problems by the end of the 1st century CE. Today the Herodian breakwaters are submerged 5m below the water surface.

The hippodrome built by Herod also is still identifiable, though it is now a banana field. Considerably smaller than the great Circus Maximus in Rome, Herod's arena still held 20,000 spectators for chariot races.

A headless Roman

The later rulers also left behind interesting artifacts, in particular, two huge white marble statues, both headless. They probably were originally made to honor two Roman emperors, but no one knows which ones. It is also a mystery as to how the statues lost their heads. They could have been lopped off by Christians, Muslims or Jews angered by the way they were treated by the Romans or offended by such idols.

Vestiges of the fortress walls built by the Crusaders are monuments to yet another fascinating period in Israel's history. One of the legendary acts of particular interest to Christians involves the Holy Grail, the goblet that was said to have been used by Jesus at the Last Supper. The Grail was supposedly taken to Genoa as booty by the Genoese invaders who helped the Crusaders conquer the city in 1101.

The Crusader fortifications were embellished by King Louis IX of France -- St. Louis -- who spent a year in Caesarea after being released from prison in Egypt in 1251. He helped build the city walls with his own hands. In 1265, the Mamluks drove out the Crusaders and the Sultan tore down the walls, reputedly saying, "What a king has built, a king will destroy."

Hannah Senesh

Other archaeological finds from Caesarea can be seen in the museum at nearby Kibbutz Sdot Yam. In addition to exhibits of antiquities, the kibbutz is also the home of the Hannah Senesh House, a museum depicting the heroic story of the young woman who volunteered for the British army and parachuted behind enemy lines during World War II. Senesh (also Szenes) was captured and tortured, but would not betray her comrades. She was executed by the Germans in 1944.

Israel Fact
The only golf course in Israel is in Caesarea.

Zichron Ya’acov

Just 15 minutes north of Caesarea, nestled in the mountains overlooking the sea, is the town of Zichron Ya’acov. Founded by Baron Edmond de Rothschild in 1882, the town is named after the Baron's father James (Jacob of Ya'acov in Hebrew). Before the Baron died in Paris in 1934, he said he wanted to be buried in the Holy Land. After the establishment of Israel, the Baron's son had his body and that of his wife reinterred near the town on the Heights of the Benefactor (the name given to Rothschild) or Ramat Ha-Nadiv. Today, the tombs are set in beautiful gardens filled with the varieties of plants the Rothschilds helped develop in Israel.

This is also the home of Israel's famous Carmel wineries, which began operations in 1886 and now offer tours that conclude with wine tasting.

During World War I, the town served as the headquarters for the Nili spy organization that included Sarah and Aaron Aaronsohn. The Aaronsohn House now houses a small museum

Jewish Virtual Library

Haifa - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-25T17:20:00.000-04:00

If someone asks you to name a beautiful cosmopolitan city on a hill with a spectacular view of the water, you'll probably say San Francisco. After you've been to Israel, however, your answer may change. One of the many jewels of Israel is the city of Haifa, a clean and green city that stretches from the shores of the Mediterranean up the slope of Mt. Carmel and is topped off by the high-rise University of Haifa. This is the site of Israel's major port, the place where both people and goods enter the country.

History

Although it does not appear in the Bible, Haifa is mentioned in Talmudic literature as a well-established Jewish community. Across from the National Maritime Museum on Allenby Road are steps to Elijah’s Cave. According to a Byzantine tradition, this is where Elijah the Prophet hid to escape the wrath of King Ahab. The site is revered by Christians and Muslims, as well as Jews. The first Sunday after Tisha B'Av, Oriental Jews recite Isaiah 40 and ask the prophet to bless their children, cure their illnesses and better their lives.

Relics found within the city limits date from the Stone Age to the Ottoman period. During the Middle Ages, the Jewish settlement in Haifa grew into a shipping center. In 1099, the city was conquered by the Crusaders, who slaughtered all the Jewish inhabitants. The Carmelite Order was established in 1156 over Elijah’s Cave. In 1265, Haifa fell to the Mamlukes, and in 1750 was captured by the Bedouin, Dahar al-Omar, who destroyed, then rebuilt and fortified it. From 1775 until World War I, Haifa was under Turkish control with two interruptions — in 1799, it was conquered by Napoleon and, from 1831-1840, it was under Egyptian rule. In the case of Napoleon, when he retreated from Palestine, he left his wounded soldiers at the Carmelites' hospital at Stella Maris. As soon as the emperor was gone, the local Muslims murdered the Frenchmen he'd left behind.

Early in the 19th century, Jews from North Africa settled in Haifa. In 1868, German Templars established Haifa's German Colony and in 1879 European Jews settled in the city.

In 1905, a railroad was built from Constantinople to the Muslim shrines of Mecca and Medina in Arabia. The railway passed through Damascus and had a spur that connected with Haifa. That line is long dormant. Today, one of the few places Israelis travel by train is between Tel Aviv and Haifa.

In 1918, Haifa was taken from the Turks by the British. During the Mandate period, it was the scene of many dramatic confrontations between the British who sought to keep Jews from entering Palestine and the clandestine efforts of the Haganah to smuggle in immigrants and the survivors of the Holocaust. One of the ships used to run the British blockade, an old American tank-landing craft called the Af-Al-Pi-Chen is in the Clandestine Immigration and Maritime Museum.

The large Arab population had relatively good relations with the Jews, even during the British Mandate. After partition, however, a number of violent incidents created tensions, and the Arab decision to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state by force led to the evacuation of much of the Arab population in April 1948 when the Haganah took over the city.

Modern Haifa

The city is divided into four main areas. At sea level, you'll find the bay and port, beaches, some residential neighborhoods and one of the main centers of Israeli industry. Major products produced in Haifa include cement, chemicals, electronic equipment, glass, steel and textiles. Haifa is also where Israeli oil is refined.

As you make your way up the hill, you'll enter Hadar Hacarmel, the commercial center of the city and the home of some of the older neighborhoods. This is the location of City Hall and the old campus of the Technion, sometimes referred to as the MIT of Israel (or is MIT the Technion of the U.S.?). The Technion was founded in 1912, but didn't open for another 12 years because of the onset of World War I and an internal dispute over whether the school should teach in German, the native language of many of the scientists, or in newly revived Hebrew.

Higher still is the Mt. Carmel area, which has newer residential neighborhoods and is where you'll find most of the entertainment, cultural and tourist activities. A bit off the beaten path, beyond the commercial and residential section of the city is the University of Haifa.

You can walk around Haifa, and it's beautiful, but if you plan to move from area to area, consider public transportation, especially the cable car (Carmelit), since the hills can wear you out. If you prefer to walk, take the "path of the thousand stairs" that starts from the scenic lookout on Yefe Nof Street (Panorama) in Central Carmel and leads down the mountain past the Baha'i Shrine and the German Colony and ends downtown.

Israel Fact

The road running past the Baha'i Shrine to the top of Mt. Carmel is known as Sedorot Hatziyonut, Zionism Blvd. Originally the street was named U.N. Blvd. in honor of the international body's role in the creation of Israel. After the UN adopted its infamous resolution equating Zionism with racism in 1975 (which was revoked in 1991), the name was changed.

On Mt. Carmel, don't miss Panorama Road and its spectacular view of the sea. If you're in the neighborhood, why not stop by the USO office around the corner from the Dan Panorama Hotel. It's run by a one-woman whirlwind named Gila Gerzon, who has been helping U.S. sailors feel at home and giving them a taste of Israel since 1980. The U.S. Sixth Fleet and other naval vessels frequently come through Haifa, which is one of the sailors' favorite ports of call.

An Island of Tolerance

Haifa is the third largest city in Israel, with a population of approximately 250,000, and perhaps its most progressive. It has always had a large Arab population and, today, Haifa is one of the few places in Israel where Jews and Arabs are in regular contact and make genuine efforts to promote coexistence. Beit Hagefen is one of the organizations that runs programs in the city for Jews and Arabs.

Other minorities have also found Haifa a comfortable place to live. In fact, it is the world headquarters for the Baha’i faith, whose spectacular golden-domed shrine of the Bab is one of the city's landmarks. The shrine, along with the fabulous gardens at the center, make the center a popular tourist attraction.

Haifa is a blue-collar town -- it is the place where the Histadrut was founded in 1920 -- that also has a reputation for having a more pluralist approach to Judaism. It is the only city in Israel where the buses run on Shabbat and where many businesses stay open. This has enhanced the city’s image as a good party town. Moreover, the city is a cultural mecca with its own symphony orchestra, theaters, museums and a zoo.

Jewish Virtual Library

Acre (Akko) - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-25T17:05:00.001-04:00

The city of Acre or Akko is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, dating back to the time of the Pharaoh Thutmose III (1504-1450 BCE). It is a city of intrigue, where you can walk through labyrinthine alleys and streets and explore the remnants of Crusader, Muslim and Ottoman conquerors. Walking along the walls of the city, you also get a spectacular view of the sea and the city of Haifa.

History

Israel Fact

According to legend, a bulldozer working on the street pavement chipped a corner off a Turkish building and sand poured out. Archeologists arrived and, as tons and tons of sand were removed, a huge and magnificent crusader hall, with three massive columns in the center supporting a cross-vaulted ceiling, was revealed.

Acre was once a leading port in the Middle East, in the same league as Alexandria and Constantinople. Today, it is home primarily to small fishing boats.

A part of the kingdom of Israel, Acre was incorporated into the empire of Alexander the Great after his conquest in 332 B.C.E. The city was subsequently seized by the Egyptian king Ptolemy II, who renamed the city Ptolemais in the 2nd century B.C.E. This name stuck until the Muslim conquest in the 7th century CE, when its ancient name was restored. Confusion over what to call the city was compounded by the Crusaders' conquest in 1104, after which it became known as St. Jean d'Acre, or Acre for short.

In 1291, the Mamluks invaded and destroyed the city, killing every remaining Crusader and putting an end to the Latin Kingdom. Acre ceased to be a major city for almost 500 years. When the Bedouin sheikh Daher el-Omar carved a small fiefdom out of the Ottoman Empire in the mid-18th century, he made Acre his capital and built a large fortress. It was subsequently fortified by the Turkish governor (1775-1804), Ahmad Pasha al-Jazzer ("The Butcher"). The mosque al-Jazzer built is one of the most beautiful in Israel and the most distinctive building in the old city.

Israel Fact

King Richard I of England (1157-99), took Acre in 1191 from the Saracens. He executed 2,700 Muslim prisoners of war; nevertheless, because of his "valorous" behavior during the Crusade, he became known as Richard the Lion-Hearted.

Napoleon landed in Palestine and assaulted Acre in 1799, but he was unable to take the city. His Middle Eastern campaign subsequently collapsed and he withdrew to France.

Acre fell under Ottoman control until the Turks were defeated in 1918 by the British. The city subsequently became part of the British Mandate for Palestine. The British used the ancient fortress, which had never been breached, as a high-security prison to hold (and execute) members of the various Jewish underground groups. On May 4, 1947, members of the Irgun staged a dramatic rescue (dramatized in the film Exodus). Though few Jews escaped, the audacity of the raid was a serious blow to British prestige and a tremendous boost for the morale of the Jews. Today, the fort is the site of the Underground Prisoners Memorial Museum, which depicts the history of Acre and the prison. You can go into the death cell where the condemned were kept and the gallows where a noose still hangs above an open trap door.

Portal to the Past

On May 17, 1948, shortly after the Arab invasion, Israeli troops took control of Acre and most of the Arab inhabitants fled. It was subsequently incorporated into Israel after the War of Independence.

Check out Khan El Umdan, the 18th century structure where camel caravans once brought grain and produce from Galilee to the market. The name means "inn of the pillars," for the fine granite Herodian pillars brought from Caesarea to support the structure. The clock tower is a much later addition, built in 1906 in honor of the Turkish sultan Abdul Hamid.

Across from the mosque is the entrance to the subterranean Crusader city. You can walk down to different levels and see how the Turks built on top of the old city. One of the more spectacular rooms is the Knights' Halls, which the Hospitallers, the Order of the Knights of St. John, used as a fortress more than 700 years ago. Today, the main hall is used for concerts. The lowest level is the Crypt, a great hall that may have been used for great ceremonies by the Crusaders.

Elsewhere in the city is the home of Baha Allah, the prophet of the Baha'i faith. His tomb is in a park just outside of town along the Acre-Nahariya road. As in the headquarters in Haifa, the grounds have spectacular gardens.

Today, the population of Acre is approximately 40,000 and has one of the higher proportions of non-Jews of any of Israel's cities, with roughly 25 percent Christians, Muslims, Druze and Baha'is. The city is a magnet for tourists and the home of the country's steel industry.

Jewish Virtual Library http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Acco.html

Nahariya & Ma'alot - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-25T16:50:00.001-04:00

Less than 10 miles north of Acre is the town of Nahariya. On the way, you can visit Kibbutz Lohamei HaGhettaot ("The Ghetto Fighters"). This kibbutz was founded in 1949 by survivors of the Holocaust, mostly from Poland and Lithuania. The kibbutz maintains a wonderful museum and archive dedicated to the Holocaust and Jewish resistance.

Nahariya itself is a resort town, which was founded by German Jews in 1934. Yet more beautiful beaches can be found here, along with great conditions for sailing and windsurfing (the world championships were held there in 1980). The city also has a fine museum of art and archaeology and visitors can enjoy rides in horse-drawn carriages.

In the 1940s, Nahariya was a landing spot for illegal immigrant ships. Instead of refugees, missiles landed in the city in the 1980s when it became a target of Katyusha rockets fired by Palestinians in Lebanon in what became the Lebanon War. Today, the city of roughly 30,000 people is a popular place for UN peacekeeping troops from Lebanon to go for R&R.

A little beyond the city limits is the beach at Akhziv, which is part of a national park. This was once an important settlement and station on the ancient coastal road that linked Egypt and Phoenicia. Jews have lived here since the Second Temple period. The Crusaders built a castle here and called it Le'imbert.

Opposite the water is a hill on which Kibbutz Haziv sits. The kibbutz is one of the largest turkey breeders in the country. It is more famous in Israel for its association with an incident during the British mandate. In June 1946, the Haganah simultaneously blew up 11 bridges linking Palestine with neighboring Arab countries. One team was to blow up the Achziv bridge, but was spotted by British soldiers who fired on them. One of the bullets inadvertently hit the explosives the Jews were carrying and set them off. The explosion blew up the bridge, but killed 14 men as well.

Ma'alot

Ma'alot is an immigrant town 11 miles east of Nahariya was founded in 1957. This small town made world headlines when a group of 11th graders on a field trip from Safed spent the night in a school in Ma'alot. On May 15, 1974, three PLO terrorists disguised in Israeli uniforms, who had infiltrated from Lebanon, killed the school children's guard and stormed the building. Some children were killed as the terrorists entered, others escaped through a window on the second floor. The terrorists threatened to kill the remaining children unless Israel released Arab terrorists held in Israeli prisons. Israel's official policy was not to negotiate with terrorists, but the government decided to ask for more time to talk. The terrorists rejected the request. Fifteen minutes before the terrorist-imposed deadline for starting to kill their hostages, an elite Golani brigade unit mounted a rescue operation. When it was over all the terrorists were dead, but so were 21 children who had been murdered by the Arabs.

In 1963, Ma'alot merged with Tarshiha, a 900-year-old neighboring Muslim and Christian Arab village to form a single municipality. This a rare model of interdependence and cooperation between Jews and Arabs. Today, the population is approximately 17,500; 13,000 in Ma'alot, 4,500 in Tarshiha.

Crusader Fortresses

An interesting site that is roughly in between Nahariya and Ma'alot is Montfort Castle, a fortress built by French Crusaders. Like many such castles, it changed hands between Saladin's army (in 1187) and other Crusaders (1192). German Knights of the Teutonic Order bought the fortress, translated the French name (which means "strong hill") to Starkenberg, and further fortified it, but it wasconquered nevertheless by the Mamluk Sultan Baybars in 1271 who, in a rare show of humanity for that age, allowed the inhabitants to leave with their possessions. It's a good half-hour hike to the castle and there are a number of trails for longer hikes in the surrounding countryside.

If you're into Crusader fortresses, you might also want to visit Yehi'am (Judin) Castle, which is less than eight miles east of Nahariya. This was probably built around the 12th century to guard the road from Akko into Lebanon. As in the case of Montfort, the Teutons took over the castle in the 13th century and lost it a few decades later to the Mamluks. It was used into the eighteenth century by the Bedouin ruler Dahar El-Amer, who conquered the Galilee.

Jewish settlers came to the area in 1946 and established a kibbutz, which was named after Yehiam Weitz, a member who was killed during an operation against the British in which the Akhziv Bridge was blown up. A visitor in 1940 gives a sense of the conditions the Jews encountered, "The fortress is in ruins but it stands in a beautiful place and dominates the surroundings. There is no water, only empty cisterns. The soil is hard but some of it can be cultivated, adn there is no road...."

When the UN voted to partition Palestine in 1947, Nahariya and several other Jewish settlements were in the territory assigned to the Arab state. The western Galilee was cut off from the Jews in Haifa and it its suburbs and these northern settlements were isolated from each other. Yehi'am was one of these isolated outposts. On March 26, 1948, a convoy of home-made armored trucks bringing supplies and reinforcements to Yehi'am from Haifa was ambushed by Arab gangs and 47 of the Haganah fighters were killed in the ensuing battle. Later, in May, a convoy broke the Arab blockade. Today, a monument stands at the junction where the convoy battle was fought, with burnt cars and trucks left as a reminder of the carnage.

Though it's not on most tourists' itineraries, the Tefen Industrial Park, a short drive from Ma'alot, is also a fascinating place to visit. No, it's not a collection of factories; well, not exactly. Actually, it is a kind of cooperative incubator for new businesses founded by industrialist Stef Wertheimer. The industrial park was designed to help innovative and creative people start businesses with the advantage of sharing the cost of much of the infrastructure and many services. What really sets Tefen apart, however, is Wertheimer's view of the interrelationship between artistic and entrepreneurial creativity. The park is filled with sculptures and gardens. It also has an art museum, a museum of German Jewry and an exhibition of vintage cars.

Jewish Virtual Library

Rosh Hanikra - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-25T16:17:00.000-04:00

Rosh Hanikra is in the northwestern corner of Israel, on the border of Israel and Lebanon. The white chalk cliffs offer a spectacular panoramic view of Haifa Bay, the hills of the Galilee and the Mediterranean.

The book of Joshua (13:6) mentions "Misraphot Mayim" south of Rosh Hanikra, as the border of the Israelite tribes during the 14 -13 centuries BCE. Jewish sages referred to the cliff as "The Ladder of Tire." The Muslim conquerors renamed the area A-Nawakir (the grottoes). The present name, Rosh Hanikra, is a hebraicized version of the Arabic Ras-A-Nakura.

In ancient times, Rosh Hanikra was along the trade route between the northern civilizations in Lebanon and Syria and the southern ones in Palestine, Egypt and North Africa. The place was then known as "the Ladders of Tyre." It has been the gateway in and out of Palestine since ancient times. In 333 Alexander the Great entered the Land of Israel through Rosh Hanikra, and is believed to have led his Greek army through a tunnel his forces dug in these cliffs.

The British army invaded Lebanon from this direction during the two world wars as did Israeli forces in the late 70's and early 80s. During World War II, the British dug a tunnel for the railway running between Haifa and Beirut to facilitate the movement of supplies from Egypt to the north. When the British withdrew in 1948, Israeli forces took over Rosh Hanikra and the Palmach blew up the railway bridges in the grottoes to prevent the Lebanese army from invading from that direction when the War of Independence began. During the Lebanon War, you could watch lines of Israeli tanks along the border preparing to cross and jeeps with UN peacekeepers observing the movements.

The grottoes of Rosh Hanikra were formed by the sea chipping awaw portions of the soft chalk rock over thousands of years. In 1968, a tunnel was dug from the shore to the natural grottoes. The tunnel was constructed slightly above the sea surface. It is 400 meters long and took two years to complete. A cable car leads to the shoreline where visitors can explore the grottoes. It is possible, though not advised, to swim in the grottoes, which are inhabited by bats, loggerhead sea turtles, sea birds and other wildlife. The place is a part of the Achziv
Natural Reserve.

Jewish Virtual Library

The Golan Heights - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-25T16:08:00.000-04:00

The Golan Heights rise from 400 to 1700 feet in the northeastern section of the country. Israel's highest mountain, Mt. Hermon, is located here. The plateau was once actively volcanic and the northernmost points remain weathered and desolate. The Golan overlooks the Hula Valley, Israel's richest agricultural area. The area of the Golan is roughly 38 miles long and varies in width from 9 to 16 miles (444 square miles). The Banyas River flows through the region and the Yarmuk River separates the Golan from Jordan.

The Golan appears to have been used as a cemetery in ancient times. Archaeologists have discovered funerary monuments that are about 4,000 years old. The area was not settled until the days of Herod the Great in the first century B.C.E.

During the Ottoman Empire (1517-1917), the Golan was under Syrian administration. When the British defeated the Turks in World War I, they dismantled their empire and, with the French controlled the region. When Syria won its independence in 1946, it regained control of the Golan and, within a few years emptied the region of the sparse population of Bedouin and Druze, and turned it into a military encampment from which to harass Israel.

Military Importance

The Golan is a strategically important region, extending like a finger between the borders of Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. In the past, that finger was crucial to preventing the Israeli defense dike from bursting and allowing Arab armies to flood the country. Why? Because it is only about 60 miles -- without major terrain obstacles -- from the western Golan to Haifa and Acre, Israel's industrial heartland. In the hands of a friendly neighbor, the escarpment has little military importance. If controlled by a hostile country, however, the Golan has the potential to again become a strategic nightmare for Israel.

From 1948-67, when Syria controlled the Golan Heights, it used the area as a military stronghold from which its troops randomly sniped at Israeli civilians in the Hula Valley below, forcing children living on kibbutzim to sleep in bomb shelters. In addition, many roads in northern Israel could be crossed only after probing by mine-detection vehicles.

Israel Fact

A great view of the Hula Valley is afforded from the Hill of the Twenty-Eight, an old British fortress captured by the Haganah at a cost of 28 lives. When efforts to dynamite the building failed, the group’s commander strapped the dynamite to his back, ignited it, and threw himself at a weak point in the wall.

Israel repeatedly, and unsuccessfully, protested the Syrian bombardments to the UN Mixed Armistice Commission, which was charged with policing the cease-fire, but nothing was done to stop Syria's aggression. Meanwhile, Israel was condemned by the UN when it retaliated.

Today, you can visit former Syrian bunkers to see the view their gunners enjoyed of the valley below. This will give you an appreciation of the strategic value of the Golan that you cannot get without seeing it for yourself. Be sure to stay on the well-worn paths, because old Syrian mine fields remain uncleared beyond them.

War in the Golan

After the Six-Day War began, the Syrian air force attempted to bomb oil refineries in Haifa. While Israel was fighting in the Sinai and West Bank, Syrian artillery bombarded Israeli forces in the eastern Galilee, and armored units fired on villages in the Hula Valley below the Golan Heights.

On June 9, 1967, Israel moved against Syrian forces on the Golan. By late afternoon, June 10, Israel was in complete control of the plateau. Israel's seizure of the strategic heights occurred only after 19 years of provocation from Syria, and after unsuccessful efforts to get the international community to act against the aggressors.

Six years later, in a surprise attack on Yom Kippur, the Syrians overran the Golan Heights before being repulsed by Israeli counterattacks. After the war, Syria signed a disengagement agreement that left the Golan in Israel's hands. Israel returned the city of Kuneitra to Syria, and a UN-patrolled buffer zone was created between the two armies.

On December 14, 1981, the Knesset voted to annex the Golan Heights. The statute extended Israeli civilian law and administration to the residents of the Golan, replacing the military authority that had ruled the area since 1967.

U.S. officials have persistently and unsuccessfully tried to mediate a final peace agreement between Israel and Syria. Today, as the peace process with the Palestinians progresses, there is new hope that negotiations with Syria will bear fruit.
Life in the Golan

After Israel annexed the Golan, the Druze living in five villages in the north were given the choice of becoming citizens. Many accepted the offer, but some chose to be recognized as "Syrians abroad."

The Israeli government has made a conscious effort to encourage Jews to settle in the Golan, but the majority of the population remains non-Jewish. Several kibbutzim are located in the region.

If you follow the main road, Route 98 to the end, past the fields and orchards of the Jewish farmers, you'll reach the border. Actually, the borders between Israel and Syria remain subject for negotiation, so the two countries are separated by a demilitarized zone patrolled by the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF). In that zone is the deserted city of Kuneitra, which lies in the "Valley of Tears" where one of the bloodiest battles of the Yom Kippur War was fought. A great lookout to see the Heights, and especially the Syrian side of the border, is from the now abandoned Israeli bunker 4,000 feet (1,200 m.) above sea level on Mount Bental. You can walk underground and see what accommodations were like for the soldiers manning the outpost. Another good place to view the Golan is from the former Syrian fortification at the Golani Look-Out Post (Mizpe Golani) at Tel Faher.

The Banyas

A far more scenic and fun place to visit is the Banyas Springs Nature Reserve. The Banyas is another source of the Jordan River. The area was first settled around the 3rd century B.C.E. and, during the year 2 B.C.E., became the capital of a Roman kingdom. The town later became an important Christian center and is referred to in the New Testament as the place where Jesus determined that Peter would be "the rock" on which the church would be built. The name is derived from the Greek Paneas, (after the god of fertility, Pan). Since Arabic doesn't have a "p" sound, it was changed to Banyas in Arabic. Today, the Banyas are a great place to hike to see waterfalls and to go river rafting.

In the center of the Golan is Katzrin, a government-planned town where many army officers stationed in the area settled. The town has an interesting museum of regional history. It is also the site of an ancient synagogue that is particularly interesting because the entrance faces north rather than south as in the typical synagogue. Also, nearby is a winery where you can sample some of the best Israeli wines.

About six miles from Katzrin is another of the fascinating strongholds of early Jewish history. Gamla became home to Jewish refugees fleeing the Romans after the revolt broke out in 66 C.E. The Romans laid siege to the city, whose defenders heroically held out for some time before being overcome. Most of the Jews were killed, though many chose to jump off the cliffs to commit suicide rather than be captured. Gamla derived its name from gamal (Hebrew for camel), since it was situated on a hill shaped like a camel's rump.

Mount Hermon

Though Mount Hermon's highest peak is more than 9,000 feet high, the top elevation under Israeli control is Mizpe Shelagim, the "Snow Observatory," at about 7,300 feet (2,224 m.). U.S. observers have a base on the mountain, and both Israel and Syria have observation posts. For a really unusual Israel experience, you can try skiing on Mount Hermon during the winter months (roughly December-April). The longest run is more than a mile, but experienced skiers will not mistake the mountain for Aspen. A lift for non-skiers goes to the summit and affords a spectacular view of the surrounding area.

A good view of Mount Hermon can be had at Berekhat Ram (Ram Pool), a small, shallow lake in he crater of a dormant volcano. The lake has some fish, which are caught by local Druze fisherman. In the summer, it is also a pleasant recreational area for swimming and picnicking.

Another interesting archaeological site is Mivzar Nimrod, a 12th century Crusader castle that allowed its ruler to control traffic between Lebanon and Tiberias and the Jordan Valley. The fortress exchanged hands between Christians and Muslims for some time and was held for some time by a radical Muslim sect known as the Hashishin. This group was known for smoking hashish and murdering their enemies. The word "assassin" is derived from this sect.

Driving through the Golan, you see beautiful mountains, rocky hillsides, green valleys and wild flowers. You can also find spectacular waterfalls off the main roads near Gamla and below Nimrod's Castle. Of course the falls are only in full force during winter and early spring; by summer, many of them dry up.

Israel Fact
According to tradition, God made Nimrod lord of all creatures. Nimrod's head swelled with self-importance. He asked why he should sacrifice to God and shot arrows into the sky. God sent the arrows back covered with blood leading Nimrod to believe he had defeated God. But the Lord spoke: "Wicked one, I have a tiny creature down there in my world, a mosquito. Go and do battle with it!" Nimrod went to fight the mosquito, but it flew up his nose to his brain where it buzzed until Nimrod died. To this day, swarms of mosquitoes can be found in the area.

The Upper Galilee

The Hula Valley was once a marshland. Israel drained it to eradicate malaria and make room for more people to live and farm after independence. Wildlife once thrived in the area, but the ecosystem was seriously harmed by the effort to make it more habitable. In recent years, Israel has tried to partially reverse the damage by reflooding a small part of the region.

Parts of the valley have begun to recover and wildlife is returning. Even this is a mixed blessing, however, as the Israeli desire to promote tourism in the area conflicts with environmentalists' efforts to better protect the area. For now, the Hula Nature Reserve offers places to see birds and other animals. You can also go kayaking nearby in the Jordan River.

Israel Fact
"It is good to die for our country" -- last words of Joseph Trumpeldor.

In the upper Galilee, you'll find a number of interesting towns and villages. The largest is Kiryat Shmona (pop. 18,000). The town takes its name, which means "Town of the Eight," from the heroic Zionist, Joseph Trumpeldor, who, together with seven other defenders, was killed in a last-ditch battle against Arab marauders at the nearby settlement of Tel Hai in 1920. In recent years, Kiryat Shmona has gotten publicity mainly for being a target of katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah.

Israel's northernmost village, at the border of Lebanon and foot of Mt. Hermon, is Metulla. This picturesque town was established in 1896 on land purchased from a Lebanese Christian. Today, approximately 1,100 people live in Metulla, which is known for the Canada Centre where visitors can find squash and basketball courts, a firing range, swimming pool, ice rink and other sports facilities. Just west of the town is the “Good Fence,” a border crossing where some Lebanese are allowed to enter Israel for work and medical care. The crossing's name originated in 1976, when a Lebanese child was allowed to come to Israel for medical treatment.

A little more than a mile from Kiryat Shmona is Tel Dan, site of another nature reserve and an important archaeological dig. The city dates back nearly 4,000 years to the days of Canaanite rule. As a border town of the kingdom of Israel along the main trade route between Damascus and the Galilee, and the Dan River, one of the three main sources of the Jordan River, Dan was an important strategic outpost. Consequently, it became a battleground between Israelite forces and invaders from the north, such as the Assyrians. Today, the area is a nature reserve filled with poplars, eucalyptus, oak, pistachio and many other varieties of trees, ferns and flowers. Nearby Be Ussishkin is a museum that tells the story of the Hula Valley and the Hermon.

Jewish Virtual Library

Safed - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-25T14:41:00.000-04:00

This city's name is spelled so many different ways -- Tzefiya (in the Talmud), Safad, Zefat, Sefad -- it's easy to get confused and think they are entirely different places. Regardless, if you see any of these on your itinerary, it's a place you'll want to visit.

At an altitude of 2,790 feet (850 meters), Safed is Israel's highest town and probably its coldest. Safed did not become an important center of Jewish life until the late 15th and early 16th centuries. It is not mentioned in the Torah and was apparently not settled until Roman times.

The Crusaders erected a citadel in the city, which, like most of their other structures, came under the control of the Muslim conqueror Saladin in the late 12th century. The Crusaders returned a half-century later and built the largest Christian fortress in the East, but that eventually fell to the Mamluks in 1266 under Sultan Beibars, who cut off the heads of the men and sold the women and children into slavery.

Jews began to come in large numbers after they were expelled from Spain in 1492 (while Columbus was sailing the ocean blue). The city is most closely associated with Jewish mysticism, the kabbalah, whose foremost exponent, Rabbi Isaac Luria, lived and taught there. Known as "Ha'Ari" (the lion), Luria had come from Egypt in 1569 and died just three years later. The "bible" of the kabbalists, the Zohar, was written by the second-century talmudist Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who believed each word and line of the Torah had a higher meaning. The author of the main part of the Zohar was Moses de Leon (12th century) in Spain.

Besides the kabbalists, Safad also attracted numerous other Jewish scholars and spirtualists, including Joseph Caro, the author of the Shulchan Aruch, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero and Solomon Alkabetz, composer of the Sabbath hymn Lecha Dodi.

The Jewish community thrived in Safed for more than 400 years before the outbreaks of violence in Palestine provoked many residents to leave. The 1929 Arab riots stimulated a gradual decline that resulted in the Arabs becoming the majority in the city. When the British withdrew from Palestine in 1948 and handed the Citadel over to the Arabs, the remaining Jewish residents, backed by reinforcements from the Haganah, held off the Arab forces and kept the city a part of the new state of Israel.

The city is a warren of cobblestone streets that lead to ancient synagogues. In the Caro Synagogue, named after the scholar, the Ark contains a Torah scroll that is at least 400 years old. Many of the doors of buildings in the city are painted blue to remind people of heaven.

Another pilgrimage site, just outside Sefad, is the village of Meron. This ancient city is mentioned in the records of Egyptian kings who invaded the territory more than 3,000 years ago. A synagogue dating back 1,700 years was also found here. According to tradition, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai hid in a cave in nearby Peki’in and wrote the Zohar. Though one Jewish family claims to have lived in the town since the days of the great Rabbi, today Peqiin is almost entirely populated by Druze.

On Lag Ba'Omer, thousands of Israelis hike up Mt. Meron (alt. 4,000 ft.) to the tombs of Rabbi bar Yochai and his son Eleazer. People come to honor the rabbi, who is said to have died on this date, and many have picnics and go into the forest with bows and arrows. The following morning, three-year-old boys are given their first hair cuts. Meron is also the final resting place for the two great Talmudic sages, Hillel and Shammai.

Down the Sefad road is the town of Rosh Pina, a name that means "cornerstone," which comes from Psalm 118: "The stone that the builder has rejected has become the headstone of the corner."

You can also contribute to the greening of Israel by visiting the Jewish National Fund's Tree Planting Center just outside Safed. For a small fee, you can plant a sapling, a tangible contribution like no other you can make to Israel.

Israel Fact
A tyrannical Arab governor of Sefad ordered the Jews to bring him a certain number of white chickens or face expulsion. The Jews went to the grave of Rabbi Yossi Banai and prayed. Miraculously, all the chickens in the town turned white.

Jewish Virtual Library

Bet She'an - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-25T14:05:00.000-04:00

When you drive south from the Sea of Galilee and cross the Jordan River, you enter the Bet She'an Valley, home of many kibbutzim and moshavim. The river now forms the border between Israel and Jordan. The town of Bet She'an (pop. 15,000) is the site of spectacular archaeological excavations and a rich history, dating back to biblical times.

Bet She'an dates back to the Chalcolithic period (4th century BCE), when the town was an important stop for caravans and as a center of Egyptian rule. Excavations have uncovered a series of temples built by the Egyptians in honor of their local deities. Later, it became a Canaanite city, one which was not captured immediately by the Israelite conquest of Eretz Israel (Josh. 17:11, 16). However, it would eventually be alloted to the tribe of Manasseh (Josh. 17:11). It became an entirely Israelite city in the time of Solomon.

It was at nearby Mt. Gilboa that King Saul was wounded in an epic battle with the Philistines in the 10th century B.C.E. Rather than allow himself to be captured by the victorious Philistines, Saul chose to fall on his sword. The Philistines then cut off his head and hung his body, and that of his sons on the city walls (I Samuel 31:9). Today, Bet She'an's main street is named after the King.

Excavation in Bet She'an has uncovered the remains of a Canaanite city, a Hellenistic city (renamed Scythopolis) and a Roman Byzantine City. During its Hellenistic period, the city was the capital of the 10 Greek cities known collectively as teh Decapolis. The remains found in Bet She'an date back to the Hellenistic times. The city was predominantly Christian until the Arabs conquered it in the 7th century and restored its ancient name. The last Arab settlement of the town occurred with its conquest by the Egyptians in 1830.

In September 1918, Bet She'an was captured by British forces. From the beginning of the 20th century, Jews, mainly from Musilim countries, resided in the city. Nevertheless during the 1936-39 Arab riots, the town became a headquarters for Arab guerillas attacking Jewish villages. In the War of Independence, Bet She'an fell to Israeli forces on May 12, 1948, who found it deserted by its inhabitants.

The city was destroyed by a massive earthquake in 749 and archaeologists are still uncovering the remains of the ancient civilizations. Among the finds are a huge (1 1/2 acres) Byzantine bath house, a Roman temple and colonnaded streets paved with basalt stones. The most impressive of the ruins is the Roman Theater, which was built around the year 200. Built to accommodate roughly 8,000 people, the theater has a stone stage and was used for dramatic productions.

Outside of Bet She'an, beyond Mt. Gilboa, is Kibbutz Hefzibah, which has on its grounds the 6th century Beit Alpha synagogue. What makes this synagogue special is its beautifully preserved mosaic floor showing the 12 signs of the Zodiac with their names written in Hebrew and Aramaic. The floor was discovered by farmers while they were digging an irrigation ditch in 1928.

Near Beit Alpha is Tel Amal (modern day Kibbutz Nir David), an exact replica of the first Stockade and Tower settlement, which was built on December 10, 1936. At the time, Jews were very worried about the vulnerability of their pioneer towns to Arab attacks and specially designed these fort-like structures to enhance their security. This became the model for 57 other settlements established between 1936-1939. The settlements were surrounded by a double wooden defense wall that was filled with cement, to withstand bullets. In this reconstructed settlement, you are able to see the tower and small living quarters of the inhabitants.

And if you would like to see something completely different, nearby is Gan Garoo, a park devoted to the plants and animals of Australia. That's right, you can even find kangaroos in Israel!

Located near Bet Shean is Kibbutz Ein Harod Meuchad. It was founded in 1921 by 35 young Israeli pioneers. Life on the Kibbutz began to grow exponentially following the British mandate, during the Third Aliyah (1919-1923). In 1953, the original kibbutz split into two distinct kibbbutzim, over ideological differences. Today the Kibbutz has over 500 members and a total population of nearly 1,000. There are several attractions within the kibbutz, including an art museum, a petting zoo, and a well known coffee shop. The art museum at Ein Harod, was the first building in Israel designed as a museum, built in 1948. The famous artist Chaim Atar, a kibbutz member, was one of the primary forces behind the establishment of this museum. The museum's permanent collection has over 10,000 items, with approximately 1,000 Judaica items. It is the largest museum in Northern Israel.

Israel Fact
An American tourist looking for coins with a metal detector near Kibbutz Tirat Tzvi discovered one of the only two bronze busts of the Roman emperor Hadrian.

Jewish Virtual Library

Masada - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-24T20:21:00.000-04:00

Masada (Hebrew for fortress) is a flat plateau measuring roughly 1,000 by 2,000 feet, situated atop an isolated rock cliff at the western end of the Judean Desert. At the eastern end, the rock falls in a sheer drop of nearly 1,500 feet to the Dead Sea (the lowest point on earth, some 1,300 feet -- 400 meters -- below sea level) and, on the western side, it stands about 300 feet above the surrounding terrain.

It is traditional to climb Masada in the early morning, before the desert gets too hot, to watch the sunrise over the Dead Sea from the fortress. You can either hike up the snake path (about a 45-minute walk) or take a short cable car ride to the summit. Either way, you will enjoy one of the world’s most spectacular sights and experience the dawning of a new day like you have never seen before.
History

The only written source about Masada is Josephus Flavius’ book, The Jewish War. He wrote that Herod the Great built the fortress of Masada between 37 and 31 BCE as a refuge. The water supply came from a network of large, rock-hewn cisterns on the northwestern side of the hill. They filled during the winter with rainwater flowing in streams from the mountain on this side. Cisterns on the summit supplied the immediate needs of the residents of Masada and could be relied upon in time of siege.

On the northern edge of the steep cliff, with a splendid view, stood the elegant, intimate, private palace-villa of the king. It was separated from the fortress by a wall, affording total privacy and security. Along the western casemate wall, Herod built a palace, the largest building on Masada, covering approximately one acre.

At the beginning of the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans in 66 CE, 75 years after Herod’s death, a group of Jewish rebels overcame the Roman garrison of Masada. After the fall of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the Second Temple (70 CE), they were joined by zealots and their families who had fled from Jerusalem.

This small band of 960 Jews held out against the mightiest army in the world for three years. The Romans, however, were not about to let even this handful of rebels, which had played a key role in starting the revolt, get the best of them. In 73 CE, the Roman governor Flavius Silva marched against Masada with the Tenth Legion and 10,000 Jewish slaves.

With the strategic advantage of the high ground, the defenders could easily target their attackers, but the Romans were persistent. They constructed a rampart of thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth against the western approaches of the fortress and, in 74 CE, moved a battering ram up the ramp and breached the wall of the fortress.

Once it became apparent that the Tenth Legion's battering rams and catapults would soon succeed in breaching Masada’s’s walls, Elazar ben Yair, the Zealots’ leader, decided that all the Jewish defenders — men, women and children — should burn the fortress and commit suicide. According to Josephus, two women and five children managed to hide themselves during the mass suicide, and it was from one of these women that he heard an account of Elazar ben Yair's final speech in which he said the Zealot’s "preferred death before slavery."

Israel Fact

During the excavations, Yadin found 25 skeletons of men, women, and children. In 1969, they were buried at Masada with full military honors.

The heroic story of Masada and its dramatic end attracted many explorers to the Judean desert in attempts to locate the remains of the fortress. The site was identified in 1842, but intensive excavations took place only in 1963-65 under the leadership of Yigael Yadin. The Israeli army and thousands of volunteers from 128 countries assisted in the project.

The archaeologists found Herod’s residential and western palaces, a storehouse complex, bathhouse, two mikvaot (ritual baths), artifacts such as coins and pots and a synagogue (the oldest in Israel) used by Masada’s defenders.

For many years, new members of the Israeli Defense Forces would be sworn in at Masada and promise that Masada would not fall again. The practice was abandoned in 1986, Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman says, because "its underlying message of heroes who commit suicide no longer captured the imagination of a Jewish state which emphasized life, not death, and victory rather than defeat." Nevertheless, Masada remains the symbol of the determination of a people to be free in its own land.

Jewish Virtual Library

The Dead Sea - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-24T20:05:00.005-04:00

The Dead Sea (Yam Hamelakh -- "The Salt Sea") is the lowest place on earth, roughly 1,300 feet (400 meters) below sea level. It is 34 miles (55 km.) long and varies between 11 miles (18 km.) and 2 miles (3 km.) in width. The Sea is 1,400 feet (430 m.) deep. This unique sea is fed by the Jordan River. There is no outflow; and the exceptionally high rate of evaporation (high temperatures, low humidity) produces large quantities of raw chemicals. These are extracted and exported throughout the world for use in medicine, agriculture and industry.

The Dead Sea is actually shrinking. The southern end is now fed by a canal maintained by the Dead Sea Works, a company that converts the Sea's raw materials, particularly phosphates, into commercial products.

Visitors can float effortlessly on the waters of the Dead Sea due to its concentration of minerals, which is the highest in the world. The air is extremely dry, and temperatures are high throughout the year (max. 86° [30° C]) during winter, and 104° [40° C]) during summer) making the Dead Sea a destination for visitors 365 days a year.

Floating is a novelty that makes visiting the Dead Sea a kick, but most visitors come for the therapeutic value of the mud and salt water. People with skin disorders such as psoriasis and ailments such as arthritis have found relief from treatments using the Sea's natural resources. Oh, and if you have an open cut or sore, be forewarned, the salt water stings.

Archaeological ruins are scattered in the area. Many historical fugitives, such as David, Jesus, Jewish zealots and Christian monks, found peace and refuge around the Dead Sea. The area is best known, however, for being the site of the biblical towns of Sodom and Gomorrah. South of the Sea, on the way to Eilat, is a rock salt formation that tourists are told is Lot's wife. According to the Torah, Lot's wife ignored G-d's admonition not to look back at the cities he was destroying as they left and was turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26).

Incidentally, all the fun near the Dead Sea is not confined to the mud and water!

Ein Gedi
The name En-gedi is composed of two Hebrew words: ein means spring and gdi means goat-kid. En Gedi thus means "Kid spring."

Ein Gedi nature reserve was declared in 1971 and is one of the most important reserves in Israel. The park is situated on the eastern border of the Judean Desert, on the Dead Sea coast, and covers an area of 14000 dunams. The elevation of the land ranges from the level of the Dead Sea at 423 meters (1,388 ft) below sea level to the plateau of the Judean Desert at 200 meters above sea level. Ein Gedi nature reserve includes two spring-fed streams with flowing water year-round: Nahal David and Nahal Arugot. Two other springs, the Shulamit and Ein Gedi springs, also flow in the reserve. Together, the springs generate approximately three million cubic meters of water per year. Much of the water is used for agriculture or is bottled for consumption. The reserve is a sanctuary for many types of plant, bird and animal species. The vegetation includes plants and trees from the tropical, desert, Mediterranean, and steppian regions, such as Sodom apple, acacia, jujube, and poplar. The many species of resident birds are supplemented by over 200 additional species during the migration periods in the spring and fall. Mammal species include the ibex and the hyrax. In the summer of 2005, nearly two-thirds of the oasis burned to the ground after a visitor dropped a lit cigarette.

The Bible records that 3,000 years ago David hid from King Saul at Ein Gedi. When David surprised the King and spared his life after finding him unarmed, Saul said David would succeed him on the throne.

Located on the Dead Sea's western shore, Ein Gedi ("spring of the goat") is a desert oasis with waterfalls, pools of water and two large streams. It is a hiker's paradise with beautiful foliage, exotic birds and a range of wildlife, including rabbits, deer, ibex and leopards (don't worry, you're not likely to run into any).

Ein Gedi served as a water source during biblical times (Joshua 15:62, I Samuel 24:1-2). The spring begins to flow 656 feet above the Dead Sea. About a half-hour's hike will take you to a waterfall and pool. Another trail leads to Shulamit Spring, the top of the falls and the Dodim Cave. Further along are the ruins of a Chalcolithic sanctuary believed to be from the year 4,000 B.C.E. From atop the trail it is possible to get a spectacular view of the Dead Sea, the mountains of Moab and Kibbutz Ein Gedi.

Before the king arrives at his couch,
My perfume hovered fragrantly
My love will lie between my breasts.
Like a sack of myrrh,
A cluster of blossoms,
Picked from the vineyards of Ein Gedi.

--From the Song of Songs--

The oasis is known for its thriving date palms, which are the principal crop of nearby Kibbutz Ein Gedi. The Kibbutz also owns a spa further south where you can take a hot mineral bath and coat yourself in Dead Sea mud. A camp site is also situated near the Dead Sea beach.
The Qumran Caves.

Just north of Ein Gedi (about 40 minutes south of Jerusalem) is one of Israel's most important archaeological sites, the Qumran National Park. It is in the caves of this ancient settlement that the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947. Evidence has been found of people inhabiting the caves as early as the 8th-7th centuries B.C.E. The Romans stormed the area and occupied it for 20 years. In 132-135 C.E., Bar-Kokhba's fighters lived in the ruins. The community, referred to as the "Dead Sea Sect," to which the Dead Sea Scrolls apparently belonged lived in Qumran around 130 B.C.E. to 70 C.E.

The Ein Gedi national park features several archaeological sites including the Chalcolithic Temple of Ein Gedi and a first century CE village. The park was declared in 2002 and covers an area of 8 dunams.

Jewish Virtual Library

Makhtesh Ramon - Virtual Israel Tour

2011-04-24T19:40:00.000-04:00

Much of the Negev Desert is vast, brown, dry and uninteresting. It is also beautiful, fascinating and rich in geological history. This region makes up nearly half the State of Israel, but the population of the desert communities is less than 20% of the total. After withdrawing from the Sinai as part of the peace treaty with Egypt, the Negev also became the site of numerous military bases.

Located south of Beersheba in the Central Negev, Makhtesh Ramon is usually referred to as a crater, but it is not an impact crater from a meteorite, it is actually a "makhtesh," a valley surrounded by steep walls and drained by a single "wadi" (riverbed). It is the world’s largest makhtesh.

Makhtesh Ramon is at the center of two large nature reserves, Har Hanegev and Matzok Hatzinim. Makhtesh Ramon is 25 miles (40 km.) long and 5 miles (9 km.) across at its widest point. Mount Ramon, at the southwest corner of the makhtesh, is the highest peak in the Negev (3,400 feet – 1,037 m.). The name Ramon comes from the Arabic "Ruman" meaning Romans.

Makhtesh Ramon is a geologists’ paradise with fossils, rock formations and volcanic and magmatic phenomenon dating back as much as 220 million years. The Ramon crater began forming when the ocean that covered the desert began to move north. Water and other climatic forces slowly began to flatten the curve on top. Much later, the Arava rift valley was formed and the rivers began to change their flow. As this occurred, it carved out the crater. The crater is about 1,650 feet (500 m.) deep. Some rocks at the bottom of the crater can be dated back 220 million years. A black hill in the north, Giv'at Ga'ash, was once an active volcano. Also, vertical dikes of magnum which squeezed upward through fissures can be seen at various spots through the makhtesh. The lowest spot in the crater, Ein Saharonim, contains its only natural water source. From the visitor’s center, it is possible to get a spectacular panoramic view of the crater.

There are two campgrounds available on the east side of the main road. There are also numerous pathways for both the casual and serious hikers.

A variety of plants grow in the Ramon area, including Atlantic pistachio trees, buckthorn, globe daisy, tulips and other bushes and shrubs. Many animals also can be found here including the ibex, leopard, striped hyena, sand fox, Dorcas gazelle and the ever popular fat desert rat.

Rappeling off the edge of the crater is popular, but not recommended for beginners. For those who don’t mind a less direct route, there are trails for hikers into the crater. Nearby is one of those bizarre, "what’s it doing in Israel?" kind of attractions — the Mitzpe Ramon Alpaca Farm, which has both alpacas and llamas for the production of wool.

Israel Fact
One animal that had disappeared from Israel was the onager. In 1983, 14 were reintroduced. The onager is the smallest wild horse and cannot be domesticated. In Roman times, their meat was considered a delicacy.

Because of the clear, unpolluted air, the altitude and the absence of lights in the area, Mitzpe Ramon is a great place for star gazing at night. Serious astronomers use the observatory on Mount Ramon.
The Nabatean Cities

The tribe of Simon settled in the Negev and King David firmly established Israelite rule over the desert. Solomon subsequently built a string of fortresses along the roads. The fall of the kingdom of Judea was followed by the rise of the Nabateans beginning in the fourth century B.C.E. These traders traveled in caravans from Arabia and made their capital Petra, in what is now southern Jordan. They eventually controlled trade in perfumes and spices and built numerous fortresses along the branch of the Spice Route cutting across the Makhtesh Ramon area.

Part of their success in the harsh desert environment was due to their ingenuity in conserving water. The Nabateans built dams, terraces, cisterns and reservoirs that were very efficient in collecting rain water and irrigating crops. Elements of this water system survive in the ruins of many of the Nabatean cities.

About 14 miles north of Mitzpe Ramon is the Nabatean outpost of Avdat, which was named after their king Obodas (Abdat) II. The ruins of the city and its structures sit atop a hill overlooking the road and an experimental farm set up in 1959 to conduct research on ancient desert agriculture. Most of the surviving structures are not Nabatean, but Roman and Byzantine. The best preserved area is a Byzantine church whose columns and apse are still relatively intact. One suggestion you don’t find in a typical guide book is to lick the wall of the "salt cave" to confirm that it was indeed the place where salt was stored.

Another nearby Nabatean settlement is Shivta, whose ruins date back to the first or second century B.C.E. This city was along the trade root between Gaza, Eilat, the Far East and Arabia. Shivta was a supply center for the northern Negev when the Nabateans were in power and a key outpost to protect pilgrims traveling to Mt. Sinai during the Byzantine period.

Sde Boker is about another six miles south. In between, literally in the middle of nowhere, is the canyon of Ein Avdat. From the rim, you can look down to the riverbed and see the beautiful caparis flowers clinging to the cliffs. It is also possible to hike in the canyon to pools and a waterfall. A number of caves, apparently used by monks, have also been found in the canyon.

Nabatean control of the Negev gradually weakened after the death of King Aretas IV (9 B.C.E.-40 B.C.E.). Fewer camel caravans passed through the area after its takeover by the Romans, and the Spice Route was supplanted by other roads.

Unlike most areas in the country, the Romans did not do a lot to develop the Negev. This changed during the Byzantine period, however, as Christians began to build churches and study centers. Settlement of the Negev came to an end after the Muslim conquest in the seventh century. The new rulers had little interest in the area and the residents were expelled.

For centuries, the only people in the Negev were nomads. When the British mandate period began, the region enjoyed rapid growth. The British paved the highway from Beersheva to Eilat, the road from Beersheva to the large Makhtesh and the "Petroleum Road" from Yeruham to Avdat and Makhtesh Ramon. In March 1949, during Israel’s War of Independence, the Israeli army vanquished the Egyptians in the desert campaign and captured the Negev for the State of Israel.

Jewish Virtual Library