Jerusalem Archives - Page 156 of 199

The Feast of Shavuot

Celebration begins tonight of the Feast of Shavuot. Translated in English as “Weeks” and it gets its name from the fact that it begins seven weeks after Passover (Lev 23:15). Shavuot is one of the three great pilgrimage feasts (Deut 16:16), but unlike the week-long celebrations of Passover and Tabernacles, this one is observed for one day only. Modern celebration of Shavuot consists of all-night study of the Scriptures, especially Ruth, and consuming dairy products. Arutz-7 reports:

Jewish men and women in Israel will join their brethren around the world to learn all night Tuesday, although in Israel the holiday is observed for only one day. Many will also be eating dairy foods and putting greenery in their homes and synagogues, all in the name of observing the Shavuot holiday.
The practice of learning all night is a custom, rather than a commandment, and is the expression of one’s desire to draw closer to G-d. It also is carried out to counter the behavior of the Jews who slept at Mount Sinai instead of waiting for the giving of the Torah. By staying up the entire night and studying, their descendants strive to rectify the slight caused to the honor of the Torah.
[…]
As always, prayers and learning are being held through the night at the Western Wall (the Kotel). Jerusalem hotels are packed to capacity as tourists who remember past years, and those who have been told of its beauty, wait with anticipation for the event. Right before dawn, one can see tens of thousands making their way to the Wall for early morning prayer service.

The full article is here, and more information about this holiday is available at JewFAQ.org and Wikipedia.

Shortly after Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples were gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Shavuot, also known as Pentecost. It was at this time that the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke in many languages. Jews from all over the world were there to hear them because they were obedient to go up to Jerusalem for the feast. You can read more about this event in Acts 2.

Acts 2:5-12 (NIV) “Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?””

Crowds at Western Wall on Shavuot

Tagged Jerusalem

Weekend Roundup

The “Jesus Trail” is the subject of an article in last month’s issue of Christianity Today. The author and his photographer son (the pictures in the print magazine are great) walked the trail and talked politics and religion with the people they encountered. The “Jesus Trail” runs from Nazareth to Capernaum.

Photographs of Jerusalem in the early 1900s from the collection of Hannah and Efaim Degani are described and displayed in this YnetNews article.

The wife of the founder of the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem is profiled in this Jerusalem Post article. Batya Borowski reflects on the museum, her husband, and her early years in Mandatory Palestine.

Israel is minting gold 20 NIS coins depicting the symbol of Jerusalem. The one-ounce coins are for sale for approximately $1,467.

Tagged Galilee, Jerusalem, Museums, Weekend Roundup

Jerusalem Top Tourist Destination

From the Jerusalem Post:

Jerusalem has been named one of the world’s top 10 travel destinations for culture and sightseeing. The TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice award for Jerusalem, the only city in the Middle East and Africa to receive the honor, was announced Wednesday. TripAdvisor lists several sites in Jerusalem as must-see for travelers, including the Western Wall, Temple Mount, Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and the City of David. […] Other destinations on the top 10 list include London, New York City, Paris, Rome and Washington, D.C. Also, Florence and Venice, in Italy; Istanbul, Turkey; and Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The full story is here.

Tagged Jerusalem, Tourism

Northern Hinnom Valley Excavations

Tom Powers has written and posted photos on a new excavation in the Hinnom Valley, just north of “Artists’ Lane.” The salvage dig is being carried out in advance of the construction of a park to honor former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek. The hole is deep and there appears to be a lot of architecture, but the workers were less than happy to be the subject of the paparazzi and quickly chased Tom away.

It’ll be interesting to learn what they find. Historically this area has always been outside the walls of Jerusalem. Somewhere in the Hinnom Valley lies ancient Topheth, where the kings of Judah made sacrifices to foreign gods (2 Kgs 23:10; Isa 30:33; Jer 7:31-32; Jer 19:6-14). I’ve always pictured that being further to the south. When more becomes available, I’ll note it here.

Tagged Excavations, Jerusalem

Barkay on Claim to Temple Mount

Most of what is in this Arutz-7 interview with Dr. Gabriel Barkay is not new, but some things are worth hearing again.

Of the discoveries that have been made in the Temple Mount Sifting Project (unfortunately translated in the article as “Screening the Waste”!):

Barkai explained that despite the conditions, “We have made thousands of amazing finds that have changed the way we understand that period.”
Asked later to elaborate, he told Israel National News, “For instance, we have found many small floor tiles, of different colors, which confirm the Talmud’s description of the floor of the Second Temple as being reminiscent of the ocean.”
Other finds have included fragments of stone decorated with ornaments known to be from the Second Temple Period, arrowheads from Nebuchadnezzar’s army and also from the Romans, as well as coins and decorations from many periods. Among the most exciting finds were bullae (seal rings), ostracons written in ancient Hebrew script, seals, and more.

Of the agenda to rewrite history in order to eliminate a Jewish connection to the Temple Mount:

Barkai explained that in addition to building mosques on the site, the Moslems clearly have the goal of detaching Israel from its past and Holy Temple connections: “They wish to undermine Jewish ownership and bonds to the Temple Mount. They’ve built a giant mosque there in Solomon’s Stables [under the Temple Mount] and another one nearby – but aside from that, they have an ideological goal which is even making inroads to naïve circles in the west, and it is called ‘Holy Temple denial.’ They act as if there never was a Holy Temple. This is very very grave; regarding the Holocaust, there are living people who still remember it, but the same cannot be said regarding the Temple…”
“We must demand that Israeli law and sovereignty be enforced on the Temple Mount,” Barkai concluded.

The full article is here.

Tagged Jerusalem, Temple Mount

Hinnom Valley Bridge Discovered

The Israel Antiquities Authority has uncovered an arched bridge in the Hinnom Valley that was built in the 14th century as a replacement of the Lower Aqueduct bridge from the 1st century. From Arutz-7:

Two of the bridge’s original nine arches have now been excavated to their full height of about three meters.
In actuality, the newly-discovered bridge was built in 1320 C.E. by the sultan Nasser al-Din Muhammed Ibn Qalawun, as evidenced by its dedicatory inscription. However, it was apparently constructed to replace an earlier bridge dating to the time of the Second Temple period that was part of the original aqueduct.
Yechiel Zelinger, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, said, “The bridge, which could still be seen at the end of the 19th century and appears in old photographs, was covered over during the 20th century. We were thrilled when it suddenly reappeared in all its grandeur during the course of the archaeological excavations.”
“The route of the Low Level aqueduct from the time of the Second Temple, beginning at Solomon’s Pools near Bethlehem and ending at the Temple Mount, is well known to scholars,” Zelinger said. “Substantial parts of it have been documented along the edge of Yemin Moshe neighborhood and on the slope adjacent to the Old City’s western wall. In order to maintain the elevation of the path along which the water flowed, a bridge was erected above the ravine.”

The story continues here.

Yesterday Tom Powers posted his observations of the excavation along with a couple of great photos.

He wonders aloud if the earlier foundations of the bridge underlie the present one. Perhaps the archaeologists will pursue this question.

Tagged Discoveries, Excavations, Jerusalem