skip to main |
skip to sidebar
There’s not much to say when you walk out of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. Mostly, we are silent, speechless. Words cannot express the emotion of witnessing the horrific tragedy brought on God’s Chosen People by Hitler’s murderous Nazi army. Situated on Jerusalem’s Mount of Remembrance, Yad Vashem’s 45-acre campus comprises indoor museums and outdoor monuments, memorials, gardens, sculptures and education centers. This world-class complex has all the necessary components for a meaningful and dynamic commemoration of the Holocaust and its six million victims. The largest of its kind in the world, the museum depicts the story of the Holocaust from a Jewish perspective, with individual stories highlighted in the unfolding narrative that includes 100 screens, authentic artifacts including photos, film clips, and works of art and music. While this is not a part of the traditional Holy Land experience of visiting ancient sites of 2,000 and 3,000 years ago, it is something that no one should miss. How is it humanly possible that anyone, much less an army, wreak such evil on any human being! The cattle cars. The ghettos. The humiliation. The death camps. The gas chambers. It was real. It happened. It is perhaps the darkest era in the history of mankind.
The photo is a memorial to the individuals that have been identified. The photo only shows a part of this huge memorial.
So everyone wants to go to Israel to see the historical sites from the days of the Bible. But one of the unexpected treats is the cuisine.
From St. Peter’s Fish (complete with the head staring at you) served at a Galilean kibbutz to Faloffals and Schwarmas from sidewalk vendors in the bustling Jerusalem markets, food options are many and delightful.
But it was our unique two-hour dinner at HaChatzer (the garden courtyard) that really got our attention.
Our table was filled with mezzo platters when we arrived, four sets of eleven small dishes with such spreads as cucumbers, humus, beets, olives, tuna, and tomato salsa all of which could be used with the fabulous baked bread while we waited for the appetizers.
Then came four appetizer options: “baladi” eggplant with tehina and tomato, chicken liver paté with fig jam, carpaccio of salmon, and fish balls in spicy tomato sauce. And this is just the beginning . . .
Finally the main course. No, not one, but three. Spring chicken with marinade, grilled lamb kabob and entrecote steak filet. Add to that some side dishes with tossed salad, rice and mashed potatoes.
Are we done yet? Of course not. How about some non-dairy ice cream for dessert. Yes, this is a kosher meal, so dairy products are a no-no since we had meat earlier. But one would never know. The delicious ice cream was covered in grape honey, tehina paste with halvah and pistachios. Oh, yes, there were two more dessert options — chocolate fudge with halva mousse and chocolate tart with chestnuts and scotch.
In all, 25 different items touched our palettes – one delightful dinner experience.
Today we walked through Jerusalem by way of the Via Dolorosa. Some streets are said to be the actual stones from the time of Jesus. Did Jesus actually walk this way to the cross? No one knows for sure, but that didn’t matter. It was so easy to visualize what it may have been like as we made our way through the narrow, crowded streets lined by shops.
Then we went to a small hill just outside the walls of Jerusalem where even today the stark cliff reveals an image of a skull. Next to it is a tranquil garden with an empty tomb, carved out of a rock.
Many believe the garden tomb is the actual burial and resurrection site of Jesus. There are several archeological discoveries that seem to substantiate the theory. The beautiful surroundings of the garden tomb cause you to want to stop and contemplate what you have seen. And the mental image that one can take with them will never go away.
What a place to stop and consider the price Jesus paid for our sins – and then to rejoice in the knowledge of his resurrection.
We walked into that cold tomb and saw that it was empty, and it was a dramatic reminder of how Jesus conquered death for us.
Our group took time for communion in the garden, and it was a very moving experience. As we took the cup we could hear another group singing, “What a day that will be when my Jesus I will see.”
We began the day with a long drive from Tiberias to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth and lies between the mountains of Israel and Jordan. In this dry and barren desert land is where David found refuge from King Saul hiding in one of the many caves near the spring of En Gedi. The rocky, dry hillsides are full of caves that could have been where David hid. In the nearby area a small settlement existed near the Dead Sea. It was here the Essenes, a small group of Jewish men, copied the Old Testament onto parchment made of sheepskins. Then they hid them in clay jars in the nearby caves of Qumran. Found two thousand years later in 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls have given us numerous Biblical manuscripts, dating back to the 1st century B.C. One of the very moving places in the desert is Masada—a city built upon a sheer mountaintop. It is the place where the Jews, in their final revolt against the Romans in A.D. 73, saw that all hope was lost after a seven-month siege by the Romans and decided to kill their families and then themselves rather than becoming slaves. The excavations of this incredible site reveal a remarkable way of life.
The waters of the Sea of Galilee were so smooth this morning. We set out on an enlarged replica of a 1st century fishing boat and enjoyed a quiet, peaceful boat ride, stopping for a time of prayer and then some Jewish folk dancing. What a great way to start the day in the Galilee region.
Next was a stop at Capernaum, the town Jesus called home during his three-year ministry. Set on the northern shore of the Sea, ancient ruins speak volumes of the way of life 2000 years ago. And just as Jesus prophesied, the city was never rebuilt after it was destroyed in the third century. Bethsaida, just a few miles away, is a much more recent discovery and still in the beginning stages of excavation.
We visited a Catholic church built on the “traditional” site of the Sermon on the Mount. Yet many of us questioned why this particular hill was thought to be the location of this event and not any of the neighboring hills. The entire region is filled with rolling hills and the mere thought of the walking from village to village, from hill to valley, in those days is quite intriguing.
After lunch on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee in a large kibbutz, we took a drive up through the Golan Heights where we got a clear picture of the significance of that area politically. The Golan Heights tower to the east with a westerly view of the Galilee. Prior to 1967, the Jordanians sat up there firing on the Jewish communities below them at will for many years. Now the area is a beautiful landscape of flourishing farms and thriving towns under Israeli control.
Walking in the steps of Jesus took on almost literal meaning Tuesday as our group trekked through the 1st century re-creation of the village of Nazareth. Appropriately named Nazareth Village, the 15-acre terraced hillside showcases workers in period dress as shepherds with a flock of sheep, women spinning wool into yarn, a carpenter crafting wooden tools by hand and farmers tilling the ground with those wooden tools. Primitive structures built by hand out of stone include dirt floor homes, a synagogue, and olive press.
But what caught my attention was the ancient wine press carved out of the hillside and representing an authentic view of life in this poor, rural village of 2000 years ago. Consider that historians believe less than 1,000 inhabitants lived in the Nazareth of Jesus’ time and that such a community may only have had a very few wine presses, our guide suggested that there was perhaps a 50% chance that Jesus himself used that very stone press and played on those hills as a child.
For more information on this fascinating village operated by Arab Christians and tucked away in the middle of a bustling modern Nazareth, log on to http://www.nazarethvillage.com.
Yesterday was a very long day. We flew from San Diego to JFK in New York. We had an 8-hour layover before our flight to Tel Aviv. This is when we were able to other members of our "media team." There are fifteen members in our group and we were all very excited to get to Israel. After a 11.5 hour flight on El Al Airlines, we checked into our hotel and freshened up for a great dinner by the Mediterranean Sea. After that we walked around Jaffa (Joppa) because our guide apparently didn't remember we just spend 24 hours either on an airplane or waiting in the airport.
This morning we started our day watching the sun rise behind us as we look out over the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv. We can see Jaffa (ancient Joppa) from our balcony. This is the city where Jonah fled from Ninevah and where Peter had his vision on the rooftop of Simon the Tanner.
We will take an early morning walk along the Mediterranean Sea this morning before breakfast. Such a beautiful way to start the day. We will be driving up to Caesarea, Megiddo, Nazareth and then on to Tiberias which is along the Sea of Galilee.
President Obama signed an executive order launching the White House Council on Women and Girls. He stated that the purpose of the council is to “ensure that American women and girls are treated fairly in all matters of public policy.”
In the same breath he stated that Tina Tchen, former vice president of the National Organization of Women (NOW), would lead the Council wisely. Tchen’s leadership makes one believe that the council's biggest pursuit for women and girls will be abortion and contraception.
President Obama needs to extend the invitation of appointees to the council to women across the aisle (conservatives) that have raised families and cracked and shattered the glass ceilings.
Perhaps if abortion and contraception are his only concerns he will silence the conservative side but, if he is truly concerned about the welfare of women in the workplace, he will reach across the aisle when he considers enacting policies and programs impacting women and their families.
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The fate of traditional marriage in California, which was protected in the state constitution thanks to the Nov. 4 passage of Proposition 8, is now in the hands of its Supreme Court. The state’s high court has 90 days to issue a ruling.
The panel’s seven justices heard just over three hours of testimony March 5, including an hourlong presentation by Kenneth W. Starr, lead attorney for Protectmarriage.com, which sponsored Proposition 8.
“The constitution has now been amended by the sovereign people who are its creators,” Starr, former judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. and Solicitor General of the United States, said. “That is the beginning and end of this case.”
Opponents of the measure, representing a broad base of gay rights groups, argued several points in trying to sway the jurists to toss the amendment, including a procedural challenge that the amendment reflected a wholesale revision of the constitution, which must be initiated by a 2/3 vote of legislators, not voters.
“Proposition 8’s brevity is matched by its clarity,” Starr responded. “There are no conditional clauses, exceptions, exemptions, or exclusions. Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.
“Describing Proposition 8 as a revision to the state constitution depends on characterizing Proposition 8 as a radical departure from the fundamental principles of the California Constitution. But that portrayal is wildly wrong. Proposition 8 is limited in nature and effect. It does nothing more than restore the definition of marriage to what it was and always had been under California law before June 16, 2008—and to what the people had repeatedly willed that it be throughout California’s history. It is now part of the state constitution.”
State Attorney General Jerry Brown in his written challenge for the court argued that the amendment should be rescinded because it trumped an “inalienable right,” a claim, Starr refuted before the bench.
“The people have the inalienable right to control their constitution.” Starr said.
The U.S. Supreme Court turned down an appeal from a high school football coach who wanted to bow his head and kneel during student-led prayers from team players. The March 2 court ruling ended Marcus Borden’s efforts to overturn the East Brunswick, N.J., school district’s policy prohibiting it.
According to reports, Coach Borden did not endorse, initiate, or participate in the student-led prayers but silently knelt on one knee in the locker room before games and bowed his head before meals.
A federal district court ruled that the policy prohibiting faculty participation in student-initiated prayer is unconstitutional. The court ruled in Borden’s favor on all counts, holding that his silent prayers do not represent a government endorsement of religion. The school district appealed the decision, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit reversed the decision and agreed that the school district policy was constitutional.
The Supreme Court has left chilling consequences for school officials, teachers and coaches in the public school systems—there are now no constitutional rights of freedom of expression, speech or liberty when it comes to there educational responsibilities. We have become so politically correct that we are practicing intolerance to Christianity or even the appearance of it.
