Dispatch from Jerusalem

Land—Eretz

By Teri Riddering, Coordinator, BFP Spanish Resource Center

{image_1} Some Christian theologians report that the generic term eretz, for “land,” is the fourth most frequently used noun in the Old Testament (the Jewish Scriptures), used 2,504 times in the Hebrew sections and 22 times in the Aramaic sections. The general use of this term refers to the Earth in the cosmological sense, but it is also the designation of a specific territory, primarily the Land of Israel.

8500–6750 BC Prehistoric Funerary Found in the Galilee

{image_1} Archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, digging in the Nazareth hills at Kfar Ha’Horesh, have discovered a prehistoric funerary (burial chamber) precinct dating to around 8500–6750 BC. The Pre-pottery Neolithic B precinct, a massive walled enclosure measuring 10 meters (32 feet) by at least 20 meters (64 feet), is interpreted as having been a regional funerary and cult center for nearby lowland villa.

Jewish Population Growing

{image_1} A Jewish Agency report noted that Rosh Hashana 2008 sees 13.3 million Jews living around the world, as opposed to 13.2 million on the eve 2007’s Jewish New Year. The report’s count included all those listed or declaring themselves to be of the Jewish faith and holding no other religious denomination. According to data, 2008 saw a rise in the number of Jews living in Israel, as 70,000 new Israelis were inducted in the state. The situation in the Diaspora indicated the opposite trend, as the number of Diaspora Jews decreased from 7.8 million to 7.75 million.

Hanukkah—A Light in the Darkness

{image_1} To much, if not all, of the Christian world, December is a very important month. It is filled with cooking, cleaning, entertaining, visiting friends and relatives…a constant flurry of activity, all focused on one holiday that acknowledges a defining moment in Christian history. For the Jewish people, December holds not one or two but eight days to celebrate events that occurred over 2,000 years ago. Hanukkah has become an integral part of the sequence of Jewish holidays celebrated annually and known as the festival cycle.

Arab Response to the US Economic Crisis…

{image_1} “The enemies of Islam are facing a crushing defeat, which is beginning to manifest itself in the expanding crisis their economy is experiencing…[They are] turning their backs on Allah’s revealed laws, which forbid interest-bearing transactions, exploitation, greed and injustice in all its forms.”

Kristallnacht Synagogue Restored

{image_1} Germany’s fast-growing Jewish community has inaugurated a new synagogue in the western city of Krefeld, seven decades after the original was destroyed by the Nazis. “We are here, in the middle of this society, and we will never let anyone challenge that place again,” the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, told guests at the inauguration ceremony.

2nd Temple Period Jerusalem Wall Unearthed

By Will King, Correspondent, BFP Israel Mosaic Radio

{image_1} Archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the Nature and Parks Authority, and the Ir David Foundation discovered part of a 2,100-year-old wall from the late Second Temple Period (second century BC to AD 70). According to the IAA, the wall was constructed by the Hasmoneans in the second century BC and later destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. The wall is located at the southern part of Mount Zion, adjoining a Catholic cemetery, near where the “righteous gentile” Oskar Schindler is buried. This wall delineated Jerusalem from the south in periods when the ancient city had reached its largest size.

Snacking in Israel:  Mandel Bread

By Charleeda Sprinkle, Assistant Editor

So what might you enjoy snacking on while walking, biking, hiking, or touring around Israel? Besides Israel’s alluring ice cream, sugar-dusted Turkish delights, sticky baklava (sweet Greek pastry), and large array of tempting baked goods, I can name a few that are very Israeli, each one with a fascinating history.

From Islamic Hamas…

{image_1} “Jerusalem will be retrieved to the Palestinians not through negotiations or by hugging and kissing the enemy, but by way of jihad, blood, shahids [martyrs], and resistance. With Allah’s help, Jerusalem will be returned…The Israeli–Arabs are safeguarding the Al-Aqsa Mosque; it is as if they are inside the belly of a whale. They represent the Islamic nation.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls…Online?

{image_1} Specialists working for the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have begun a limited pilot program that they hope will eventually lead to all of the more than 1,200 plates of Dead Sea scrolls and fragments being photographed and made available online. The scrolls and fragments will be imaged using state-of-the-art equipment and techniques, and the IAA team even includes a retired NASA scientist, Dr. Greg Bearman.