Updates and Thoughts on “Beautiful Israel”

As we go through this beautiful series being launched week after week, I wanted to share with you some updates and thoughts about the episodes we publish. I will also share from time to time new findings and new discoveries.

Watch below, thoughts about this series of “Beautiful Israel” and new findings


Saturday, August 22, 2020


Tuesday, December 22, 2020

New finding under the Church of Gethsemane

Always, when I take groups around Israel, I use to say that almost under all these places where we tour and visit, there is so much archeology just waiting to be found.

This is what happened during construction work near the Kidron valley in Jerusalem. A tunnel is being build, to connect the valley to the Church of Gethsemane, and during the construction work in the area, a unique and very interesting discovery was found: a ritual bath, a Mikveh, from the time of Jesus, from the Second Temple period.

This is the first archaeological evidence found of activity at the Jerusalem site during the Second Temple period, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Watch this video from the Israel Antiquities Authority about this exciting finding

Archeologist from the Antiquity Authorities talks about the findings

The Church of Gethsemane at the bottom of Mount of Olives, is in the middle of that used to be an agricultural area in Jesus’s time. People came there to press their olives into olive oil.

Before you produced your olive or wine in Second Temple period, you had to purify yourself in water, and the way to do that was to use a Mikveh, a ritual bath, where you could go into the water and baptize yourself before you could continue with the production of your oil.

This archeological finding connects the area of Gethsemane, a very important area with a major event in the life of Jesus, to the life of Jews in Jerusalem of that time and makes clear that this garden (today known as the Church of Agony) was a major part of Jerusalem of that time, a major agricultural part, mainly around the growth of olive tress and the production of olive oil.

When you visit today, looking at the old olive tress in the garden, remember that you are in the same exact area where Jesus was in the last night before his arrest, where Jesus prayed: “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” Mathew 26: 39

From an article in Haaretz newspaper

A mikveh dating to the Second Temple period has been found in the garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Monday.

As happens a lot in Israel, it was found during infrastructure works. Specifically, builders were working on a tunnel near the Church of Gethsemane and were surprised to discover an underground cavity. The cavity in the rock would later be identified as a Jewish ritual bath dating to around 2,000 years ago – about the time Jesus was active in the area, according to Christian tradition.

The bath was found by archaeologists working with the antiquities authority and scholars from the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, a Franciscan research institute near the modern Church of Gethsemane.

Construction on that church began in 1919 and took five years. During the process the builders discovered remains of a previously unknown ancient Byzantine church dating back about 1,500 years, and a later Crusader church.

Read the rest of the article here

What a great discovery, especially in this time, few days before Christmas. Can’t wait to be able to take you there.


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Below, you will find a page with all the episodes in our series of Beautiful Israel
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Megiddo and Mount Tabor

This series of videos is about the hill of Megiddo, just above the Valley or Armageddon



and also about Mount Tabor, on the other side of the Jezreel Valley



We will talk about the battle at the end of days, according to the book of Revelation.

We will talk about Mount Tabor as the place where the event of Transfiguration happened, and also about Deborah the prophet and the battle against Sisera

We will also talk about Carob trees since we see lots of these around the valley.

Armageddon (Jezreel) valley is one of the most important places in the Bible !


Megiddo and the valley of Armageddon

Mount Tabor

Carob trees


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Below, you will find a page with all the episodes in our series of Beautiful Israel
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Caesarea

Our first series of videos will be about Caesarea, the beautiful port city that King Herod the great built on the Mediterranean Sea.



We will talk about King Herod himself, will try to understand what made him the king he was and what a great builder he was.

We will talk about Roman cities in general, how they were exactly the same all over the Roman world and about Caesarea and how unique it was as the capital city of the Roman in this area

Of course, we will mention Pontius Pilate and Christianity, since this is the first time a non Jew (Cornelius) was baptized to Christianity.

Lots to show about this amazing city along the sea !


Herod the great

Roman Aqueduct

Introduction to Caesarea – part 1

Introduction to Caesarea – part 2

Pontius Pilate

Caesarea port

Hippodrome and public toilets

Roman Theater


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Below, you will find a page with all the episodes in our series of Beautiful Israel
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Introduction to Israel

Before you start touring Israel, you need to understand the background, you need to understand the geography, topography, climates, roads and culture of the people living here today as well as of the people who lived here in biblical days.



Below is a series of videos to give the general understanding of Israel so you will be able to follow a map of Israel and understand it and know more about the land, the flora and fauna and the food.

In order to understand better the biblical events and the Bible better, you have to know the topography and the culture, this will bring color to your understanding of the Bible.


Borders

Topography and Climate

Demography

Roads

Agriculture

Israel as a startup nation

Animals

Flora

Food


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Below, you will find a page with all the episodes in our series of Beautiful Israel
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Beautiful Israel

In all my many years of being a tour guide, people always asked me: “why don’t you put everything you know on tape? Why don’t you write a book?”

I never had time for that, but now, being unable to guide since March 2020 and missing what I love doing, I decided to meet the challenge and start a series of short videos where I go through this beautiful country and give you a taste of it. Together, we will visit Israel from side to side !

Join me to watch this series of “Beautiful Israel”



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Below is a list of areas and sites in our series. The links in blue are for videos which were already published, links in black will be published as we go.
Please press on the area you want to watch, you will be transferred to a page with videos

Introduction to Israel

Caesarea

Megiddo and Mount Tabor

Haifa and Mount Carmel

Akko

Rosh Hanikra and the western coast

Chula Valley and the lookout to Lebanon and Syria

Safed, Jewish life and Kabbalah (still unavailable due to lockdown)

Golan Heights – Tel Dan

Golan Heights – Caesarea Philippi (Banias)

Golan Heights – Landscape, water, Druze and Mount Ben Tal

Golan Heights – OZ 77, wars of Israel and Geo Political situation in the Middle East

Tel Hazor

Around the Sea of Galilee

Beith Shean

Qasar El Yahud – Crossing place at the Jordan River

Qumran

Ein Gedi

Massada

Dead Sea and area

Tel Beer Sheva

Tel Arad

Sde Boker and Nahal Zin

Craters in the desert

Eilat and the Red Sea

Jerusalem

Jaffa and Tel Aviv