Home / Student blog / Page 3
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
The ancient ruins of Qumran were exciting and Masada was an invigorating and rewarding climb but no ruins could ever compare with the pleasure of seeing some very nearly completely intact mosaic floors. The frescoes and plastering in the bath houses of Masada couldn’t even come close. As much as I can appreciate the... More
Walking the streets of Mea Shearim was daunting. Raysh Weiss’ article on the Haredim points to this area as one of the largest and most prominent Ultra Orthodox neighbourhoods of Israel. In this article, Weiss identifies haredim as the Hebrew term used to describe the Ultra Orthodox, detailing the rise of this Jewish group... More
I did not know what to expect when we arrived at Genesis Land. I was incredibly excited at the prospect of riding a camel and became even more excited when I saw a sign reading “Beit Bereshit” – it was the one time that my biblical Hebrew education did me any good in modern... More
The Dead Sea Scrolls The first of the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered at Qumran in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd. Following this find, many other scrolls as well as fragments of scrolls were found in the nearby caves. Due to the close proximity of the caves containing the scrolls to the ruins... More
Thursday, June 5, 2014
As our article by Shlomit Levy, Hanna Levinsohn, and Elihu Katz points out, the Holocaust is still very much a part of Jewish identity. Through their work, recorded in the article “The Many Faces of Jewishness in Israel”, they discovered that the Holocaust was mentioned by a significant number of survey respondents as a... More
Monday, June 2, 2014
At the site of Khirbet Qumran, a Bedouin discovered a cave with a jar containing several ancient scrolls. After further searches, several other caves have been found that contain fragments of ancient writing. These first scrolls are known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, and many scholars have attempted to use these texts to shed... More
Today was a busy day – we went to the Holocaust museum at Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot, we visited Tzvat (or Safed, as it is often spelled in English), and we also went to Capernaum, finally ending in Tiberias. Although I enjoyed the entire day, the museum was the most interesting part of the schedule... More
Much scholarly debate has been focused on Josephus’ narrative of the mass suicide at Masada. After reading this narrative, one should have many questions in mind regarding its credibility. One must keep in mind that Josephus was a Jew that was initially opposed to Roman rule. Prior to becoming a historian under the Romans,... More
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Under Roman occupation, the province of Judea was ruled by King Herod. This was because it was a client kingdom that had semi-independence from the Roman Empire. Regardless of whoever appeared to be in charge, the people of Judea were aware that Rome was in control. Although Herod may not have been viewed favourably... More
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Today we visited Qumran, and learned more about the history of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Although we had seen a sample of the scrolls already in the Israel museum, it was exciting to be at the actual site of the discovery. However, on the flip side, it was somewhat disappointing to be at the... More
Friday, May 30, 2014
Both the St. George Monastery and especially the Inn of the Good Samaritan are important sites to Christianity. The St. George Monastery, belonging to the Greek Orthodoxy, is situated in the Judean desert along the wall of a canyon. This monastery was one of the few surviving monasteries built during the Byzantine period. The... More
The Western Wall The Western Wall is the holiest place in Judaism due to it being the last remaining evidence of the Second Temple compound. Although for many Jews it is just a wall, many also believe that upon the destruction of the Second Temple, the immanent presence of God came to reside in... More
Search