During the week covered by this review, we received 9 articles on the following subjects:
Political Issues
Messianic Jews (Organizations)
Jerusalem
Christian Tourism
Book Reviews
Archaeology
Political Issues
The Jerusalem Post, January 13, 2017
The NGO called Women Wage Peace was formed in 2014 following Operation Protective Edge, with the intention of bringing “political leaders back to the table to forge an agreement that will ensure lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians.” The group “draws inspiration from Liberia and Northern Ireland,” where “women took initiative by putting direct pressure on their governments to achieve peace.” On Monday afternoons from October to the end of December, organization members demonstrated in front of the Knesset building to “raise awareness of their cause.”
The group insists that it has no political affiliation and that their only purpose is that “the people in power bring peace to the table.” However, according to NGO Monitor, Women Wage Peace is a member of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP), the membership of which includes “a number of highly biased and politicized NGOs that promote agendas based solely on the Palestinian narrative of victimization and completely omit Israeli perspectives.” Galit Moss, one of the chief members of the organization, responded that “if you want to solve the conflict in a peaceful manner and [reach] a solution, it doesn’t matter what narrative you hold.” Media coordinator Vardit Kaplan also said, “Land is nothing, land comes and goes. Life is everything,” adding that both sides have to give something up, but both sides understand a compromise is necessary.
Makor Rishon, January 13, 2017
Syd Miller, one of the candidates for Secretary of Agriculture in the incoming US administration, is to visit Israel in approximately two months. During his visit he will meet with Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel, and with Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria regional council. It is surmised that “the purpose of Miller’s visit is to make him likable to the new government,” especially as he also hired a public relations firm in Texas owned by a former IDF soldier who has served in the Golani Brigade. Miller himself told Makor Rishon that “the idea is to develop political and economic ties between the two countries. I think we have a lot to learn from Israel in the realm of agriculture, such as everything to do with desalination, and we can help you in animal and plant genetics.” Miller added that his visit “will show great trust in Israel and emphasize our support for her.”
Messianic Jews (Organizations)
Kan Darom (Ashdod), January 6, 2017
The Ashdod municipality “has decided to oust Adv. Michael Berkowitz, head of the appeals committee for property tax issues, saying that ‘he acted in a conflict of interests’” when discussing the Way and Truth organization’s controversy with the municipality over property taxes. Way and Truth “manages a Christian church in the light industry area in the city.” The municipality is of the opinion that Berkowitz, as a member of the organization’s management, should not have ordered the municipality to pay the organization’s expenses due to the property tax issue. Berkowitz, on the other hand, says that he merely has office space in the organization’s building and offers them occasional legal counsel, and that there was no conflict of interests in his actions.
Jerusalem
HaIr Kol HaIr, January 13, 2017
An exhibition entitled City of a Dream: Jerusalem from the Bird’s-Eye View of the Imagination has recently opened at the National Library, as part of the events for the “Year of Jerusalem.” Included in the exhibition are ancient maps and rare manuscripts from the library’s collection, which “show a picture of the city longed for by Jews, Christians and Muslims.” The exhibition is based on the Prophets and the writings of Josephus Flavius and has never been shown publicly before this time.
The exhibition shows that “there is great similarity between the different forms given to the city over the years by scholars from all religions and nationalities, who got their inspiration from the Scriptures.” It also shows “different and varied images of Jerusalem as the holy city were formed through interpretation of texts.” Two gallery discussions on the exhibition will take place in January, the first, on January 18th, on Boris Schatz and the beginning of the Bezalel art school, and the second, on January 29th, on “Life on the Map.”
Christian Tourism
Al HaTzafon, December 28, 2016
This article reports on how the eastern channel of the Jordan –“what everyone thinks of as the river” – is in fact the channel dug in order to “distance the headwaters of the Jordan from the peat grounds in the Hula Valley.” However, during the 1990s, when the Hula Agmon was under construction, the original channel was reconstructed as well. It can now best be seen beginning from the southwestern corner of the Kibbutz Kfar Blum fence, driving along the channel, or walking to the Hula Agmon itself.
Yedioth Ahronoth, January 9, Globes, January 12, 2017
A tour will take place on January 14th and 21st to the Good Samaritan Museum, the desert monastery of Dir Hajla and the Qasr al-Yahud baptismal site. It opens in January for Epiphany and in April for Easter for the presentation of the colorful Eastern Orthodox ceremonies.
Book Reviews
Haaretz, January 13, 2017
This article notifies the public of the publication by Magnes Press of For the Word of God is Living: 8 Conversations on the Epistle to the Hebrews, by Yair Zakovitch and Serge Ruzer of the Hebrew University. The book “follows the dramatic conditions for the writing of the epistle, its ideas and its intended audience.”
Archaeology
The Jerusalem Post, January 11, 2017
New discoveries over the last few years at the Sussita National Park “may support the hypothesis that the facility was used for religious ceremonies instead of entertainment.” Among these discoveries are a mask of Pan, a monumental gate, and a public bathhouse that “could be associated with the god of medicine Asclepius.” Of particular note, however, is the amphitheater, as the foundations for several rows of seats, a passageway and a vaulted corridor have been uncovered in a small probe dig. Dr. Michael Eisenberg, head of the Hippos Excavations project for the University of Haifa, said that the researchers “may have uncovered an expansive sanctuary outside the city walls,” as from their earliest days, Greek theaters “served for the worship of Dionysus.” Taken together, “all these findings suggest that this was a large sanctuary outside the city – something that completely changes what we knew about Hippos and the surrounding area, until now,” said Eisenberg.