August 2008
Snow from the holy land to the Swiss
An Israeli company has managed to sell a locally made snow machine to Switzerland, a country whose middle names are winter and ski. After last year’s snow fall was delayed, and the ski slopes went without snow for most of the season, the Swiss began to worry about their successful tourist business.
Swiss media outlets reported that due to the severity of the problem, scientists were called in and were now looking into what is being described as a groundbreaking solution: A system that would allow the snow to last even into the hot summer months.
The Swiss town of Zermatt, which resides in the Swiss Alps at 1600 meters (5,315 feet) above sea level and is considered one of the top ski resorts in Switzerland, couldn’t wait for the system to become a reality and decided on a solution which was more readily available. In a month’s time, an Israeli made snow cannon will be put into use in the town’s ski resort, and unlike regular snow cannons, this one works even if the temperatures are way above zero. The Israeli snow cannon, named “IDE Snowmaker”, was originally created for the purposes of desalinization of salt water. Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger reported that the Israeli creators of the snow cannons soon discovered that the machine could create snow without adding any chemicals and without the use of drinking water.
The Israeli snow cannons are used around the world for cooling purposes by the diamond industry in South Africa and other industries. The snow cannons are too big to be mobile, so they need to have a permanent location.
The cost of this 30-ton, 11-meter (36-feet) machine is about NIS 7 million ($1.9 million).
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
For more than a thousand years, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has been a pilgrim destination for Christians around the globe. For these pilgrims, the site is a nexus of their faith, marking the place where Christ was crucified, buried, and later resurrected. Built by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century in place of a Temple of Venus, the Church also stands as a symbol of the victory of Christianity over paganism—in Jerusalem, and soon after in much of the world.
Until the Holy Sepulchre was excavated, Christians didn’t have a particular veneration for Jerusalem as a Holy City. Instead they believed that Christ’s Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Romans, to be replaced by a pagan city devoid of holiness. Thus the discovery of the Holy Sepulchre and what was believed to be Mount Golgotha, the hill whereupon Christ was crucified, changed the relationship of Christians with Jerusalem forever.
No longer was Jerusalem merely Aelia Capitolina. It became Jerusalem, site of Christ’s grave and therefore of his life. It became the Holy City to Christianity.
It began with the Emperor Constantine, the 4th century Roman emperor who made Christianity the official religion of the empire. Urged by Bishop Makarios of Aelia, Constantine demolished the Temple of Venus that had been built on the site where Christians believed Christ’s grave resided, and excavated the ground in search of a tomb. And he found one. Ever after, that ground became sacred to Christianity, and Constantine built a magnificent church and basilica to mark the spot.
Now, as in days of old, present-day pilgrims wend their way up the Via Dolorosa, following the path that Jesus is said to have taken to meet his crucifixion. Singing as they go and bearing a cross, these groups tread on stones worn smooth by centuries of pilgrimages. Their path takes them through the colorful Arab market, where the air is filled with the cries of merchants and the swift-paced rhthym of bargaining. On this path, the vivid colors and spicy odors of the Middle East meet the restrained earth tones of medieval Europe.
The Church, which was destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries, represents a vortex in medieval history: the center of a whirlwind of battles that reached a frenzied peak during the Crusades. Some historians even believe that it was the destruction of the Church that piqued the Crusades. For hundreds of years, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was bombarded by tyrannical rulers, destructive armies and the ravages of war.
Jordan: Israeli tourists asked to hand over Jewish paraphernalia
Dozens of Israelis who have passed through the Arava border crossing during the last few days were given a choice, either turn over all items that carry Jewish symbols or be denied entry into Jordan.
The reason? According to the Jordanians it is nothing more than a security precaution.
“The Jewish symbols will make it easier on terrorist elements to identify Israelis” a Jordanian official explained.
For the past year the Jordanians have been meticulous when checking Israelis, especially orthodox Jews, who wish to enter Jordan. Last week authorities reiterated their advisory that “Jewish paraphernalia” that could risk the lives of the tourists, must be left at the border checkpoint.
‘No anti-Semitic sentiment’
On Tuesday, for example, a group of 30 religious Israelis had to cancel their planned trip to Petra, after Jordanian authorities’ confiscated their Jewish paraphernalia.
“The Jordanians confiscated everyone’s prayer books and even seized one members’ copy of a book by (Shmuel Yosef) Agnon”, mentioned Trix Richter, a member of the group.
According to Richter, the Jordanians claimed that this was being done for security reasons. “It sounded a little far-fetched’, said Richter, “I hate to think what would happen if the State of Israel would confiscate copies of the Koran from Muslim tourists or copies of the New Testament from Christian tourists; the rest of the world would be upset.”
The foreign Ministry has confirmed that the Jordanians had in fact increased security regarding Jewish paraphernalia. “They claim that it has to do with security measures,” a source inside the ministry said.
“They believe tourists we can be recognized as Jews would be easier target for terrorists,” he said. We told them that it seemed a bit much, and that generally, Jews pray and put on tefillin in private, such as in a hotel room, but their concerns are about Jews praying in public and drawing attention to themselves.”
Following the increase in complaints both the Foreign Ministry and the Israeli embassy in Amman plan to appeal to the Jordanian authorities in order to ease the restrictions
“It must be understood that this decision stems from a genuine desire to keep the Israeli tourists safe”, said a source in the ministry. “There is no anti-Semitic sentiment (behind the decision), just the desire to protect tourists the best that they can”.
From ancient water aqueduct to trash box
A Remarkable number of aqueducts supplied Jerusalem with fresh water in the days of first and second Temples. The water was needed for the Mikves (ritual bath) for the purification of the human soul. Few parts of them are standing on there original site for hundreds of years.
Many of the single aqueduct units are used to decorate public arias. One of them is located in the main garden of the American Colony Hotel.
The oldest and the only Jewish quarter in the world is in
the old city of Jerusalem. The residents of the quarter have no respect to the past and turn the ancient units to trash boxes.
I sent a letter to Jerusalem municipality, the answer was that they instructed the trash collector to empty them to.
Isn’t it mach easy to make them stand on the position they stood for hundreds of years?
Jerusalem windmill gets to produce flour again
Historical mill built by Sir Moses Montefiore in 1857 comes back to life
The windmill built by Jewish philanthropist Sir Moses Haim Montefiore in 1857 in Jerusalem’s Yemin Moshe neighborhood will produce flour once again.
Renovation of the windmill, one of modern Jerusalem’s symbols, was made possible by a contribution of a half a million dollars given by a Jewish American donor to the Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski.
The windmill was built in the mid 19th century in order to supply flour to the inhabitants of Mishkenot Sha’ananim, the first Jewish neighborhood to be built outside the walls of the Old City.
The mill was built according to an English model and was initially operated by experts sent especially from London by Montefiore.
With the introduction of steam-powered flour mills a short time later, use of the windmill was halted.
After 151 years, the Jerusalem municipality is presently planning to restart its work on the windmill which will serve as a tourist attraction.
It will be connected to electricity mains since nowadays the wind that blows in the area is not sufficient for moving its blades and spinning the millstones.
First Temple seal found in Jerusalem
A stone seal bearing the name of one of the families who acted as servants in the First Temple and then returned to Jerusalem after being exiled to Babylonia has been uncovered in an archeological excavation in Jerusalem’s City of David, a prominent Israeli archeologist said Wednesday.
The 2,500-year-old black stone seal, which has the name “Temech” engraved on it, was found earlier this week amid stratified debris in the excavation under way just outside the Old City walls near the Dung Gate, said archeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, who is leading the dig.
According to the Book of Nehemiah, the Temech family were servants of the First Temple and were sent into exile to Babylon following its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The family was among those who later returned to Jerusalem, the Bible recounts. The seal, which was bought in Babylon and dates to 538-445 BCE, portrays a common and popular cultic scene, Mazar said.
The 2.1 x 1.8-cm. elliptical seal is engraved with two bearded priests standing on either side of an incense altar with their hands raised forward in a position of worship.
A crescent moon, the symbol of the chief Babylonian god Sin, appears on the top of the altar.
Under this scene are three Hebrew letters spelling Temech, Mazar said.
The Bible refers to the Temech family: “These are the children of the province, that went up out of the captivity, of those that had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away, and came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one unto his city.” [Nehemiah 7:6]… “The Nethinim [7:46]“… The children of Temech.” [7:55].
The fact that this cultic scene relates to the Babylonian chief god seemed not to have disturbed the Jews who used it on their own seal, she added.
The seal of one of the members of the Temech family was discovered just dozens of meters away from the Opel area, where the servants of the Temple, or “Nethinim,” lived in the time of Nehemiah, Mazar said.
“The seal of the Temech family gives us a direct connection between archeology and the biblical sources and serves as actual evidence of a family mentioned in the Bible,” she said. “One cannot help being astonished by the credibility of the biblical source as seen by the archaeological find.”
The find will be announced by Mazar at the 8th annual Herzliya Conference on Sunday.
The archeologist, who rose to international prominence for her recent excavation that may have uncovered King David’s palace, most recently uncovered the remnants of a wall from Nehemiah.
The dig is being sponsored by the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem research institute where Mazar serves as a senior fellow, and the City of David Foundation, which promotes Jewish settlement throughout east Jerusalem.