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BiblePlaces Newsletter
Vol 5, #4 -
October 10, 2006
This is a happy time in Israel. For the faithful, the feast of
Sukkot is a time of rejoicing following the more somber Day of
Atonement (Yom Kippur). For the less faithful, it is still a time off from work and school, and
many are traveling around the country. Yesterday a record number
of people filled the Western Wall prayer plaza for the priestly
blessing. For this month's featured photos, I have selected some
of my favorite shots of this holiday and added some commentary to help
you understand what, to many Christians, may be the least understood
of the three pilgrimage festivals. To all, I hope you enjoy the
photos, and to those celebrating, I wish you a hag sameah.
Todd Bolen
Editor, BiblePlaces.com
Assoc. Professor, The Master's College
Israel
Bible Extension (IBEX), Judean
Hills, Israel
News from Israel
 from the BiblePlaces Blog...
Record crowds at the Western Wall...
Oil found near the Dead Sea... Excavations
in the
Western Wall prayer plaza...
Ancient cemetery discovered in Jerusalem...
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"Palace of David" excavations |
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City of David excavations restarted...
Archaeology lectures in
Wheaton and
Los Angeles...
And more...
Fly Over Israel - DVDs
One of the best ways to see Israel is by helicopter. With
a chopper, it is
easy to circle around a site, to hover relatively low to the ground, and to
take photographs or video.
But if the sky-high helicopter rates don't prevent you from doing this, the
restricted airspace of Israel will. Fortunately,
Preserving Bible Times
was able to capture some stunning footage of the entire country before
military restrictions made it impossible. Their collection is now
available on a set of 4 video DVDs, covering the major historical and archaeological
sites throughout Israel.
For instance, the
Samaria,
Judea and the Dead Sea DVD includes the following sites:
Samaria - Sebaste: Sebastiya
Village, Tel Samaria, Forum, Cardo, Church of John the Baptist, Ahab's
Palace, Herod's Temple and Theatre.
Samaria - South:
Mt. Ebal (Excavation), Mt Gerizim/Mt Ebal (Nablus), Mt Gerizim
(Samaritan Temple), Shechem (Tell Balata), Shiloh (Overview) and Shiloh
(Excavation).
Hill Country of
Judea: Hill Country Topography, Bethlehem
(Church of the Nativity), Shepherd's Field (Greek Orthodox Church),
Herodian (General View and Pool), Herodian (Palace Overview) and Hebron
(Machpelah - Tomb of the Patriarchs).
Wilderness of
Judea: Wilderness Topopgraphy, Wadi Qilt
(Winter), Wadi Qilt (St. George's Monastery), Cypros, Jericho (Tel es-Sultan),
Quruntul (Greek Orthodox), Quruntul (Byzantine), Nebi Musa, Hyrcania
Fortress and Mar Saba Monastery.
Dead Sea Region:
Qumran (Cave 1 Area), Qumran (Excavation, Caves 4,5), Ein Feshka, Dead
Sea Coastline, Ein Gedi Region, Masada (Overview), Masada (S-N, Roman
Camp), and Dead Sea (Southern Bay, View Toward Moab).
Many of these sites are inaccessible to tourist groups today,
but all are important for biblical and historical studies. This is the
only collection of aerial footage of these sites available anywhere.
This DVD is part of a set of 4 disks, of which detailed
information is given
here.
Originally these DVDs sold for $300; you can
purchase the
complete set through BiblePlaces.com for $125 with free U.S. shipping (the
best price ever, anywhere). The
previous edition (version 1.0) does not include voice narration and is
available for
$65. We highly recommend this set for learning and teaching about Israel.
Featured BiblePlaces Photos:
The Feast of Sukkot
The Feast of Sukkot is known in English as the
Feast of Tabernacles or the Feast of Booths. Known also in the
Bible as the Feast of Ingathering, Sukkot marks the completion
of the year’s harvest (Ex 23:16; 34:22). The festival is being
celebrated this week by Jewish people in Israel and around the
world. Following the biblical command to "rejoice before the
Lord your God," Sukkot is a time of great excitement and
happiness.
Each photo is linked to a higher-resolution
version which may be used freely for personal and educational purposes.
Commercial use requires separate permission. These photos, plus a
bonus, are also
available for download in a
PowerPoint file
(2.9 MB). For more
high-quality, high-resolution photographs and illustrations of biblical
sites, purchase the
Pictorial Library of
Bible Lands or the
Historic Views of
the Holy Land series.
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Citrons on Tree
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Click picture for higher-resolution version.
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The citron (Hebrew etrog)
has been understood by the rabbis as the "fruit of a goodly
tree" (Lev 23:40), and today this lemon-like fruit is grown
specifically for the celebration of Sukkot.
According to Jewish authorities, the citron must be
unblemished and without defect.
On the tip of the citron is the pitom, a fragile
tip that is especially valuable and worshippers are careful not
to break. Prices of
citrons is determined by the quality, and they sell for as
little as $10 or as much as $1,000.
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Inspecting Myrtle Branch |
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Click picture
for higher-resolution version.
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In addition to the
fruit, the Bible commands three other branches to be collected.
"On the first day you shall take the product of hadar
[beautiful]
trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of
the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven
days" (Lev 23:40, JPS). The
lulav is the branch of a palm tree, the hadass is the
bough of a myrtle tree, and the aravah is the branch of a
willow tree. Before
purchasing, the buyer inspects the branches that they are fit for
use in worship. In the myrtle
pictured above, the man seeks a branch where the leaves grow evenly
in sets of three.
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| Sukkot in Mea Shearim |
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Click picture
for higher-resolution version.
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Throughout the
holiday, religious Jews live in a sukkah.
Each family constructs a temporary dwelling in their yard or
on their balcony in accordance with Leviticus 23:42: "You shall live
in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths,
in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite
people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt,
I the Lord your God" (JPS).
All meals are eaten in the sukkah and many people also sleep
in them throughout the week.
The sukkah must be built under the sky and have a roof of
branches, such as palm, that allow one to see through it.
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Prayers During Sukkot |
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Click picture
for higher-resolution version.
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During prayer times
throughout Sukkot, Jewish men hold the Four Species in their hands as
they as they recite the blessing: "Blessed are You, God our Lord, King
of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and
commanded us to take the lulav."
Then the Four Species are waved in each of the four directions as they
pray for rain in the coming winter.
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Sukkot Prayers with Four Species |
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Click picture for
higher-resolution version.
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Prayers are recited
from a prayer book and heads are covered with prayer shawls.
On Shabbat of Sukkot, the book of Ecclesiastes is read in the
synagogue. The emphasis on the
transitory nature of life is reflected in the temporary dwellings of
the feast. When the temple was
standing in Jerusalem, the water libation ceremony was performed when
the priests brought water from the Pool of Siloam and poured it out
before the Temple. This is the background for Jesus’ teaching in John 7
(see esp. verses 37-39).
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Teaching the Children |
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Click picture for
higher-resolution version.
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One of the principal duties of the Jewish father is to
teach his children to follow the Lord.
Once a boy turns 13, he becomes a son of the commandment (bar
mitzvah) and he is obligated to follow the ways of the Torah.
"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your
hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at
home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you
get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your
foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your
gates" (Deut 6:6-9, NIV).
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Priestly Blessing at Western Wall |
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Click picture for
higher-resolution version.
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On the third day of the holiday, religious Jews come to
the Western Wall for the blessing given by the priests (cohenim).
Tens of thousands are often in attendance to hear the recitation
of the blessing upon the people: "The LORD bless you and keep you; the
LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn
his face toward you and give you peace" (Num 6:24-26, JPS).
This same blessing was discovered on two silver amulets found at
Ketef Hinnom in Jerusalem in 1979; dating to about 600 B.C., these are
the oldest fragments of Scripture yet discovered.
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Priestly Blessing at Western Wall |
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Click picture for
higher-resolution version.
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As in Orthodox synagogues, prayer at the Western Wall is
segregated into men’s and women’s sections.
The men pray on the side closer to the
Temple and the women pray on the south side.
The Western Wall was built by Herod the Great as part of an
expansion of the Temple Mount in the 1st century B.C.
Today the Western Wall is the holiest place to the Jewish people because it is
the closest one is permitted to come to where the Temple once stood.
Centuries of prayer at the wall have sanctified it to the Jewish people.
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Simhat Torah |
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Click picture for
higher-resolution version.
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After the conclusion of the seven-day celebration of
Sukkot, Simhat Torah is observed.
Literally Simhat Torah means "the Rejoicing of the Torah," and
during services on this day, the Torah scrolls are removed from the
synagogue's ark
and carried in a circuit around the prayer hall.
This time is accompanied by singing and dancing and is one of
the most festive days in the Jewish calendar.
Also on this day, the yearly cycle of reading the Torah
(Pentateuch) is completed and a new cycle is begun, signifying that the
study of the Torah never ends.
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All contents (c) 2006 Todd Bolen. Text and
photographs may be used for personal and educational use.
Commercial use requires written permission.
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