Life on the Edge In the last Nugget, we discussed the steep and jagged cliffs, often called the cathedral cliffs, that ring the western shore of the Dead Sea and guard the entrance to the Judaean Desert (Hebrew: מִדְבַּר יְהוּדָה Midbar Yehuda). This steep and treacherous area is the home of the Ibex. The[…]
Eden in the Wilderness Steep and jagged cliffs ring the western shore of the Dead Sea guarding the entrance to the Judaean Desert (Hebrew: מִדְבַּר יְהוּדָה Midbar Yehuda). The geographical term for the Judaean Desert is a “rainshadow desert”. Rainshadow deserts occur in many places on the earth and are formed when prevailing westerly[…]
For Such a Time as This The holiday of Purim (Hebrew: פּוּרִים – Pûrîm “lots”) commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire where a plot had been formed to destroy them by the second-in-command of the Persian empire – Haman. takes place in the Persian (Hebrew: פרס) royal city of[…]
Scrolls and Scribes The year was 73 AD and the Roman general Titus was determined to stamp out all efforts by the Jews of reclaiming their land and sovereignty. He had marched the infamous Tenth legion from Rome to Jerusalem and destroyed the city and the Temple in 70 AD. Determined to eradicate the[…]
The Glorious Land In all the T’nakh, the word אֶ֥רֶץ – eretz (Heb: ‘land’) occurs 2,400 times making it the 4th most frequently used noun in the Hebrew Bible! Which makes it a pretty important topic!! Eretz first occurs in the Hebrew text in Genesis 1:10 and is translated as ‘Earth’, however, the majority of[…]
The Lowest Spot on Earth Last week we studied the Jordan river which begins at Israel’s highest peak, Mt. Hermon (elevation 9,232 ft. ), flows down what is called the Jordan Rift Valley and empties into the Dead Sea (elevation – 1,200 feet below sea level). The name ‘Dead Sea’ is the English name[…]
The Way Up is Down Often if we travel in Israel, we hear the phrase ‘to make aliyah’ – meaning to permanently immigrate to Israel. The word ‘aliyah’ is derived from the root עלה (alah) – meaning to ‘go up’ or ‘to ascend’. Literally it means simply to ‘go up’ (as it going up[…]