Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) 130-Year-Old Testimony of Jewish Life in Shiloah (Silwan), Jerusalem

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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130-Year-Old Testimony of Jewish Life in Shiloah (Silwan), Jerusalem Posted: 03 Dec 2015 An annotated picture found in the British Library's Endangered Archives collection Annotated picture of Shiloah (Silwan) from the Bonfil albums digitized by the British Library (circa 1890s) The Shiloah (Silwan) village south of Jerusalem's Old City dates back to Biblical times. Water from its spring was used in the Jewish Temples. Jewish royalty was buried in its caves with Hebrew inscriptions naming the deceased. Over the centuries the hill was inhabited by Christian monks and Arab families. Below is one of the first photographs taken in Palestine in 1844 showing Silwan's small size.  It was taken by Girault de Prangey, a student of  the inventor of photography, Louis Daguerre.  View more of de Prangey's photographs here. Many of his photographs are now online at the French National Library. The village of Shiloah (Silwan) in 1844 and the Kidron Valley (Smithsonian Magazine) The 3,000 Maison Bonfils photographs from the Fouad Debbas Collection in Beirut digitized by the British Library have the barest of captions -- with the exception of one album with lengthy English annotations. The first photograph above provides an example. It describes the Yemenite Jewish community that moved into the Shiloah village in the 1880s.  Below is the handwritten caption. The caption on the photograph reads, "The village of Siloam on the east bank of the Kidron Valley.  The Pool of Siloam is opposite to the village on the west bank.  The inhabitants are Mohammedans except at the extreme south (right hand of picture) where the Yemenite Jews live in a small colony of tiny stone buildings as shown in a long low patch of white." On the right side of the picture, adjacent to the Jewish housing, the album owner wrote, "The Yemenite Colony." Photographers of the 19th century focused their lenses on the Yemenite residents, especially the photographers from the American Colony where the Yemenites' arrival in 1882 was viewed as the "Gaddites" returning home and as a messianic harbinger. We had the privilege of providing an essential detail to the Library of Congress' picture in its archives of the "village of Siloah" (circa 1901). The man, we explained after consultation with Yemenite historians, is a Yemenite Jew, originally from Habani in Yemen. He was probably among the residents of Shiloah. The American Colony photographers took scores of pictures of Yemenite Jews and helped provide food and shelter to the poor immigrants. Poor Yemenite Jewish family (circa 1890s). An American Colony caption read "Group of Yemenite Jews"  "A scene in a Jewish Yemenite Quarter," according to the Library of  Congress caption. The picture, possibly shot in Shiloah, was taken in  the 1930s when the Jews of Silwan (Shiloah) were suffering  from attacks from their Arab  neighbors. They eventually fled  their homes. Today, Jewish families have returned to Shiloah.

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta) Commemorating 850,000 Jews Expelled from Arab Countries

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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Commemorating 850,000 Jews Expelled from Arab Countries, November 30 Posted: 30 Nov 2015 Young Jewish girl from Beirut (British Library, Fouad Debbas Collection) Jewish Women of the Orient 100-150 Years Ago Last year, Israel's Knesset designated November 30 as the memorial day to commemorate the expulsion of Jews from Arab countries and Iran. Flourishing ancient communities were forced to flee anti-Semitic persecution, deadly pogroms, and confiscation of property.  An estimated 850,000 fled, most of them to Israel.   Historic photographs of the Jewish communities and individuals serve to remind us of the rich heritage they left behind.   Maison Bonfils studio was established in Beirut in 1867 and produced thousands of photographs from all over the Middle East.  Some of the most important pictures of Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem were taken through Bonfils' lenses. Lebanese collector Fouad Debbas amassed some 3,000 Bonfils photographs.  When he died in 2001, his collection faced possible dispersal, deterioration, or worse.  The British Library's Endangered Archives Programme stepped in to save the collection, digitize it and post the pictures online. In the British Library's honor, we present these Bonfils photos of Jewish women of the Middle East. We estimate they were taken in the last decades of the 19th century. Syrian Jewish woman A young Jewish girl from Egypt Young Jewess Jewish girl from Damascus Young Jewish girl Jewish girls Young Jewess Jewish women preparing to go out Syrian Jewish woman We commend the British Library for this essential project.  The Library and its staff serve as a model: Responsible archivists and libraries digitize and preserve their treasures for the world to see. Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on captions to view the original picture.

This Post Won't Go Viral - JESSILYN JUSTICE CHARISMA NEWS

The Islamic State martyred these Ethiopian Christians on Libyan soil. (Reuters)

This Post Won't Go Viral Because That Would Mean You'd Have To Do Something About Your Faith

11/16/2015 JESSILYN JUSTICE  charisma news

I put my heart on the line every day as I write about the Islamic State torture,crucifixions, beheadings, shootings and child abuse.  

I hold back the tears as I type out the words, pull horrific quotes and sort through photos to use with my articles to protect the innocent but draw attention to the violence.  

But readers don't care. Sometimes, even my co-workers don't care. I've spent nearly a year working at what I consider my dream job, writing stories that I think matter, hoping to raise awareness about the tragedy of what's happening to my brothers and sisters, only to realize people would rather talk about Paula White's Halloween costume.  

How do I know? My post about her Instagram photo garnered a whopping 28,000 shares and calls and comments from co-workers about my gifts.  

A week earlier, my story about "Christians" maliciously abusing child "witches" netted 546 shares. I'm not a math person, but my calculator tells me White dressed as Little Red Riding Hood was over 5,000 percent more successful for site traffic.

This is horrifying.  

We would rather gossip about a controversial evangelist than put our money where our faith should be and try to stop the evils of this world. More recently, our breaking news story about the heart-aching violence against Paris received just over 700 shares, which means White got 4,000 percent more shares.

My soul aches for the men and women involved, and yet some outrage creeps in. Outrage because believers care about Western attacks, but not the violence facing our brothers and sisters who endure persecution every day. Internationally, refugees are fleeing the very men who attacked Paris, but some are blaming the refugees for ushering in the violence. 

Social media-wise, few of us cared about the suicide bomber in Turkey who took out 90 last month. What about the 43 killed in Beirut the day before Paris? But when the city of love is attacked, we draw a line?

Just imagine how our world could change if we would breach our comfort zone and stand up to evil.

Though I'm throwing accusations, I am just as guilty of wanting to clear my mind of what burdens my heart and watch a fluffy Hallmark movie to avoid reality. I share funny Facebook memes before I share stories about Coptic Christians forgiving the men who slaughtered their husbands, fathers and brothers.  

As believers, we are called to be set apart (Deut. 14:2, Heb. 10:10-12), but we buy into what culture propagates as entertainment because it seems easier than letting our hearts do the talking.  

How often do we as Christians let the Holy Spirit guide our social media habits? How many people spent even 30 seconds praying before firing off some comment about Starbucks red cups (I'll raise my hand, as I opened my mouth before I considered what God would want from me).  

While your feed may have been filled with complaints about the complaints about Starbucks, comedian Bill Dixon tweeted, "If you're mad about Starbucks coffee cups, wait until you hear about sex trafficking!" 

I'm pretty sure he isn't a believer, but his comment highlights an unfortunate truth in the Christian community: We get up in arms about situations that don't actually impact the Kingdom. 

We complain about persecution but we largely ignore the devastation happening across the world. If we did, Real Housewives of Orange County's Vicki Gunderson's boyfriend's cancer scandal wouldn't be the one of the top stories of today.  

Thanksgiving's coming up. So I have a challenge for us: Take the next week and share a post about something that's happening in the Christian community outside the United States and think of reasons why they might be grateful. Share it on your platforms and use your social media standing to make a difference. 

Help us rebrand Christianity to be something Jesus would be proud of—as in something that would look like the Acts 2 church and not a quick hit for Internet traffic.

Jessilyn Justice is the assistant news editor for Charisma. Born and raised in a pastor's family in Alabama, she went to Lee University and the Washington Journalism Center. She's passionate about the church, jogging, news and cupcakes not necessarily in that order. Tell her what you think of this story on Twitter@jessilynjustice.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

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Israel's History - a Picture a Day - Maison Bonfils' photographs

Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)

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A Major 19th Century Photo Collection Rescued and Digitized by the British Library's Endangered Archives Program Posted: 24 Aug 2015 A preview of Bonfils' photographs Three thousand pictures taken by the Maison Bonfils photographers of Beirut from 1867 to the 1910s are part of the private Fouad Debbas collection in Beirut. Last year, the collection was digitized and posted online by the British Library's Endangered Archives Program.   We have posted several Bonfils' photographs in the past from the Library of Congress, Getty, and New York Public Library collections. But nowhere in the world has such an extensive collection of Bonfils' photographs been collected and made public.  We thank the Debbas family and Ms. Jody Butterworth, the curator of the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme, for their efforts.  We present here just a preview of this very important collection:  Jews praying at the "Wailing Wall" (Debbas Collection, British Library) Rachel's Tomb on the way to Bethlehem (Debbas Collection, British Library) Rachel's Tomb, not the village of Sanur Elsewhere in the Debbas Collection this picture is captioned "Village of Sanur in the modern-day West Bank." Obviously, it is another Bonfils photo of Rachel's Tomb.  The bustling Jaffa Gate outside of Jerusalem's Old City. The Hotel Fast was built in 1891. The photo was taken prior to 1898 when a breach was made in the wall for the German Emperor's carriages. (Debbas Collection, British Library) We plan to present more of the collection in coming weeks accompanied by our historical essays. Click on pictures to enlarge. Click on caption link to view the original.