Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Do olives bring happiness? The symbol of the Biblical tribe of Asher was the olive tree, and Asher means happiness or contentment in Hebrew. The personality characteristic of Asher was that of pleasantness, which is appropriate for olive oil, as olive oil 'smooths things over'. Tradition teaches that with his pleasant good nature, Asher would bring peace and harmony to the other tribes and quell their arguments. How can olive oil bring YOU happiness, good health, and connect you to the Holy Land? Galilee Green cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil is among the finest you can find anywhere in the world. Support an Israeli small business and connect to the land by joining a unique subscription club to receive beautifully packaged, fantastic tasting olive oil. Join now and start enjoying all the benefits and blessings that the olive has to offer.
Two American families moved to Yavne’el in the Upper Galilee and personally witnessed Jacob’s blessing to Naftali come to fruition right in their backyard.
The Israeli olive, depicted here byYehoshua Halevi, is one of the seven blessed species of Israel. Do you know what determines the color of the olive?Send me an answer or post it onFacebook.
It’s great to hear from you and make new friends from all over the world. Please send mean email and let me know how you are enjoying Jerusalem365 (don’t forget to say where you are from!).
Twenty-five years ago, when Nancy Broth started her business, she signed a contract with El Al (the only airline that flew to Israel at the time) and helped people book their flights abroad. Today, Broth—owner of Caves Travel in Baltimore, MD.—works with multiple airlines, dozens of Israeli hotels, and a group of touring companies and guides. She says traveling to Israel has become not just for Jews, but an alluring vacation for people of all ages, sexual orientations, and creeds.
“It’s the Old City of Jerusalem, Masada, Ein Gedi, the Dead Sea,” says Broth, naming some of the most popular tourist attractions in Israel. “More seasoned people like to go to the Galilee, to Eilat, to visit Petra (the ancient city in Jordan). They go to the spa and the wineries—they all love the wineries.”
“Israel is the only place in the world where students, women, and kids can go by themselves to swim in the Tel Aviv beach at sunset, bike through the mountains, or jog through one of the central parks,” echoes Amir Halevi, director general of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism. “There is no other place where there is so much to do and people can feel safe doing it.”
Halevi tells JNS.org that he has seen a steady rise in people from all over the world traveling to Israel, even during times of heightened security concerns such as the current wave of terror—and despite the high travel costs. Hotel prices in Israel have increased by 70 percent over the last decade. Broth points out that even with alternatives to El Al, such as Turkish Airlines and Austrian Airlines, taking a plane halfway around the world is expensive.
Enter Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, who is trying to make Israel travel more affordable. In late February, Levin presented a bill designed to reduce the cost of vacationing in Israel by 20 percent over five years. The bill passed its first Israeli Knesset reading, and Halevi says it is expected to come up for second and third readings within the next few weeks and hopefully pass.
The bill changes the status of hotels in Israel from commercial venues to national infrastructure, which would allow their construction to be approved through a fast and simple procedure by the country’s National Infrastructure Committee. Further, independent local committees would be able to approve hotels’ addition of up to 20 percent of their rooms for residential purposes, which would reduce the risk of investment for the entrepreneur and increase financing sources, meaning faster return on investment.
Halevi says the tourism minister projects that if the bill passes, some 15,000 hotel rooms will be added within five years in Israel, and about 27,000 in 10 years. During the last decade, only about 3,000 new hotel rooms were built in Israel. Likewise, Israeli tourism officials expect the number of annual tourists in the Jewish state to increase from 3 billion to 5 billion within the next three to five years.
The Yad Sarah organization—Israel’s largest group of volunteers (6,000 members) providing a spectrum of free or nominal cost services designed to make life easier for the sick, people with disabilities, senior citizens, and their families—is also playing a role in making travel to Israel more accessible. About a year and a half ago, Yad Sarah opened a tourist services program that allows people who might not have been able to travel to the Jewish state because of sickness or disability to fulfill their dreams.
“We make it so that people, no matter their boundaries, can come and travel in Israel,” says Nadia Alalu, director of tourist services program.
Yad Sarah offers hospital beds, hoists, commodes, oxygen concentrators, and any other equipment that might be needed to make a tourist comfortable and provide for his needs while in Israel. The organization’s wheelchair-accessible vans can pick up travelers at the airport and bring them directly to their destination. Additionally, tour guides who specialize in accommodating people with physical disabilities can be recommended or arranged through Yad Sarah for a nominal fee.
“They come to us because they are having a bar mitzvah and they want their elderly grandmother to be there,” says Alalu, providing an example of the requests she receives. Sometimes, people come from abroad to receive special medical treatment. Then, too, Yad Sarah can set up their hotel room like a home-hospital.
Yad Sarah is available every day from the early morning until 7 p.m., and for emergencies 24/7, says Alalu. A tourist who falls and sprains his ankle, for example, can borrow a pair of crutches from Yad Sarah, just like an Israeli citizen could do through the organization.
“There is nowhere else in the world where services like this exist for free,” Alalu says.
“Everybody just loves Israel,” says Broth, who notes that she is always exploring the creation of new tour packages. “What is not to love?”
Photo above: During a pre-construction survey prior to building a new road, Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists excavated a 7,000-year-old settlement in a northern Jerusalem neighborhood. (Courtesy/CBN News)
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During a pre-construction survey prior to building a new road, Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists excavated a 7,000-year-old settlement in a northern Jerusalem neighborhood.
IAA archaeologists say the rare find dates to the Chalcolithic period, or the fifth-century B.C., when people began using copper (chalcos in Greek), not just stones, to make tools (lithos in Greek).
The team uncovered two houses and a treasure trove of relics, including well-preserved floors, pottery, beads and tools.
"The Chalcolithic period is known in the Negev, the coastal plain, the Galilee and the Golan, but (it) is almost completely absent in the Judean Hills and Jerusalem," said Dr. Omri Barzilai, head of the IAA's prehistory branch. That makes the find in the predominantly Arab neighborhood of Shuafat even more unusual.
The few traces of settlements during this period have been extremely sparse, Barzilai said, so evidence of a thriving 7,000-year-old settlement in Jerusalem is indeed unique.
Excavation director Ronit Lupo explained the significance of some of the discoveries.
"Apart from the pottery, the fascinating flint finds attest to the livelihood of the local population in prehistoric times: small sickle blades for harvesting cereal crops, chisels and polished axes for building, borers and awls, and even a bead made of carnelian, indicating that jewelry was either made or imported," Lupo said.
"The grinding tools, mortars and pestles, like the basalt bowl, attest to technological skills as well as to the kinds of crafts practiced in the local community," she continued. "We also recovered a few bones of sheep (and) goat(s) and possibly cattle. These will be analyzed further in the Israel Antiquities Authority laboratories, permitting us to recreate the dietary habits of the people who lived here 7,000 years ago and enhancing our understanding of the settlement's economy."
Meanwhile, archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are excavating the remains of a 12,000-year-old village in the Jordan Valley.
The site, named NEG II and located near the middle of a stream flowing west to the Sea of Galilee, has yielded finds from the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic period) and the New Stone Age (Neolithic period), including flint and bone tools and human burial remains.
"It is not surprising that at the very end of the Natufian culture, at a suite of sites in the Jordan Valley, that we find a cultural entity that bridges the crossroads between late Paleolithic foragers and Neolithic farmers," said Hebrew University archaeologist Dr. Leore Grosman, who led the excavation.
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Israeli archeologists unearthed Greek and Aramaic inscriptions in northern Israel, suggesting a Jewish presence in the land dating back to the first century.
The three 1,700-year-old epitaphs were discovered by the Israel Antiquities Authority Wednesday in a cemetery dating back to the ancient Galilean capital city of Zippori.
"Zippori was the first capital of Galilee from the time of the Hasmonean dynasty until the establishment of Tiberias in the first century CE. The city continued to be central and important later on," researchers explained in a press release announcing the discovery.
So far, researchers have been able to decode one Greek word meaning "Jose," a common Jewish name at the time, and three Aramaic words meaning "the Tiberian," "forever," and "rabbi." The researchers believe that Aramic was the language spoken by Jesus.
Motti Aviam, of the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archeology, said in a statement about the discovery that the inscriptions were surprising.
"One of the surprises in the newly discovered inscriptions is that one of the deceased was called 'the Tiberian,'" said Aviam. "This is already the second instance of someone from Tiberius being buried in the cemetery at Zippori."
However, the discovery has left researchers unsure who "the Tiberian" was. Aviam explained that the researchers have two theories about who "the Tiberian" could be.
First, deceased Galilean Jews could have been brought for burial in the Zippori cemetery because of "the important activity carried out there by the Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi," a second century rabbi who edited post-biblical Jewish traditions.
Aviam also suggested that the "the Tiberian" could simply mean that the man's hometown was Tiberias.
Another surprising find was the Aramaic word "le-olam," meaning "forever." Researchers said that was the first time that word had appeared in Zippori.
"The term le-olam is known from funerary inscriptions in Bet She'arim (in Galilee) and elsewhere and means that the deceased's burial place will remain his forever and that no one will take it from him. Both inscriptions end with the Hebrew blessing 'shalom' (peace)," Aviam explained.
Although the Aramaic inscription mentions a "rabbi," researchers admit that they are unsure what that meant 1,700 years ago in Zippori, a city characterized by its numerous Torah scholars.
The discoveries of the archaeologists and researchers confirm an already extensive knowledge of a Jewish presence in ancient Israel.
Researchers also noted that the Greek inscription of the common Jewish name "Jose" shows that although Aramaic was the primary language, some Jews spoke Greek.
The IAA explained in a press release that their discoveries confirm what they already believed to be a thriving Jewish culture in ancient Zippori and surrounding northern Israel.
"The Jewish life in the city was rich and diverse as indicated by the numerous ritual baths (miqwe'ot) discovered in the excavation; while at the same time the influence of Roman culture was also quite evident as reflected in the design of the town with its paved streets, colonnaded main roads, theater and bathhouses. The wealth of inscriptions from the cemeteries attests to the strong Jewish presence and the city's social elite in the late Roman period," they concluded.
The findings of this excavation contradict the Palestinian Authority's fervent denial of a Jewish connection to the Holy Land and insistence that Israel is "Judaizing" the country.
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast the understanding.” (Job 38:4)
Three ancient gravestone epitaphs written in Aramaic and in Greek were recently uncovered in the Galilee region in northern Israel. The people commemorated in two of the inscriptions are described as rabbis, but their exact names and identities have yet to be identified by further research.
The two epitaphs end with the Hebrew greeting word “shalom” (meaning ‘hello’ or ‘peace’). The Greek inscription mentions the name “Jose”, which at the time had been a very common name among Jews in Israel and in the diaspora.
The gravestones were buried in the western part of the cemetery of the Jewish community of Zippori in the Lower Galilee region, which was a major Jewish city in ancient times. The information that ultimately led to the discovery originally came from residents of the community.
The excavation was conducted by researchers from the Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology in Kinneret College, and from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).
“One of the surprises in the newly uncovered inscriptions is that one of the people buried is nicknamed as ‘The Tiberian’,” said Dr. Motti Aviam from the Kinneret College. “This is the second case of a person from Tiberias buried in the Zippori cemetery. Perhaps Jews from all around the Galilee chose to be buried in Zippori due to Judah the Prince’s important activities in the city.”
Judah the Prince, nicknamed simply ‘Rabbi’, was the chief redactor of the Jewish Mishnah (the first major work of Rabbinic literature) and he lived in Zippori during the Roman occupation. Zippori was the first capital of the Galilee region in Hasmonean times, until Tiberias was founded in the first century CE.
The city was a bustling Jewish center as indicated by the many artifacts discovered in the city, including Jewish ritual baths (mikveh) and 17 epitaphs, mostly in Aramaic which had been the spoken language among Jews at the time. Some of them also spoke and wrote in Greek.
“The significance of the gravestones lies in the fact they reflect the daily life of Jews in Zippori and their culture 1,700 years ago,” said Dr. Aviam.
Gravestone with Inscription in Aramaic Commemorating Rabbis, Uncovered in Zippori 27.1.16 Process of cleaning the inscription. (Photo: Miki Peleg, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)
“One of the inscriptions features the Hebrew word ‘leolam’ (meaning ‘forever’), for the first time in Zippori,” he added. “The word is known from epitaphs in other locations, and means in this context that their burial place shall remain his forever, without anyone robbing it from them.”
The inscriptions will be researched further, and the researchers believe that more research will likely produce new discoveries. The IAA and the Kinneret College also stated that the gravestones will be on display for the general public.
Imagine that you wake up one day in the Galilee and Yeshua says to you and the other disciples, “Come on guys—we’re going on a field trip!”
In Matthew 16 we see Yeshua and his disciples heading north from Capernaum, His headquarters. By car, it only takes an hour. But by foot, it is a good 12-hour hike. So why would Yeshua take His disciples on such a journey and to where they going? The answer is fascinating!
Miracles, Signs and Wonders: Redigging Healing Wells in the Holy Land
Jesus did many mighty miracles in Jerusalem and Galilee—and He's still working miracles there today through a "healing rooms" movement rising rapidly in Israel.
Two years ago, John G. Lake's supernatural ministry model made its way to the Holy Land.
Lake was a Canadian-born healing evangelist from the late 1800s and early 1900s who studied under miracle worker John Alexander Dowie.
As part of Lake's ministry, he launched "divine healing rooms" in Spokane, Washington, and trained "divine healing technicians" to pray for the sick. From February 1915 to May 1920, more than 100,000 healings were reported in Lake's healing rooms.
"God has given us a vision to open healing rooms in every city and in every nation," says Cal Pierce, international director of Healing Rooms Ministries and founder of International Association of Healing Rooms (IAHR). Pierce re-dug Lake's healing wells in Spokane in 1999 and ultimately birthed a movement. Today, more than 3,000 healing rooms in 78 nations exist—including four in Israel with five more in the works.
"Healing rooms in Israel are strategic because Israel is the crossroads of humanity," says Pierce. "Israel is the center of God's heart. Reports are coming back—we're seeing ever-increasing miracles, signs and wonders."
Miracles, Signs and Wonders
Rich and Dottie Kane, who opened healing rooms in South Florida in 2002, are leading the charge in Israel. Standing on 1 Corinthians 1:22—"For the Jews require a sign"—the Kanes contacted key leaders in Israel to cast the vision and healing rooms were quickly established in Jerusalem, Rishon Letzion, Galilee and Ashkelon. Two additional healing rooms are planned for Jerusalem, along with others in Haifa and Christ's hometown of Nazareth.
"Muslims and Jewish people who don't know the Messiah yet are coming to the healing rooms and God is touching them with His awesome power," says Dottie Kane, co-director of Healing Rooms Ministries of South Florida and a national adviser for IAHR in Israel.
Pierce mentioned Israel is the crossroads of humanity. The nation connects three continents—Africa, Asia and Europe—and Daniel and Carolyn, directors of Oasis Healing Rooms of Galilee (last names withheld for security purposes), have discovered that people from many nations visit for prayer.
"Jesus went about Galilee healing the sick, and it will be a part of the global awakening coming to Israel and the nations," says Carolyn, who gained victory in an eight-year cancer battle at the healing rooms in Galilee after launching the ministry in 2013. Angelic visitations, she says, have marked the ministry. "In October of 2014, as we were gathered in the healing rooms, an angel manifested in the center of the room. He was dressed as a warrior," Carolyn says. "He said he was there with his company to guard and protect believers in the village. He said we are in a time of war, and it's imperative that the flame of worship does not go out in this place. From that day on, I experienced waves of peace and joy."
Israeli citizens Evgeny and Irina Rozin opened Passat Healing Rooms in 2012 with Mark 16:15-18—the Great Commission—in mind. Evgeny says not everyone can visit the healing rooms, so people call him from across the country seeking prayer. He even gets calls from foreign nations.
"We pray for people. We send prayer shawls, and they are healed," Evgeny says. "To pray for unbelievers in Israel is not easy. Many people are not ready for prayer in Jesus' name. Sometimes they even refuse to be healed when they hear us pray in Jesus' name. But when they agree to allow us to pray for them, God works."
Some Orthodox Jews are willing to hear what Evgeny has to say about the Messiah, why He died on the cross and what His resurrection means for all who believe in Him. More Jews, he says, are considering Jesus and asking questions. Sometimes miracles result.
"During our work at the healing rooms, we've seen healing of pains in knees and elbows and backs and migraines. Swelling and bruises have disappeared," says Evgeny, noting that the prayer ministry to other nations has been more miraculous than at his healing rooms in Ashkelon. "We've seen people cured from cancer from telephone prayer and sending prayer shawls."
Doctors Embrace Healing Rooms
Even medical doctors in Israel are embracing the healing rooms movement. Dr. Michael Yaron and his wife, Marianne, launched the Beit Margoa Healing Rooms in Rishon Letzion two years ago. Yaron believes when he shares Yeshua with Jews as the Jewish Messiah, he also needs to demonstrate Yeshua is still the same as He was 2,000 years ago—that He still heals the sick.
In Israel though, physical healing is just the beginning. Israel is a land of immigrants and home to a generation of Holocaust survivors whose deep suffering has passed on to the second and third generations.
Yaron says many Jews need inner healing. Some are terror victims who suffer physically while others suffer emotionally from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"One man came for prayer and told us about his problems," Yaron explains. "When we spoke about rejection and childhood problems with his father, he started crying, and a healing process got released there and then. He's still on the way."
Then there was the Orthodox Jew who for years couldn't sleep and suffered from pain associated with dry eye syndrome, a malfunction that caused a lack of tears.
Like the woman with the issue of blood, he tried everything to find relief—including an unsuccessful operation.
"After our prayer, for the first time in years, he slept throughout the night, and from that moment on, he was healed," Yaron says. "This is also interesting because he was still not a believer and followed Eastern religions and philosophies."
Many prophetic voices are backing Yaron up. Cindy Jacobs, co-founder of Generals International, prophesied: "A new signs and wonders movement is coming, which is significantly greater than what was seen in the post-World War II healing evangelists.
Part of the fruit of this movement will be 'healing centers,' which will be built around the world, devoted to praying for the sick and casting out demons."
Prophecy of the Dead Raised
Jacobs went on to proclaim one of the distinctives of this movement: raising the dead.
She declared this would break barrenness off the church, and entire cities would turn to Christ. James Goll, an international author and prophetic minister, also prophesied about healing rooms: "Healing rooms and centers will be instituted in many cities devoted to praying for the sick and casting out of evil spirits. Parades of people healed of various diseases will once again occur as in the days of the life of John G. Lake in the 1920s."
Lake's movement is rising in Israel and beyond, but to many, it seems especially significant in the Holy Land. Kane calls the healing rooms in Israel "glory portals" and believes "God's glory is going to fall, and many are going to turn their hearts to the Messiah."
Jennifer LeClaireis the news editor of Charisma and the director of the Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Ryan LeStrange and Joe Joe Dawson share a prophetic word from the Lord about releasing the healing wells at lestrange.charismamag.com.
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Nitzanit, from the word in our verse for “blossom,” was a beautiful Jewish community in northern Gaza. The people of this flourishing town transformed the desert sand into luscious gardens, advanced greenhouses, and agricultural miracles. Nitzanit was tragically uprooted ten years ago this summer, in Israel's tremendous quest for peace. Tina Nagar commemorates her lost garden in Nitzanit with a stunning set of Biblical greeting cards. The images represent her greatest hope to replant roots and make the Holy Land blossom anew.
Ten years after the Jewish farming communities in the Gaza Strip were uprooted, the Land is miraculously blossoming once again, this time in northern Israel.
Go behind the scenes to meet today's photographer, Tina Nagar, who rebuilt her life from the ashes and rubble of the 2005 Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
This personalized name scroll is extremely special and one-of-a-kind. A professional scribe will custom-make a beautiful scroll for you by writing your name in Hebrew in authentic, Biblical Hebrew calligraphy- the same calligraphy which is used to write holy Torah (Bible) scrolls. The scroll also includes the value of your Hebrew name in gematria, the spiritual Kabbalistic method of numerology.The name is written to order with a quill pen and scribe’s ink on a vellum sheet of goatskin or calfskin parchment. Don’t know your Hebrew name? No problem! Many English names derive from Hebrew names in the Bible, and the rest have etymological or spiritual cousins in Biblical sources. Just tell us your English name and we’ll find the Hebrew name in the Bible that’s most closely connected to yours.
Tina Nagar's photo of a gorgeous flower in bloom. Complete with inspiring biblical verses, her greeting cards capture the spirit of the Land of Israel.
I thoroughly enjoy receiving the above; reminds me of the time spent working in Israel which is about 20 years ago. Thanks for the scripture readings as well, as I learn more and more each day (never too old to learn). I am South African, living in Cape Town. Many thanks. Shalom, Pamela Isaacs
Hi Rabbi Tuly, Thanks for the many photos of Jerusalem/Israel sent to me by email. They are awesome and beautiful to look at. God is always with Israel so Israel will always be a powerful Nation on earth. I will continue to pray for Israel and also hoping to come there some day. God bless Israel and as a nation stand for evermore. Regards and God bless. David Maefunu, Malaita Province - Solomon Islands
