Where was ancient Modiin, the home of the Macabees? A look at Um El Umdan

Where are the ruins of ancient Modiin? Historians have argued about it for years. Um El Umdan is one possibility. 

The ruins of what is assumed by many to be the home of the Macabees in ancient Modiin can still be seen peeking out of the south edge of modern Modiin, on the road from Latrun to Modiin. Shmuel and I made a special trip this week in honor of Chanukah.

The ruins of Um El Umdan date back to the Hasmonean period;  according to some sources Um El Umdan was the home of the Macabees, the leaders of the struggle against the Greeks and Greek culture in Eretz Israel, and the heroes of our Chanukah story.  

A few things to check out:

The ancient synagogue located there is actually the origin of the Arabic name for the ruins: Um El Umdan means “mother of the pillars,” which were the central focus of the beautiful structure. Although the pillars were looted, their placement is still apparent when pointed out. 

The foundations of the town also included a row of houses, a marketplace and a ritual bath. These have recently been covered up to protect them.

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IsraelExperts is a fully-licensed Israel tour operator; our head office is in Israel. Comprised of experienced Israel destination professionals, logistics experts, informal educators and accredited tour guides, IsraelExperts works with major organizations around the world in the field of Israel-Diaspora relations and Israel education, and offers you its ability to provide quality innovative programs. You can find us on line at www.israelexperts.com or contact us at education@israelexperts.com for more information.

Thanksgiving: Sukkot and Shavuot’s secular connection

While it’s very easy to make parallels between Thanksgiving and Sukkot, the origins of Shavuot also make the spring holiday of the Torah a harvest holiday: this can be kept in mind during the celebrations of Thanksgiving.

Sukkot falls in the autumn, and celebrates the gathering of crops. Some historians have claimed  that the Puritans based the Thanksgiving celebrations on the Sukkot celebrations of the Torah. However, the second harvest festival, Shavuot, should not be ignored. Shavuot’s original name was Hag HaKatzir. It was the beginning of the harvest season and can in fact be translated as the harvest holiday. Another name for Shavuot is Hag HaBikurim—the holiday of the first fruits -- for the sacrifices of fruits which were offered at the temple.

In Israel it is possible to get a whole turkey to go along with the veggies. You just need to order it at the local butcher or grocery store ahead of time. You will not find pumpkin however. Most Israelis substitute a yam which is called "da'lat" for the pumpkin and many do not even know that they are not the same thing. Shmuel and I make sure to have different fruits and vegetables on our Thanksgiving table to keep these Jewish connections in mind. My favorite green bean dish (made by my aunt) is here with a few Israeli twists:

Tammy’s Green Beans

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

12 oz green beans

1 cup of squared yam

Topping

3 T rice wine vinegar

1 T canola oil

2 t. soy sauce

1 clove garlic

1 t. honey

1 T minced ginger

1 T chives (opt)

1/8 t. red pepper (like

cayenne or paprika)

3 T sesame seeds

Mix topping ingredients and add to lightly steamed

veggies. Add sesame seeds. Toss to coat.

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IsraelExperts is a fully-licensed Israel tour operator; our head office is in Israel. Comprised of experienced Israel destination professionals, logistics experts, informal educators and accredited tour guides, IsraelExperts works with major organizations around the world in the field of Israel-Diaspora relations and Israel education, and offers you its ability to provide quality innovative programs. You can find us on line at www.israelexperts.com or contact us at education@israelexperts.com for more information.

Is Thanksgiving celebrated in Israel?

Over 110,000 Americans have come on aliya since 1948. Many Americans, like me, still celebrate Thanksgiving—even here.

During Thanksgiving, we look back at the history of the holiday to realize just how connected the holiday is to many people who come to Israel. The Puritans were a group of Protestants who identified very closely with the Israelites of the bible. They viewed their journey to the new land similarly to the exodus from Egypt. England was Egypt, the King of England was Pharaoh, the Atlantic Ocean their desert and Red Sea, and the Puritans were the Israelites, entering into a new covenant with God in a new Promised Land. There was even a proposal at that time to make Hebrew the national language of the new colonies.

Jochaim Gans was the first documented Jew in the British New World. In 1585 he was the chief metallurgist in Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition to establish an English settlement in the place they called "Newfoundland of Virginia" and worked in the first settlement on Roanoke Island (not the second—where all inhabitants disappeared). Bricks and copper nuggets smelt by him are the only remains that have been found of the first English Settlement.

There is also the connection of giving thanks. According to the Rabbis, Jews are supposed to thank G-d at least 100 times a day, through different blessings. The meal of Thanksgiving is thus appropriate as a celebration of thanks for all that we have—a beautiful country to share and cherish, and to visit or live in as we choose.

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IsraelExperts is a fully-licensed Israel tour operator; our head office is in Israel. Comprised of experienced Israel destination professionals, logistics experts, informal educators and accredited tour guides, IsraelExperts works with major organizations around the world in the field of Israel-Diaspora relations and Israel education, and offers you its ability to provide quality innovative programs. You can find us on line at www.israelexperts.com or contact us at education@israelexperts.com for more information.

Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Day – Rabin Square

When you step into

Rabin Square

in Tel Aviv, the immediate significance of the open stone plaza is not clear. Shmuel and I looked around, saw a child running ahead of his mother who was trying to catch him, two teenagers giggling while looking at their phones, and a tour group standing to the side- right at the exit, all looking down at the ground. This square of hope was also a square of tragedy in 1995 on November 4th (today in the Hebrew calendar- the 12th day of Cheshvan), when Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin was assassinated by a Jew.

To me, the significance of the square is not in its structure, or the numerous rallies for peace that were held there- like the rally for the Oslo Accord which occurred the night of his assassination-- but for the remembrance that this place offers- that the fight for peace is not just external, but also within ourselves to always remember what it is we are fighting for.

The guide spoke about the incident, pointed out where people were standing when the assassination was taking place, and reminded us-- we each are standing in place now but the possibility of change is always present and we need to remember what it is we are standing for.

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IsraelExperts is a fully-licensed Israel tour operator; our head office is in Israel. Comprised of experienced Israel destination professionals, logistics experts, informal educators and accredited tour guides, IsraelExperts works with major organizations around the world in the field of Israel-Diaspora relations and Israel education, and offers you its ability to provide quality innovative programs. You can find us on line at www.israelexperts.com or email us atinfo@israelexperts.com for more information.

A photo history of Mamilla Jerusalem

The Mamilla neighborhood has changed drastically over the last 150 years. From one of three Herodian reservoirs to the upscale pedestrian mall that it is today, the neighborhood Mamilla, whose name probably is derived from the Arabic term “that which comes from God,” is one of our favorite places to eat Friday breakfast before exploring the Old City.

Here is a photo history of Mamilla with the changes clearly described through the progression.

The Mamilla Pool was constructed during the Herodian period to feed one of the six pools around the Temple Mount—the Pool of the Towers. It functioned via aqueducts.



Mamilla pool in Jerusalem, Israel (1854)



During the Ottaman Period, Mamilla consisted mostly of olive trees and pathways which, after many years, became what is now known as

Jaffa Road

. One of the first buildings to be built was the Hospice Saint Vincent de Paul. Mamilla included some of the first neighborhoods built outside of the Old City walls to relieve the overcrowding.



Theodor Herzl's visit with a delegation of Zionist leaders (1898)

The British demolished some construction outside of the city walls including the clock tower on the Old City walls before leaving in 1947. This seedy neighborhood became a highly contentious area that was heavily fired upon from the Old City until 1967, when it was conquered by Israel during the war.

Mamilla Neighborhood during the British period (1917-1947)



British demolition of the buildings along the Old City walls (1944)

 In 1986 a massive construction project was planned which finally got underway in 2007, to finish rehabilitating the neighborhood.  An upscale pedestrian mall, public parking and a hotel were built on the open land between the new and old cities of Jerusalem.


Mamilla Mall Constrction (2007) Picture taken with permission from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mamilla_construction.jpg



Today, Mamilla includes an upscale shopping area that is a great place to walk through and enjoy the new architecture, before starting your visit in the Old City.

Mamilla Mall (2009)

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IsraelExperts is a fully-licensed Israel tour operator; our head office is in Israel. Comprised of experienced Israel destination professionals, logistics experts, informal educators and accredited tour guides, IsraelExperts works with major organizations around the world in the field of Israel-Diaspora relations and Israel education, and offers you its ability to provide quality innovative programs. You can find us on line at www.israelexperts.com or email us at info@israelexperts.com for more information.

Hiking the Burma Road and looking at the connections between the Diaspora, Israel and all of her people.

When Shmuel and I decided to do the Burma Road hike which is a 30 minute drive from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, we realized we had three choices – hike, jeep trek, or even a bus tour.  We decided to go on foot for part of it with a group, and tagged along quietly to see what there was to be seen.

We started at the Harel Outpost, the building that served as HQ for Palmach and Machal command for part of the war of Independence. The guide explained the message from David Ben Gurion, known as the "order of the day", given on the eve of the breaking of the siege of Jerusalem. The message: "Jerusalem at any Cost". Ben Gurion went on to order the troops to break through to Jerusalem with the understanding that it was inconceivable that the new State of Israel would be left without Jerusalem as its capital city.

Just north of the building, we walked over to a topographic model of Burma Road, overlooking the Latrun Tank Museum, the Latrun Monastery and the village of Neve Shalom. We could see the models of the young soldiers on the hill in the distance, marching through the wheat fields.  We took a closer look at the mosaic and dynamic of life, living and community in Israel. The Monastery, the army base and the Jewish / Muslim village of Neve Shalom, all situated on the same hillside area.

As we walked down the path on the Burma Road, we stopped to view the pictures of Machal volunteers and Palmach soldiers along the route and took a look at the faces of the young soldiers, many of whom were teens, just having arrived as survivors of the destruction of European Jewry, now taking on the role of defenders of Jerusalem. Young men and women in the pictures along the route, some of whom looked just like we in our group did.

We saw the orchards along the route. Olive groves, planted pine trees, apricots, etc. Suddenly, at the bottom of the hill as we continued east on the road, we came upon taller palm trees, with a dried up brook (nahal) in the middle. It was the site of the abandoned Arab village of Ein Sussin, one of hundreds of villages abandoned during the War of Independence (termed "Nakba" or catastrophe by Palestinians), where we discussed the issue of who these people were, what happened to their village, and the roots of the Palestinian refugee issue.

We finished with coffee on the fire and marshmallows while listening to Palmach stories. Our guide pulled out her guitar and we sang folk songs of early Israel. The theme was "Jerusalem at any Cost" and the centrality of Jerusalem (City of Peace) to the Jewish experience and the Jewish People. We discussed the issue of volunteers from abroad (Machal Unit in the IDF) who came to take part in the battle for sovereignty and independence in the Land of Israel.  The relationship between Jewish People in the Diaspora and Jews in Israel is one that is all about Jewish Peoplehood,  our national identity(s). This partnership between Israel and the Jewish Diaspora has been in place since the very beginning. 

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IsraelExperts is a fully-licensed Israel tour operator; our head office is in Israel. Comprised of experienced Israel destination professionals, logistics experts, informal educators and accredited tour guides, IsraelExperts works with major organizations around the world in the field of Israel-Diaspora relations and Israel education, and offers you its ability to provide quality innovative programs. You can find us on line at www.israelexperts.com or email us at info@israelexperts.com for more information.

Kislev- the month of dreams

Kislev is the 9th month of the ecclesiastical year, and the third month of the civil year of the Jewish calendar. It is particularly known for Chanukah, which starts on the 25th day and spans into the month of Tevet.

Kislev is known as the month of dreams because nine of the ten dreams which are mentioned in the Torah portions are read  during the month of Kislev. The amethyst, the 9th stone of the high priest's breast plate is the precious gem of the month. In Hebrew, the word for amethyst is 'achlama.' The root of the word is 'chalam,' which is also the Hebrew word for dream.

The word Kislev is linked to the Acadian word 'kislimu,' which means 'thickened' due to the rain of the month. The Hebrew root of the word K-S-L is also used in the Hebrew words 'kesel' or 'kisla,' which means 'hope' and 'positive,' or 'Ksil,' the Hebrew word for the constellation Orion, which shines the brightest this month in Israel.

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IsraelExperts is a fully-licensed Israel tour operator; our head office is in Israel. Comprised of experienced Israel destination professionals, logistics experts, informal educators and accredited tour guides, IsraelExperts works with major organizations around the world in the field of Israel-Diaspora relations and Israel education, and offers you its ability to provide quality innovative programs. You can find us on line at www.israelexperts.com or email us at info@israelexperts.com for more information.

Avdat: The desert sun with a Nabatean history

When I got out of the car at Avdat after driving through the desert region of Israel, I looked out and could only see the tan of the desert, and the sun beating off of it. The peacefulness which filled the air was relaxing, and I was thankful for the water bottle at my side as I stood under the hot sun.

The ruined town, which was destroyed in the 7th century by an earthquake, still can be seen when you first pass the guard tower, on your way to the main fortress. The ancient Nabatean fortress stands strong;  one might think the town would still be standing today if it weren't for the shifting land plates.

The cutout  camels and animals which mark the spice route can be seen throughout the desert as you follow the ancient path, but in Avdat, they are placed to welcome the visitor, to show where the animals drank, where the traders traded, and where the wine was stored in the cool homes, built into the hill to shelter the traveler, with its own ancient form of air conditioning.

On top of the hill, 100 square meters of the Roman Fortress can be seen, and the pottery house still has bits of ancient pottery scattered within the ruined walls.

While the colors are the same no matter where you look, the wall which surrounds the fortress and town helps someone find their way. The buildings situated outside of the town, however, are harder to find if you don't know where to look. The smell of the desert welcomes you.

Inside the main fortress, one can find many different buildings and wells. Don't forget to take in the view from the lookout, and see the buildings used for religious purposes, which have housed many different groups, including Christians and Muslims, and which still have alters and baptism pools in place.

My favorite part of the site was following the ancient water troughs through the ruined city, trying to find where they originated and ended. The precious resource was cherished, that much is clear from the setup, and the sun makes it clear how much it is still important today. 

When you travel, don't forget sunscreen, a hat and sun glasses- and most of all, water.

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IsraelExperts is a fully-licensed Israel tour operator; our head office is in Israel. Comprised of experienced Israel destination professionals, logistics experts, informal educators and accredited tour guides, IsraelExperts works with major organizations around the world in the field of Israel-Diaspora relations and Israel education, and offers you its ability to provide quality innovative programs. You can find us on line at www.israelexperts.com or email us at info@israelexperts.com for more information.

Shifting borders. Discussing the changes we've seen and figuring out where we stand today

The shifting borders of Israel over a relatively short period of time have raised a lot of questions. What does Israel look like? Where are the borders today? I was thrilled to see these questions discussed with a group through the IsraelExperts map program.

The experience started with masking tape and a floor. The chairs were arranged in a circle. As the participants were taking their seats Joe Perlov was already on his hands and knees outlining the country with the tape on the floor. He asked what was wrong with the map and the discussion started.

This approach to Israel — its shifting borders — was an eye-opener, and something I had not really thought about. It also was a lot clearer and easier to understand once it was laid out in front of me. It was a really cool discussion and is a great way to advertise an Israel trip, intensify the on-ground experience of Israel and its history, and provide much food for thought after you return home.

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IsraelExperts is a fully-licensed Israel tour operator; our head office is in Israel. Comprised of experienced Israel destination professionals, logistics experts, informal educators and accredited tour guides, IsraelExperts works with major organizations around the world in the field of Israel-Diaspora relations and Israel education, and offers you its ability to provide quality innovative programs. You can find us on line at www.israelexperts.com or email us at info@israelexperts.com for more information.