Massada the last stronghold of the Great Revolt

Herod the Great (or rather the Cruel) built near the Dead Sea a fortress where he could hide in case of a revolution.

In the year 73 CE, three years after the Temple and Jerusalem were ruined, fought here 960 Zealots under Elazar ben Jair against the Tenth Legion led by Lucius Flavius Silva.

Flavius Josephus tells us that at the end of the battle 10 of the defenders of Massada were chosen to kill the others and one of them to kill the other nine ones. The last survivor took his own life. 

Flavius tells us that they preferred to die as free ones rather than living as slaves.

Nazareth the village of Maria and Joseph

In Galilee in Northern Israel Nazareth was 2000 years ago a poor little village.

Nathanael spoke with Philip about Nazareth (John 1:46):

45.	Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
46.	Nathanael said to him, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."

It became the cradle of Christianity.

Here Maria, Joseph and Jesus lived.

Here according to the tradition Gabriel announced Maria that she was pregnant.

Nowadays it is a centre of pilgrimage and tourism.

The following video can also be viewed in HD

Gamla - "Massada on the Golan"

Flavius Josephus wrote about the Great Revolt and told the story of Gamla, that was conquered and destroyed in the year 67 CE when the Temple and Jerusalem were ruined too.

Three years later in 70 CE also Massada fell .

This is the story of thousands of men, women and children who were killed during the Great Revolt.

Have a look at this great site on the Golan.

The great menorah - המנורה הגדולה

The great Menorah was made from gold and stood in the temple in Jerusalem.

About 2000 years later the British House of Lords gave the people of Israel a menorah made by the German-born British sculptor Benno Elkan (1877-1960)
The monument shows the history of the Jewish people in a nutshell.
It is located near the Israeli parliament - the Knesset


The following video can be seen in HD 




The legend of the menorah is on the following picture:

Actually the original menorah had three little legs like shown in the following picture:

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Winter is ending - the Cranes and Storks are leaving to Europe

After we had a dry winter again in our hectic place under the sun, the Cranes are leaving Israel and return to Europe once more. Thousands of them stayed in Israel for winter.

This elegant bird was chosen by Lufthansa to be the company's logo.

The Agamon Hula nature park is chosen by many Cranes as their winter home and  they get there a free meal to reduce the damage they cause to the fishponds and crops.

The Storks too are going back to Europe now and soon the Pelicans will follow.

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