Nebi Samuel and Questions

Nebi Samuel photo by Batya Medad

Last week I went on a tour which included Nebi Samuel. Our guide, who's a Bible teacher, explained why she went against her usual practice and called Nebi Samuel by that non-Hebrew term. She said that there are serious doubts as to its being the burial spot of Samuel the Prophet.

In the Bible it's written that Samuel the Prophet retreated retired to Ramah, where he lived, died and was buried. Most experts believe that Ramah is north of Jerusalem, south of Shiloh. That's not the location of Nebi Samuel.

In the 6th century, some Christian explorers, who didn't get very far from Jerusalem, came across that hilltop and decided that it must be the Ramah of Samuel the Prophet. They built a church there and publicized their "discovery." That was the beginning of Nebi Samuel. Later on the Muslims adopted it and the Jewish prophet as their own. They even renovated the church into a mosque.

Here we are fifteen hundred 1,500 years later, and most people take for granted that Samuel the Prophet must be buried in Nebi Samuel, even though there's no real proof. Before Israel's victory in the 1967 Six Days War, few Jews knew the Land and the Bible in order to discover true locations of biblical sites. Now is the time to examine more carefully. We live here in the Biblical Land and study the Bible, Tanach.

It's a great privilege to be a Jew alive today and living in the Holy Land, which Gd gave us and our religion, Judaism, was established.

 All photos by Batya Medad, yes, me

Israeli History Began Thousands of Years Ago

This is supposed to be the "pro-Israel post" West Bank Mama requested for a special round-up.  I'm not quite sure how to approach the assignment, and I'm still not sure what I'll write even as I type this.  I hate the defensive type of article, because it legitimizes the attack by going over the negative points.  I'm of the "Never complain and never explain" fans. 

Each of us has a different approach to defending/promoting the existence of the State of Israel.  A few months ago I was interviewed by Ben Hubbard of the Associated Press.  My interview got very mixed reviews by friends and fellow Hasbara, information corps, members.

Since I generally like to get to the root of problems and not just "whitewash" them, I'll concentrate on history, simplifying it best as I can.

Today's modern, Twenty-first Century world has few nations with histories thousands of years old.  The State of Israel is the modern country for the Jewish Nation/People.  That's the nitty-gritty of the situation, ha'eekar, the main point.  For some peculiar reason, that has always bothered people, other nations.

This coming Shabbat is Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat we're commanded to remember that the world is against us and wants us destroyed.  In Maftir, the final Torah reading on Shabbat, we hear of how the Jewish People were cruelly attacked by Amalek as they/we exited from Egypt.  It's customary to reread it over and over in different accents and tunes so that everyone understands.  Is it translated into various languages abroad?  I should hope so.  Every Jew must understand what happened to us thousands of years ago and how it still happens today.

Yes, in simple words, that's what it's all about.  No country, no international organization can be counted on to help us!  I'm not paranoid, I'm just plain pragmatic when I say that we can only count on G-d and on ourselves.

The Haftara, (Biblical versus 5 book Torah) reading this Shabbat will tell how Saul, the first Jewish king sinned by not immediately executing all of Amalek.  For this awful sin, we're paying until this day, because our enemies are the descendants of king Agog who managed to impregnate a woman during those forbidden hours King Saul gave him to live.  That's what happens when one is merciful to one's enemies. 

Samuel the Prophet had been mentoring King Saul, a very disastrous and ill-conceived plan.  A leader must be a leader through and through, not a figurehead.  Saul was succeeded by King David, and Samuel retired.  King David didn't need that sort of intense and detailed mentoring.  It's clear when you read King David's T'hillim, Psalms.  He had a direct connection with G-d, like Moses did.

Samuel, Saul and David were our main historical figures during the first stages of the Jewish Kingdom, after our tribal federation, after our slavery in Egypt and after our Forefathers, Abraham, Issac and Jacob wandered around our HolyLand.  We are their descendants in every way.  None of the nations that had been here in our HolyLand then exist today, only us.  We are forced to fight new enemies for the same reasons we fought Amalek thousands of years ago.

Our very survival is proof that we're supposed to be here.  We were exiled as a nation, but Jews always lived in the HolyLand.  Now we have returned as a Nation as a People, not just individuals.

The public readings of the Purim story as told in Megillat, the Scroll of Esther which took place historically after King David, always has me amazed.  It reinforces the fact that we're the direct descendants the continuation of that ancient people and the ancient story.  Jewish People all over the world read it and celebrate our historic victory over Haman and all those who wanted us totally destroyed.

Today the simple fact that there is a State of Israel for the Jewish People proves that we are supposed to be here.  The fact that we have survived with our history, tradition, religion, language etc is totally extraordinary and inexplicable by normal laws of nature.

Let go of the goyishe non-Jewish culture and mind-set.  Soon we'll be celebrating Passover.  "Avodim hayeenu l'Paroh b'Mitzrayim..."  We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt..."  The problem was/is the enslavement to Pharaoh, to that foreign culture.  Free yourself of foreign values and priorities!

Chag Purim Sameach

Have a Truly  Joyful Purim

Armed With A Bible

I took a Bible Tour today, davka, to Shiloh. It was more than just Shiloh. We went to Nebi Samuel. I have vague memories of going there a long time ago. There's a commanding view, and many Biblical scholars think it's the location of "Mitzpeh," which means, "Lookout," "Watch."










We spent a lot of time there. Then we went to Shiloh. I felt forced to correct the guide who kept referring to the route we were taking as "Derech Avot," the Patriarch's Path. I was getting very annoyed. The section of "Derech Avot" between Jerusalem and the northern end of Waadi Charamiya is judenrein, "cleansed of Jews." That includes the section of the road which goes to Beit El.

As part of Yitzchak Rabin's Oslo, he built new roads. We no longer have to are allowed to go on the road to the west of Beit El, past the Jelazoon refugee camp, Beit El and Ramaalla. Arabs only travel that road. They also travel the new road. There are no restrictions on Arabs.

The new road, OK, not all that new now, about thirteen years old, is well to the east and makes Ofra convenient and closes in Beit El, now the end of a dead end road.

The guide doesn't live in this area, so isn't sensitive to the problem with her "little white lie." Calling the new road by the old name is like what happened in the early years of the State of Israel. Suddenly the Land of Israel lost its importance and only the borders of the State of Israel became "holy." After the great victory of the 1967 Six Days War, many Israelis reacted to the liberation of our historic HomeLand with:

"Who need it? We have enough land without it."

And that's why we're in such a terrible state today.