Here's Reuters, and here's AP's report about the discovery in the Ellah Valley of a 3,000-year-old fortified town that was apparently ruled from Jerusalem, 20 km to the north-east. Just about the time when, according to the Bible, King David was ruling a centralized kingdom from Jerusalem. Apparently the townspeople spoke Hebrew.
That would be the real Valley of Ellah, not the bad joke.
The possibility of finding remains from the Iron Age in a land that has in the interval been built and destroyed dozens of times is slim, but the more the archeologists dig, the more they find. And then the politics kick in. My understanding of the issue is that the more they dig the more the broad outlines of the biblical story are confirmed, but there are many people who'd rather it were otherwise. That whole Zionism-is-Colonialism thesis, after all, has to start from the preposition that the Zionists came from somewhere else, as colonialists by definition always do; the possibility that they're coming back from somewhere has to be either disproved or, since it's true and can't be disproved, it must be denigrated.
The denigration can only be done by discounting the heart, body and soul of Judaism, and by forbidding the Jews to define their own identity. It seems to me that such a position should fit comfortably into any reasonable definition of Antisemitism. But of course, this is where the roars of indignation will begin, and anyway, it's a subject for another post, some other day.
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But of course, this is where the roars of indignation will begin
Every time you make a preemptive comment like this, I get the urge to watch Ralph and Sam cartoons.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAYkGZrFxa4
Yes, I can see that. Because for you, the whole issue is theoretical, or perhaps even mere entertainment. It's not really part of your life, one way or the other. Just like with that phony Ibrahim. It's one of the sideshows in life. Good for intellectual titulation, perhaps, or an affectation of moral purity.
FROM CAROL HERMAN
What's so hard about realizing the Jews of antiquity LOST?
And, in coming to terms with the losses to the Babylonians ... You see emerging OTHERS. Eyptians. Greeks. Everybody knew of the Jews. And, what happened? Jews migrated. And, lived successfully BACK in Eygpt. As well as dispersing (with others), into and throughout Europe. Ya just can't get away from the migratory habits.
Why won't Jews "get it all" ahead? The global world is now very political. And, the arguments for a Greater Issrael have failed.
As to 3,000 years ago ... where it really is sad is that the Eygptians, once the glory of the world, stopped growing. People there, today, are not at all close to "what was."
Ditto, too, for today's Greeks.
History moves on.
But entrenched in the minds of some is a "world view" that doesn't extend into moderninity. Instead, it wants "something" ... that Jews can't even prove if what they have now!
As I've said. Karl Marx was a guy who would have preferred being born to the Queen of England. But he wasn't. Instead? His father converted to Christianity in a move to help his family "gain better powers" than smart Jews could get if they exposed their religion.
Marx, himself, didn't think this was good enough. So, he, too, converted. (In a world where lots of Christians, today, believe there must have been a lot of conversions for the Churches to grow so strong.)
Has the Catholic Church, lost American believers in modern times? Just for example. The answer is YES.
In today's modern world people think of Mary being a virgin as a fairy tale. (To help them out there are Jews who claim their Biblical pronouncements that a Son of God was coming, where based on miss-translations.)
Okey dokey. Martin Buber also uses old words, to show that a miss-translation got people to forget that faith is irrational. If a person "explained" faith ... Just as later they tried to "explain" quantum physics ... They'd be told "they just didn't get it." You can't explain it.
Buber said you feel it in your heart.
And, the miss-translation was in the words Moses heard from the burning bush. Buber said the correct interpretation would be: "When you're ready, God can be found in your heart." And, it's best that you're all grown up. Not swallowing the teachings ... just because you're a kid. And, you're impressionable.
As to reality. And, it pays to check out reality. Israel doesn't have a good enough democracy that arabs, who also live there, can fit in.
True. In America when settlers formed States, even friendly indian groups, who wanted to become members of this state: GEORGIA. Were forced to move off their lands.
If one generation pushes? Along comes others that say "how terrible such deeds were." But you can't bring back the Indians. Nada.
Up ahead? Beyond a point, up ahead, the modern world will make inroads even into Islam.
For those who marry cousins? Oy vey. But for others? Especially those who'd like to leave where they live ... "to live in America?" Then, sometimes the children go out on their own.
Of course, in Jerusalem, the kids that don't fit in are tossed into the streets.
It's not as if you're watching healthy growth.
Let alone how the rest of the world feels, now.
Maybe, another way of saying this, would be to state that In America, there were colonies in Jamestown. These thrived on tobacco. But then they ultimately failed.
While those who landed on Plymouth Rock, and who were PURITANS ... crazy enough to even hate Shakespearean theater! Their kids decided to LEAVE and move into the forests. It's in the LEAVING that a lot of changes take place.
Can't incorporate that, though, in the scraps of shard you find from pre-Iron-Age-Peoples.
Oh. And, it's not even going to be evidene in a court of law. However, it will take a group of extremists and make them even nuttier.
Quite sad.
Or masochism, Dr. Lozowick. A migraine that fades into bliss after a few years. But you were close. Israel is part of my life in that I've got a biological ticket there, and if a kid from Nahr al-Bared wants it, it's for the taking.
FROM CAROL HERMAN
How did one person's migraine enter into this discussion?
Anyway, there's an interesting new book about the subject of MILK. And, it's called MILK. Written by Anne Mendelson.
Milk was among the "first foods" ... which were used in ancient times. And, yet? Cows weren't ubiquitous to the Mideast.
It's almost as if this is easily recognizable. So in being offered "The Land of Milk and Honey, how many people, today, think COWS?
When originally it was goats. And, sheep.
Of course, within Kashruth you do hear it. "You can't cook a kid in its mother's milk."
But it turns out to be a good idea to see how we relate to those old customs.
Maybe, ahead, Livni will find a way to win? Maybe, there's more good things to hope for than not?
For so long a period of time Jews just didn't get to lead nations. Europe just kept those doors closed.
While, in America, I doubt if you'll see a Jewish president. Just as the Romney family has learned they couldn't enter either.
Do religions work at dividing people? Seems so. But what happens when people become accustomed to choosing? Why not the Enlightenment? King David's never coming back. Not ever. That's just the way it is.
It's the same with water. Try entering water at the same spot, but the water's moved on. You still get wet, though.
The most marginal evidence of a great or moral past discovered or invented by any other minority people is celebrated by the same folks who denigrate Israel for exploring the wonders of Jewish history, despite the fact that Israeli archeologists have shown a willingness to protect findings from other civilizations as well as those from Jewish history. It is more politically correct or anti-Western bias.
I love israel!
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