Israel: There's No Place Like Home

Israel: There's No Place Like Home

There’s no place like home, whether it is the end of a long day at work or the end of a long business trip away from loved ones. However, there is also no place like Israel, a special place in a spiritual sense where the commonly stated sentiment of “visit Israel, you will never be the same” is the understatement of the century.

The Land of Israel, also known as the Holy Land, is the birthplace of the Jewish people and of so many of the biblical stories, and home of religious sites sacred to multiple different world religions. Israel has come captive under various empires over the centuries with Christian threads being woven into the cultural fabric when the Roman Empire gained control over the area in the 4th century. Arab and Muslim empires started leaving their marks on the area in the 7th century, and Muslim influence gradually increased over the centuries leading up to the Crusades. The Ottoman Empire seized the area in the early 1500s until their downfall in the First World War when the British took over the area.

Growing antisemitism in the region fueled the Zionist movement, and this propelled tensions with various Arab nationalist movements claiming rights over the Holy Land. Israel declared her independence in 1948 immediately sparking war with Arab neighbors.

Today it is believed that over 40 percent of the world’s Jewry calls Israel home.

Written by Erin Parfet

 

 

 

 

Related Articles

More From Heritage

Or Zarua La Tsadik

When I stood up to sing this chant for the Jewish high holy days as the tenor lay cantor in a…
Or Zarua La Tsadik

Steve Wohlberg

Steven Wohlberg was walking along the beach with Seth, his 2-year-old son, when Seth saw some…
Steve Wohlberg

Who Are Sephardic Jews?

Sephardic Jews are from Spain and Portugal. Sephardic custom claims the original Jews in Spain…
Who Are Sephardic Jews?

Trailing a Mosad Agent Painter

Tamir Zadok searches for the paintings of a mosad agent who infiltrated into Egypt posing as an…
Trailing a Mosad Agent Painter

Exploring Jewish Life in Iran

Despite living in a country whose government openly wishes for the complete and utter…
Exploring Jewish Life in Iran
Cocaine

Jeff Persitz

Jeff Persitz has always been a type-A let’s go for it kind of person. From the time of his bar…
Jeff Persitz

Is Halloween Harmless Fun?

In the month of October, the neighborhood where I used to live, in some places looked like an…
Is Halloween Harmless Fun?

Calendar of Jewish Persecution

Calendar of Jewish Persecution70 A.D. Destruction of Jerusalem 1,100,000 Jews were killed and…
Calendar of Jewish Persecution

The Adventure Of Shalom

Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace. I know it, you know it, and most of the world knows the…
The Adventure Of Shalom

Shalom Adventure Survey

We are inviting you to take our survey about improving Shalom Adventure Magazine. Shalom…
Shalom Adventure Survey
Illustration: Bride and Groom Holding Hands; cover image for Mr. & Mrs.

Mr & Mrs

When people think of finding "the one" or Mr. or Mrs. Right they usually are thinking of…
Mr & Mrs

God Calls You by Name

“Oh look, here comes Shorty.” We’ve all heard someone do it. We may have done it…
God Calls You by Name

Publish the Menu module to "offcanvas" position. Here you can publish other modules as well.
Learn More.


donation