Some scholars speculate that Mount Karkom, located in Israel’s Negev Desert, is the biblical Mount Sinai. Others hold that the mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments is in Egypt’s Sinai Desert. Regardless, Har Karkom, as it is known in Hebrew, is an ancient site, with petroglyphs and dozens of altars dating to the third millennium BCE. A 12-stone altar could correspond to the one Moses built with 12 pillars, one for each of the tribes of Israel.
Israel’s coastline along the Mediterranean Sea stretches ~190 kilometers from Lebanon to Gaza. Steep cliffs stand along 20-25% of the shore. Deep-water ports are located at Haifa and Ashdod. “The Great Sea” (HaYam HaGadol) is the most common biblical term for the Mediterranean, with references in the books of Bemidbar (Numbers), Joshua, and Ezekiel.
The tomb of Rachel is situated at the entrance to Bethlehem. She is the only one of the four Jewish matriarchs who is not buried in Hebron. According to Midrash, her son Joseph was the first to pray at her grave. Today, it remains a special place for prayer. Bethlehem is also the location for most of the biblical story of Ruth, who was the great-grandmother of King David.
When Joshua led the Israelites into the Land after 40 years in the desert, the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was initially placed at Gilgal. Later, they built a stone structure at Shiloh and placed the Mishkan’s curtains over it. That sanctuary stood for 369 years, the ruins of which are visible today at Tel Shiloh. The synagogue of the nearby modern Shilo in Samaria resembles the ancient Mishkan.
Although there are many holy places in the Land of Israel, Judaism’s four holy cities stand out. Jerusalem, the eternal spiritual center of the Jewish people. Hebron, where Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah are buried. It was also King David’s first capital. Safed (Tzfat), a center of Jewish mystical scholarship (Kabbalah). Tiberias, where sages compiled the Jerusalem Talmud and where many great rabbis are buried.
Jerusalem – one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world – has been destroyed at least 2 times, besieged 23 times, attacked another 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. Jerusalem Day, an Israeli national holiday celebrated on 28 Iyar of the Hebrew calendar, marks the reunification of the city in 1967 – the first time the whole city was under Jewish rule since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
The Kotel, a.k.a. the Western Wall, is one of four retaining walls of the Temple Mount that survived the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The 11th-century poet Ahimaaz ben Paltiel is credited with the earliest Jewish use of the Hebrew term “hakotel hama’aravi” (the Western Wall) to describe the section that’s visible today. His ancestors were captives whom Titus brought to Rome after destroying Jerusalem.
The tomb of the prophet Samuel, who lived during the time of the Judges, some 3,000 years ago, sits strategically overlooking Jerusalem, the ascent to Hebron, and the Judean Desert. Excavations in the 1990s revealed ruins of a Jewish settlement from the First Temple period. Today, there are both a mosque and synagogue on the site, which is an Israeli national park.
Mikve Yisrael, meaning Hope of Israel, was founded in 1870 as the first agricultural school for Jews in what would become the State of Israel. The Alliance Israelite Universelle, a French organization, purchased the land near Jaffa for the youth village and boarding school. Today, Mikve Yisrael has three schools (grades 7-12) catering to students who are secular, religious, or French-Israeli. Students begin working on the school’s farm in Grade 10.
