The birthplace of Jesus, Israel is full of ancient architecture and rich history.
When modern Israel was founded in 1948, it was a historic moment in Jewish history. It is the country with the world’s largest population of Jews, many of whom moved there after the country was founded. After Israeli Jews, Russian, Romanian, and Polish Jews are the largest population of Jews.
With 6 wars in it’s short existence, Israel has a history of conflict, mostly between Arabs and Israel.
Israel is a first-world country, having the 33rd largest economy in the world.
The Western Wall, or the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, is the only remaining part of the Jewish Holy Temple, destroyed in 70 AD. The area in front of the wall is considered a synagogue, so the men and women are separated and men and married women must cover their heads. Over one million prayer notes are placed in the cracks of the wall every year.
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, built over the place where Jesus was born.
Some popular tourist sites in Israel include Jerusalem, Nazareth, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, and the Sea of Galilee.
The Sea of Galilee.
Israel has a law called the Law of Return, that allows people of Jewish decent to come and live in Israel and gain Israeli citizenship.
The official languages are Hebrew and Arabic. There are many other languages spoken from all over the world, thanks to the many Jewish immigrants. Israel is the only country to take a revived unspoken language (Hebrew) and make it one of the national languages. Hebrew, which faded out of use between 200-400 AD, is the only successful example of a dead language being brought back to use. This happened in the early 1800’s when the Jews in Israel (who spoke Arabic) and the Jews arriving from other countries decided to use Hebrew as a way to communicate with each other.
Jewish people who follow Christ but still embrace their Jewish identity and traditions, are called Messianic Jews.
All religions are allowed to minister within their own communities. Messianic Jews were not given legal standing until 2009. That year, a law was passed allowing their congregations to register as religious entities. Seventy-five percent of the population follows Judaism, 17% Muslim, and 2% Christian. Among Christians, 8% are Jewish—there are an estimated 20,000 Messianic Jews in Israel. Most Christians are Arabs or expatriates. Please pray for unity in Israel.
Israel is the LAST COUNTRY on my route! I will be there in November next year!
Please pray for me and my team, and consider financially supporting me! I have now written a blog post about all 11 countries that I will be going to. Please check out my past blog posts to read about all 10 other countries!
Sources:
Operation World by Jason Mandryk
The Jewish Chronicle, “65 Facts You Didn’t Know About Israel”
Planetware.com “12 Top-Rated Tourist Attractions in Israel and the Palestinian Territories”
