http://wejew.com National Geographic - The Lost Cities Of Bible - For years Biblical scholars have been on a scavenger hunt for the "Lost Cities" of Sodom and Gomorrah. Centuries after these sinful cities, God conquers another misbehaving city: Jericho. What do we know about these cities or are they simply moral fables? According to the Bible, God destroyed the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by raining down fire and brimstone. Before destroying the cities, Abraham convinced God to save Abraham's nephew, Lot, from the destruction. God sent angels to Sodom to warn Lot's family to leave and not look back. As they left the city, Lot's wife, not heeding the warning of the angels, looked back at Sodom and was turned into a pillar of salt. The earthquake that some believe could have destroyed the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah is thought to have been at least a magnitude of 6.8. Earthquakes of this magnitude can cause fires, and in those days perhaps uncontrollable fires that destroyed the cities. Some scholars place the Biblical cities in current-day Iraq, at Mashkin-Shapir; others posit that the cities were buried under the Dead Sea. The remains of these cities have never been found, though some believe the strongest candidates for Sodom and Gomorrah can be found in the archaeological remains of the Early Bronze Age cities of Babe Edh-Dhra and Numeira, to the East of the Dead Sea. Archaeologist and Biblical Scholar William Foxwell Albright of Johns Hopkins University put Bab edh-Dhra on the map in 1924, identifying it as a Bronze Age site with a possible connection to Sodom. The site of Bab edh-Dhra was occupied for a period of 1300 years, beginning with camp site activity and progressing to village life and a walled town culture before returning to an open village in the last stages. According to the Bible, Joshua and the Israelites conquered the heavily fortified city of Jericho. The Book of Joshua notes that Jericho was strongly fortified, that the attack occurred just after harvest time in the spring, that the inhabitants had no opportunity to flee with their foodstuffs, that the siege was short, that the walls were leveled, possibly by an earthquake, and that the city was not plundered or burned. Many of these points have been corroborated by the archaeological record during excavations at Jericho. http://wejew.com/media/8069/National_Geographic:_The_Lost_Cities_of_the_Bible/ http://wejew.com/media/8069/National_Geographic:_The_Lost_Cities_of_the_Bible/ See JNF-KKL Community Family Forests in Israel - a short video from the Jewish National Fund about community forests in Israel as seen through the eyes of a cool Jewish kid. http://wejew.com/media/8067/Come_Visit_JNF-KKL_Community_Family_Forests_in_Israel/ http://wejew.com/media/8067/Come_Visit_JNF-KKL_Community_Family_Forests_in_Israel/ Inspiring thoughts on Passover and true freedom. http://wejew.com/media/8066/Eema_Peptalk:_Free_Passover_Moms/ http://wejew.com/media/8066/Eema_Peptalk:_Free_Passover_Moms/ Martha Stewart Passover Matzoh Factory Tour - yes that is right - take a tour of a matzoh making factory with the TV icon of home life. http://wejew.com/media/8065/Martha_Stewart_Passover_Matzoh_Factory_Tour/ http://wejew.com/media/8065/Martha_Stewart_Passover_Matzoh_Factory_Tour/ Israel is home to one of the most successful socialist societies ever to have been created. The Kibbutz began as a venture to bring into fruition the ideas of labor Zionism, the movement to bring Jews back to the land. AD Gordon, a prominent Labor Zionist said, The Jewish people has been completely cut off from nature and imprisoned within city walls for two thousand years. We lack the principal ingredient for national life. We lack the habit of labor for it is labor which binds a people to its soil and to its national culture. Rather than remain stagnant, the revolution that is the Kibbutz has continually changed and morphed over the past century. Evolution of the Revolution is our understanding of the changing atmosphere of the kibbutz and the larger implications for the kibbutznicks. http://wejew.com/media/8064/The_Kibbutz_in_Israel:_Evolution_of_the_Revolution/ http://wejew.com/media/8064/The_Kibbutz_in_Israel:_Evolution_of_the_Revolution/ Over a thousand people partook in the Hachnosas Sefer Torah that marked the dedication of the newly re-constructed Churva Shul in the Old City of Yerushalayim. http://wejew.com/media/8063/Sefer_Torah_Celebration_Marking_Churva_Dedication/ http://wejew.com/media/8063/Sefer_Torah_Celebration_Marking_Churva_Dedication/ The Culture of Israel. Israeli Culture is a blend of every Jewish culture: Bukharian Kavkaz Mizrahi Sephardi Temani Ashkenazi Falasha and Khasidic (Chasidic). Here are some traditional Israeli Jewish Costumes. http://wejew.com/media/8062/The_Culture_of_Israel/ http://wejew.com/media/8062/The_Culture_of_Israel/ In 1948 - the crowning synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem was destroyed along with dozens of other Jewish houses of worship as arab forces demolished the Old City and expelled all Jewish residents. Construction of the Hurva Synagogue (not its original name — hurva means "ruins") began under Rabbi Judah the Hassid in 1700 but ceased upon his death. The rabbi was a member of one of the first groups of Ashkenazi Jews to immigrate to Jerusalem, a few hundred from Poland. The Hurva Synagogue was restarted under Ibrahim Pasha in 1836 and finally completed in 1856. Designed in a grand Neo-Byzantine style, it was one of the largest buildings in the Old City. However, after less than a century in operation, the synagogue was destroyed during mass bombings of synagogues by the Jordanian Arab Legion during the war of 1948. The conservation and investigation of the ruins began in 1977. Since the Israeli recapture of Jerusalem in 1967, many plans have been made for its rebuilding. In 2005, the Israeli government announced a plan to rebuild the synagogue in exactly the same form as before, assigning the project a budget of $6.2 million. http://wejew.com/media/8061/ReDedication_of_the_Churva_Synagogue_Old_City_Jerusalem/ http://wejew.com/media/8061/ReDedication_of_the_Churva_Synagogue_Old_City_Jerusalem/ Voices TV was on the scene when 200 residents of Gush Etzion/EFrat demonstrated against the increased Arab violence on the roads. Residents DEMAND more security on the roads. http://voices-magazine.blogspot.com/2010/03/protest-against-arab-violence-on-roads.html; www.voices-magazine.com http://wejew.com/media/8060/Voices_TV_-_Protest_Against_Arab_Violence_on_Roads/ http://wejew.com/media/8060/Voices_TV_-_Protest_Against_Arab_Violence_on_Roads/ In an historic military achievement - Israel conducted Operation Thunderbolt to rescue the hostages being held by terrorists at Entebbe. See the preview as under the immense pressure of a hostage situation, Israel secretly enacts a three-stage plan to free the captives. http://wejew.com/media/8059/National_Geographic_Preview_Israel_Operation_Thunderbolt/ http://wejew.com/media/8059/National_Geographic_Preview_Israel_Operation_Thunderbolt/