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This is Not a Political Post

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
Mughrabi Bridge, Jerusalem, Old City. Israel tour guide. Fun Joel Haber.

The Temporary Mughrabi Bridge in the Plaza of the Western Wall (photo courtesy of Flickr user Ariela R.)

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I hate politics.

But living in Israel and working in the field of tourism, it is fairly difficult to completely avoid dealing with political issues. Nearly every visitor has heard things about the political situation and/or sees things that relate to the issue. So they will inevitably ask some questions.

And it would not be right for me to ignore these questions. So the way I handle them is to respond in as objective a manner as possible, all the while recognizing and admitting that it is actually impossible for anyone to be truly objective. I try to relate the facts as I see them, and try to keep my opinions out of things. When Israel does or has done something wrong, I admit them. But when I see lies or misrepresentations that damage Israel’s image, I will speak out against them as well.

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Top 10 Things to Do in Jerusalem – Part 3

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

The Shrine of the Book at Jerusalem's Israel Museum


Back to Jerusalem Top 10 – Part 2

And now the final entries:

8. Go to a Museum

(Sorry, I couldn’t come up with a clever title for this one!)

I’m not sure who keeps statistics on such things, but I’ve heard that Israel has more museums per capita than does any other country in the world. (Okay, when adding links I found that these guys apparently keep such statistics, or at least report them.) And whether or not that is true, Jerusalem definitely has some of the most significant museums in this country that is full of them.

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Israel Mystery Photo #8

Sunday, July 17th, 2011
Mystery Photo. Israel. Fun Joel. Tour guide. Tourguide.

Another Mystery Photo from Fun Joel's Photo Archives!

I guess I knew that last week’s photo would be a bit more challenging, but I really liked the guesses people made in the comments. All were very logical, and show that we can tell a lot about this country by making informed guesses.

By the way, it also raises another point. Yes, I post these pictures as a fun little game for you all to see if you can recognize the pictures’ subjects. But in my interactions with you all I’ve heard a bit of hesitance to guess if you don’t know the correct answer. That’s not really my point with these. Rather, the real point of these posts is the blog post I write each week in which I talk about the correct answer. The picture is not the important thing; the explanation of it is. These photos are a brief way for me to launch discussion of the various sites (and sights) around this awesome country of Israel. So please do leave your guesses in the comments about this week’s mystery photo, above.

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A Short History of the Land of Israel

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

A piece of Edomite glass (C 2100 years old) that I found on a dig in Beit Guvrin.

Last week’s and this week’s classes have both dealt with general overviews to the land of Israel, dealing with such things as roads, borders, broad history, and the like. I’ll break down some of the other information in a future post, but I thought it might be helpful for me to give you a brief history of the different periods of history that we encounter here. This way, if I later refer to something as taking place in a certain period, I can refer you back to this brief overview!

Some of these are broad eras that apply to all of civilization, and others are specific to this location. The latter is the case the more modern we get. Also, in some cases, the period may start at different times in different parts of the world. (For example, Muslim period begins at different times in different parts of this area, depending on when the Muslims conquered various lands.)

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