Over the past week I encountered Israel in a documentary movie and a book. Our small group went to see Route 60: The Biblical Highway. Although my husband and I have been to Israel and visited places from the southern tip of Israel to the northern edge, we saw some new sites in the movie.
On our tour we did not go to Rachel’s tomb, located a little south of Jerusalem. The movie shows the interior of a building that now surrounds the original tomb. You can read about the tomb and see pictures here. I learned that the site is a center for prayer, some praying for the gift of conceiving a child.
Route 60, a highway down the center of Israel, links places of significance in the life of Abraham, Sarah and their descendants. The Bible is illuminated by the historical sites.
While the scenes of Israel were still in my mind, I finished reading Once We Were Home by Jennifer Rosner. During WWII many Jewish children were hidden, taken in by families and by the Catholic Church to save them from the concentration camps. Rosner has written a novel that shows various situations.
What happened when a child’s parents died? Were Jewish relatives able to recover the child? How were Jewish orphans collected and sent to Israel? How did the disruptions in family affect the children?
The book captivated me and I learned one more perspective on WWII and the early years of Israel, after it once more became a nation in 1948.
I have been musing about the tragedy of broken families. God designed families for the protection and nurture of children. When traumatic events break up a family, we need to seek God’s help to bring healing. We are blessed to have Jesus intercede for us, because he understands every kind of human suffering.
In our current culture there are many opinions about family and ideas about redesigning it. God’s design of the human family, the biological ties, has deep meaning that we must respect for our own good.
Linking this post to the Five Minute Friday writing community. I also link-up with Sweet Tea and Friends and Inspire me Monday and Senior Salon Pit Stop.
Very interesting. I have visited Israel and we did go to Rachel’s tomb where lots of woman go to pray for the gift of the womb. We visited lots of places including a trip to Jordan and the Dead sea, right down to Galilee and Capernaum. It was an enlightening trip that started me on a journey of self-discovery and asking the question WHO really is God! Visiting from #10,11 & 12 of SSPS, thanks for sharing with us over there.
There are so many places significant in Bible history. My favorite place was the Sea of Galilee.
Such an interesting article. The movie and book you mentioned sound so intriguing. Going to Israel has been one of the trips I’d love to take sometime. I have other writer friends who go and post photos and interesting facts. Maybe someday.
I wonder if the movie and book are available at our library?
I am going to check it out.
Thanks for sharing.
The book is a new release–it was at my library. Since the movie was just in theaters, it might be a while before it’s available on DVD.
I reviewed Route 60 as part of an influencer program. I was blown away. Wow, you got to go to Israel how fantastic! I bet it was something.
FMF #2
We had a wonderful tour. Some sites that we visited (not in the movie): the Dead Sea, the site where the dead sea scrolls were found, Masada, the Sea of Galilee and the Garden Tomb.
They say now that our kids belong
to the the current government.
I don’t know, I could be wrong
but that seems not as the intent
of the founders of our land,
set up for freedom’s preservation.
I think we need to understand
that we must remain a nation
that needs kowtow to the one,
the lonely individual,
who’s more important than the sum
and so much more vital still
than the rule of what today
is the modish state of play.
I watched Route 60 as well and it was so interesting! Visiting from FMF#5
indeed, God’s way of setting up the family is for our own good. The breaking of it is a terrible burden on society as a whole. FMF14