A visit to Jerusalem

[The Bedlington Terrier]

"If you believe in the concept of time then logically there has to be a Creator or at least a creative force that made something out of nothing"

But if you don't believe in 'the concept of time', what then ?

Mrs BT certainly does not believe in "the concept of time". "I'll be down in five minutes" is certain to be nearer an hour...

[Norder]

.

Norder My life when young was : football, women, boooze, etc , just as all the young lads these days. But now no football ,(its on the telly ,or internet) not really any booze, just an odd sip here and there, and women, lets just say ''not on the agenda.'' Life certainly changes!

Life, but for many will become 'materialistic' but that can not satisfy the soul. The soul is part of the infinite, but in this world everything has its limitations. The mind is seeking the soul, the infinite, it is inside you, Some go to places far away seeking, but it is there inside you. The wise have said ''know yourself. '' Go inside, not outside.

exactly Balam....on my travels, have been to places where people seeking enlightenment would insert themselves in some spiritual getaway for a short time, seeking direction - and thats up to them....but as you say, all is inside you, around you, and there's so much that speaks, if....we listen.

Wanderlust -"If you believe in the concept of time then logically there has to be a Creator or at least a creative force that made something out of nothing"

But if you don't believe in 'the concept of time', what then ?

I wear a watch with a movement - Sinkov....those coming and goings, so much more important than the figures, and indeed...are Nothing without it, can forget nothing.

Some years ago, myself and Mrs Norder had to wait for a train to arrive, a small station, somewhere most idyllic...we didn't have a long wait, the train being at enough distance for us to take a very short walk and locate ourselves before a lovely seascape. It was serene, tranquil, timeless...our senses were soothed - so much so, that watching the time was dismissed from our mind.
We don't know how long we sat there, but there were things that happened in that space that moved us way beyond the trains coming and going, at least, it felt that way. Then, time came....I looked to the watch, "if we go now" I said...."we can just make the train", "what time is it" said Mrs Norder...."it'll be the same one we meant to catch" I said.....How wonderful that was !

am sure we've all experienced similar at some point, it's expansion and contraction, and.....suspension.

[sinkov]

It always makes me smile when I read that the only thing that ever starts on time in Spain are bullfights, and start on time they do. The reason being that tickets are priced according to whether you're sat in the sun or shade, start late and those paying top dollar for shady seats could find themselves in the sun, and they'd demand their money back. So the organisers ensure they start on the dot.

[Balanbam00]

Who knows ??
Subject. The Mount of Olives.







Why in the area of Jerusalem ,opposite the Temple Mount, this real estate is covered in graves? For the answer try to guess!!!

The Jewish Cemetery on the Mount of Olives, including the Silwan necropolis is the oldest and most important Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem. It is approximately five centuries old, having been first leased from the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf in the six****th century.

The cemetery contains anywhere between 70,000 and 150,000 tombs from various periods, including the tombs of famous figures in Jewish history. It is considered to be the largest and holiest Jewish cemetery on earth. In the 19th century special significance was attached to Jewish cemeteries in Jerusalem, since they were the last meeting place not only of Jerusalemites but also of Jews from all over the world. Over the years, many Jews in their old age came to Jerusalem in order to live out the rest of their lives there and to be buried in its holy soil.
During the First and Second Temple Periods the Jews of Jerusalem were buried in burial caves scattered on the slopes of the Mount, and from the 16th century the cemetery began to take its present shape.

Between 1949 and 1967, Israel accused the Jordanians of not protecting the site. As early as the end of 1949, Israeli viewers stationed on Mount Zion reported that Arab residents had been uprooting some tomb stones. In 1954, the Israeli government filed a formal complaint with the UN General Assembly regarding the further destruction of graves and ploughing in the area. Israel also stated that in the late 1950s the Jordanian army used tombstones to build a military camp in nearby al-Eizariya to floor tents and toilets, and that some tombstones were transferred to the courtyard of the Citadel of David, where they were smashed and fragments of which were used as markers for the parade ground.
Among Biblical figures were:
Haggai, was a Hebrew prophet during the building of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and one of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the author of the Book of Haggai.
Zechariah, prophet. was a person in the Hebrew Bible and traditionally considered the author of the Book of Zechariah, the eleventh of the Twelve Minor Prophets.
Malachi, was the traditional writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Neviim (Prophets) section in the Hebrew Bible.
Absalom ( "father of peace"), according to the Hebrew Bible, was the third son of David, King of Israel with Maacah, daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur.

But why today thousands of graves here ?

[Balanbam00]

What does it cost to be buried on the mount of Olives?
Answer:
It costs as much as $22,500 for a plot at the Mount of Olives, which covers everything from a 15-minute graveside ceremony and burial shroud to the 1.2-metre-deep, 60-centimetre-wide plot itself.

Goldglanz, of North Miami Beach, buried his father, Beno Goldglanz, 90, of Boca Raton, in Jerusalem after he died April 17.

He said his father, a Holocaust survivor from Romania, was so intent on adhering to the tradition, he made his own arrangements in 2000, buying the plot for $4,500.

Today, plots in that cemetery average $30,000 because "there's not that much land left. Plus [costs include] arrangements to get there and funeral expenses. It runs into the tens of thousands," Goldglanz said.

[Balanbam00]

BT : You have been telling us you are a practical man, so how is it that you now tell us that your wife tells you. "I'll be down in five minutes" is certain to be nearer an hour.''
My friend go to the book store and get yourself a book by Shakespeare, called ''The taming of the shrew'' Find a quiet place, maybe in your garden and digest it all, carefully, eat it if required. Its no wonder women could be or will become the dominant power in the near future. ( In Rishton we knew all the tricks of the trade! ) Glad to help my friend.

[sinkov]

BT : Its no wonder women could be or will become the dominant power in the near future.

Bloody hell Balan, you must be living in some sort of idyllic time warp in Israel, women ARE the dominant power in the UK, and no feckin mistake.

[Balanbam00]

sinkov: Get millions of Shakespere's book 'The Taming of the Shrew,' printed and dished out ....to the unfortunate. You see what happens when I left some 50 years ago ??

[The Bedlington Terrier]

sinkov: Get millions of Shakespere's book 'The Taming of the Shrew,' printed and dished out ....to the unfortunate. You see what happens when I left some 50 years ago ??

I'm the boss in this house, when the wife lets me.

[Balanbam00]

The significance of the Mount of Olives cannot be understated, both in terms of its history – it has been a Jewish cemetery since biblical times – and conversely, in terms of the crucial role it is predicted to play in the end of days.

Seen in full sunlight from the direction of the Temple Mount, directly to the west, the most striking feature of the Mount of Olives is the gleaming, dense array of gravestones – some 150,000, in fact – splayed seemingly haphazardly across its western slope. Jews have been interred in the Mount of Olives for thousands of years, although, more recently, fewer and fewer have been buried there. Among the reasons for this is the fact that the cemetery is simply overcrowded. Also, between 1948 and 1967, the Mount of Olives was controlled by Jordan (which, besides forbidding Jewish burials, systematically desecrated many of the graves), and by the time it was captured by Israel in 1967, residents of western Jerusalem had already established other cemeteries.

The graves of countless prominent Jewish figures dot the mountainside, among them King David’s son Absalom, and from more recent times, Rav Kook and Menachem Begin. The Mount of Olives is mentioned in the Bible several times, the first in connection with King David, who climbed the Mount during his flight from Absalom. However, the most famous mention is in the Book of Zecharia, which states that at the End of Days,

God will stand on the Mount of Olives as the mountain splits in two, signalling the beginning of the Resurrection of the Dead.

In the photo Absalom’s Tomb. Although traditionally ascribed to Absalom, the rebellious son of King David of Israel (circa 1000 BC), recent scholarship has dated it to the 1st century AD.