A visit to Jerusalem

[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]

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.

[wanderlust]

[QUOTE=The Bedlington Terrier;39826213]It's what happens when you have lived in Bolton for too long lusty, I am similarly afflicted. By the way, Carrs or Greenhalghs for the pasties? QUOTE]

Carr's for me.
That said, despite being Bowton born, bred and schooled, I've probably spent 5% of my life in Bolton since the age of 18 and a fair bit of that was when I made the 400 mile round trip to watch home matches.

[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.

[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]

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]

Religious dogma:
The Golden Gate is located in the north section of the east wall of the Temple Mount. In Jewish belief, the gate is called 'The Gate of Mercy' (Sha'ar HaRakhamim), and is considered to be the place from which the Messiah will enter in the end of days. According to Jewish tradition, the Shekhinah (שכינה) (Divine Presence) used to appear through the eastern Gate, and will appear again when the Anointed One (Messiah) comes (Ezekiel 44:1–3) The gate is believed to be the place from which Christ entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, thus implying his own messianic status.


Since the early times of Muslim rule over the holy region Bayt al-Maqdis, some Muslims, such as ‘Ubadah ibn al-Samit, linked the eastern wall of the enclave with the Last Day. This wall is not the wall mentioned in the Quranic verse “so a wall will be put up betwixt them, with a gate therein.” Since that time, this example probably encouraged Muslims to bury their dead immediately outside the eastern wall of the al-Aqsa enclave. In any case, if the name “al-Rahmah” (Mercy) truly exists since the construction of the gate, this suggests that the gate is part of an overall concept based on the idea related to the place, specifically the Rock, as that of the Last Day. Then it can be argued that Bab al-Rahmah symbolises a gate in paradise or an entry to Mercy.
Closed by the Muslims in 810, reopened in 1102 by the Crusaders, it was walled up by Saladin after regaining Jerusalem in 1187. Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt it together with the city walls, but walled it up in 1541, and it stayed that way.
In relation to the Muslim belief Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, it is suggested that Suleiman the Magnificent sealed off the Golden Gate to prevent a false Messiah or "Antichrist" coming through entrance. The Ottomans also built a cemetery in front of the gate to prevent a false precursor to the Anointed One, Elijah, from passing through the gate.
The gate was sealed by Israeli authorities in 2003 because the group managing the area had ties to Hamas. The gate was kept closed in order to stop illegal construction work there by the Islamic Waqf. Israeli officials believe the work led to the destruction of antiquities from periods of Jewish presence in the area,