Aish Torah Center

On the eastern edge of the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem, overlooking the Western Wall plaza from the southwest, the Aish Torah center has recently opened.

http://international.aish.com/aishint/

On the roof of the Center they have a belvedere which gives a great view of the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, where they have a model of Herod's Temple.  Here's a couple of photos:


View of the Temple model and the Dome of the Rock

The "Fire of the Torah" inside the Center

Dome and Center

Here's the Dome of the Rock with the BYU Center in the distance

And here's where I live.

Karnak temple photos

Photos of Karnak on Picasa

http://picasaweb.google.com/HamblinWJ/KarnakTemple#

Tomb as Holy of Holies

This is an interesting sculpture form the Catholic Church of St. Lazarus at Bethany.  It is the altar in the apse of the Church, and represents an empty sarcophagus.  I assume it is meant to represent the empty tomb of Christ which the resuscitation of Lazarus prefigures.  At any rate, the scene shows the empty sarcophagus of Christ, with the burial shroud resting on the edge.  On both sides angels open a veil to reveal the tomb.  The symbolic context seems to be an equation of the Holy of Holies with the Tomb (as in the Holy Sepulcher), the empty sarcophagus with the Ark, the shroud with the veil of the temple, and the two angels at the empty tomb with the temple Cherubim.

Interpreting the Mosaic Tabernacle

Here is an interesting site about about the Tabernacle.

http://thedeserttabernacle.blogspot.com/

Samaritan High Priest has passed away

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=167868


The Samaritan High Priest office stretches back unbroken to biblical times; the High Priest oversees the annual Samaritan pascal sacrifice at the ruins of the Samaritan temple, the last surviving vestige of biblical sacrifice.  I meet Elazar ben Tsedaka once; he was a charming man.  

Biblical Explorations

I've decided to read the Bible in Hebrew and Greek, and I'm experimenting with recording my study with ScreenFlow and Accordance.  Here's the first brief introduction.  In theory more will follow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbeyzP7tvlQ

http://www.youtube.com/user/HamblinOfJerusalem