{"id":1465,"date":"2014-05-21T21:07:06","date_gmt":"2014-05-21T21:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/?p=1465"},"modified":"2014-05-29T20:16:41","modified_gmt":"2014-05-29T20:16:41","slug":"souvenirs-of-the-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/souvenirs-of-the-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"Souvenirs of the Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tom Brennan<\/p>\n

Everyone who takes a vacation brings back a souvenir<\/a> or three. Often times it\u2019s a toy or tourist item with a place name on it for the children. Often, and all too often at that, these souvenirs are made anywhere but the place they were bought. They wind up in drawers, broken or eventually discarded as the memory fades. A trip to Israel is not a vacation, it is a journey. Journeys have mementos that endure.<\/p>\n

Israel is a place of tradition and deep culture. Under the soil and debris of the centuries are lost things, buried things and forgotten things. The Bible has the parable of the treasure found in a field. A man finds a treasure buried in a field and the goes and sells all he has and buys it; such is the Kingdom of heaven. According to Scripture, there was to a be a Jubilee every 50 years and all land sold from a family under the original allotments from Joshua\u2019s time was to revert back to the original owner. This and the other precepts in Leviticus were intended to see that the Israelites governed justly and no one stayed poor for long. There is no record of if the Jubilee was ever celebrated and even the counting point was lost or forgotten. Men and families fell into debt, pledged themselves to be bond-servants, land passed out of families, some of it sold or even left abandoned. Hence a man walking through an owner-less field.<\/p>\n

\"Grafted<\/a>

Grafted In Clay Lamp Replica<\/p><\/div>\n

When an enemy was on the march people buried their valuables in the ground and fled. They planned to return and dig up the treasure. Here is an abandoned field and a treasure no one returned to dig up. The man knew what was valuable and sold all he had to buy it. He decided that all he had was less valuable that what he had found. We see it today as submission to God\u2019s ways as a necessity since our own have temporary value at best. There is still buried treasure in Israel and some of it can be brought home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are many licensed antiquity dealers. The practical items dug up include oil lamps, coins of all periods and values, ceramics and smaller items. Museums keep study collections and sales of undocumented items are seriously investigated, so is fraudulent representation. A widow\u2019s mite that is an actual coin is usually available. Higher quality and more expensive items as well. But excellent reproductions are always readily on hand for the average pilgrim. There is nothing quite like owning a small antiquity. You find yourself wondering over and over about who held it last. Who were they, who were their friends, what did they see, did they by some very small chance see a Teacher and His disciples walk through their village? The questions to ask and possible answers and endless, thankfully. This is the material of which dreams and visions made. When you remember where you were in Israel and have a small piece of it in your hands, you renew the experience and return again and again.<\/p>\n

It is unlikely if you visit quality shops in Jerusalem that you will be dismayed when you turn the item upside down and see where it was made. There is a thriving arts and ancient crafts trade in Israel, shared by Jew and Arab alike that produces handmade and beautiful items that receive a place of honor in the homes of journey makers. These souvenirs of the soul are messengers and conversation starters. They are unique and begin many stories of travels to The Land that often move the hearers to undertake their own voyage.<\/p>\n

The souks and hand crafted shops keep employment at good numbers and much depends on producing desirable items. Olive wood crafts<\/a> are a popular item. The importance of olive oil in the Bible is repeated all throughout the chapters. Kings are anointed<\/a> with it, it lights lamps, it is used to cook and bake. The Mount of Olives figures in many prophecies. Israel is home to many fragrances, aloes, myrrh, incenses<\/a> of all kinds fill the air in the various denominations\u2019 churches daily and especially on feasts like Easter. Rosary beads for Catholics are made of local stones and woods as are crosses and crucifixes both plain and elaborate. Local craftsmen need not go far to sell their wares, the world comes to their door gladly.<\/p>\n

\"karshi-silver-rams-shofar\"<\/a>

karshi-silver-rams-shofar<\/p><\/div>\n

Even the Dead Sea<\/a> is harvested. Sea salt, mineral rich mud in packages for therapeutic use, herbs and natural oils for homeopathy, naturopathy and aroma therapy bring back the smells and senses of The Land for homes. Shofars<\/a> make wonderful items and local sheep supply a variety of real horn.<\/p>\n

Israel is a place for music and you can hear the Klezmer music of Eastern Europe, Arabic and other voices in singing, and the shofar in all its tones and glory. Purchasing music today is no problem with all the media on the web. But hearing it in person in Jerusalem, Hebron, any city or village and then having the recorded music return you to that place and time has no adequate description. Words cannot match notes or emotion here; it must be heard, felt and remembered.<\/p>\n

Israel is a place for the soul, mind and spirit. God gave us senses so we would have multiple ways to remind us of the place He considers to be very special and the souvenirs of the soul that can be brought back are special gifts we can keep for ourselves.<\/p>\n

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By Tom Brennan Everyone who takes a vacation brings back a souvenir or three. Often times it\u2019s a toy or tourist item with a place name on it for the children. Often, and all too often at that, these souvenirs are made anywhere but the place they were bought. They wind up in drawers, broken more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[210,209,625,211,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-1465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-editorial","8":"tag-christian-gifts","9":"tag-holy-land-gifts","10":"tag-israeli-news","11":"tag-jerusalem-gifts","12":"tag-news-from-jerusalem","13":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1465"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1514,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465\/revisions\/1514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}