Walking the streets of Magdala- finally!

In 2020, I wrote about the incredible discovery at Magdala and how I wanted to go the next time I was in Israel. It has been a dream of mine for years! So when the semester ended last week, I headed out to the Galilee. 

WOW.

It was Shabbat, an unusually warm January day, and because of covid-19, there still weren't any foreign tourists allowed in Israel. So there I was, pretty much alone, strolling through Mary Magdalene's former hometown, a fishing village.

There, you can see the old market, with the main street, 

the residential area, 

the port (the Sea of Galilee, which is only about 7 miles wide at its widest point and 17 miles long) shrinks every year, so the port is much higher than one might expect, 

a beautiful chapel commemorating Jesus' ministry in the Galilee, and...

the synagogue, where, according to Matthew 4:23, Jesus spoke. 

As I talked about here, this is one of those places where we can place Jesus not only in the town or walking the main street, but in an actual room. I about lost my mind. 

After exploring this incredible place—you can still see pigmentation on the remains of columns and walls, and part of an old mosaic—I sat down and began to read from Matthew. There, on Shabbat, in front of the synagogue where Jesus spoke on a Shabbat millennia ago. It was incredible!

There are so many small treasures that have been found and are still being unearthed in Magdala, like brick ovens, mosaics in other places. It's all so interesting, but this was the crown jewel for me. 

However, did you hear about this? Recently there's been another INCREDIBLE discovery in Magdala:

A SECOND SYNAGOGUE!!!!

This one is in a residential area, which I didn't see. I think it is still being uncovered. But, how incredible! The articles I read say that this sheds a lot of light on thought and culture in the first century. I hope to go back and explore it one day!

Also, here's one more photo as a bonus, as seen on the way to Madgala: Mount Hermon covered in snow!

Celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year's in Israel (Part 2)

After Hanukkah, came my favorite season: Advent and Christmas! 

I had assumed that, since Christmas isn't a Jewish holiday, it wouldn't be celebrated here, and I was trying to brace myself for a very different Christmas.

Well, I was both right and wrong. It was a very different kind of Christmas, but it turns out that in towns like Nazareth, Haifa, Bethlehem, and even Jerusalem, there are areas of Christmas (or other holiday) festivals and celebrations! The weather also took a turn and became a lot cooler, as rainy season (winter) is here. So for this Georgia girl, it actually felt like Christmas!

The entire month of December, I got to enjoy these festivals, which was so fun. And then for the weekend of Christmas, I had the most different Christmas of all: spending it in Jerusalem, and actually spending Christmas Day in Bethlehem!

It was an incredible weekend, and it was also bit of a juggling game because late Christmas Even and most of Christmas Day were on Shabbat. So my friends and I had to make sure to get there before things closed, and that's why we decided to go to Bethlehem on Saturday. Besides, spending Christmas in Bethlehem... how many people actually get to do that?

And since the borders are currently closed to foreign tourists, thanks to Omicron, that meant there were only local tourists there—a very different from past years. I kept having pinch myself for how amazing it was!

On Christmas Eve, we got to Jerusalem in time to go to the Western Wall before Shabbat began, and then also went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Armenian Quarter after an amazing late lunch/early dinner. 

Christmas day, we took a bus from outside the Damascus Gate to Bethlehem. Our bus driver could have qualified for the Fast and the Furious! There was one point where I even closed my eyes, haha. But we made it, then walked to the Church of the Nativity, said to be over the cave that Jesus was born in. The line to see the cave was so long that we just walked around and then started walking to our other destination in Bethlehem: the Shepherds' Fields, also known as the fields of Boaz and Ruth. That was a long walk, so on the way back, I was so thankful to find a taxi!

The day after Christmas, time was short for us. We checked out of our Airbnb, went back to the Temple Mount, and this time we also walked up to the mosque above. That was my first time being up there. I didn't realize how big the area was up top! There's an amazing view of the Mount of Olives too. Leaving the Old City, we went to a busy shuk for spices and then headed out, stopping at the top of the Mount of Olives for a photo of the city. 

What an incredible weekend!!!

And honestly, after all of that excitement, and because the week after New Year's Eve is the week of finals in my Hebrew class, I kept the day much lower key—staying in my room, being a happy introvert, haha. So that might be a little bit of a let down to anyone who isn't an introvert, but I loved it. All I needed was my poodle, Annie, snoozing on my ankles. So, just for fun, here's a picture of her from last New Year's Eve:

We are just over a week in, so I'll say it again: Happy New Year!

The Elijah Chronicles by Ray Bentley and Bodie Thoene

Have you heard of The Elijah Chronicles?

This 3-book series follows American Jack Garrison from his initial fact-finding mission to Israel through an incredible adventure throughout the Holy Land. My favorite part is that it is set in modern times, so there are mentions of real-life world leaders and events that just happened a few months ago. But it's more than just being a modern day story. This is how Amazon describes it: Watch history, prophecy, and current events leap to life as best-selling author Bodie Thoene and prophecy scholar Ray Bentley lead you on a journey that melds the past, present, and future into one unforgettable story. 

I've read many books by Bodie Thoene (co-authored by her husband, Brock), and reviewed them here. So I'm familiar with her work, though not Ray Bentley's. I was excited by the premise of this trilogy and enjoyed it. However, before I go into something specific I learned from this series, I do want to say that as an avid reader, I felt something lacking from this series. The physical books themselves are shorter than a true novel, and their print is large. It felt more like I was reading 3 novellas than 3 full-length novels, and this was evident to me in the reading. I didn't get as immersed in the stories as I normally would, because of the lack of detail. In addition, at times the actual timing in the series felt abrupt and unclear, especially in the 3rd book. Since The Cyrus Mandate is set in 2020 and discusses real-life events, I knew what it was referring to. For instance, Covid-19 and its effects are just suddenly referred to as having arrived and the characters are dealing with the normal. But there was no build up to that (outside of one mention something being released from China in one of Jack's visions). But for readers 10, 20, 30 + years from now, will they understand the minutiae that led to that scene (will we even be here, haha)? It could be the purpose of this series was to show the truths of today and what is going on for the modern reader in a fiction form. If so, this series met its purpose and they writers did a great job! It's just that for me personally, as a lover of Israel and someone who loves a good novel, I wanted more (because it was great)!

There is one thing I wanted to highlight specifically from the series, and that is the discussion on pages 240-242 of The Cyrus Mandate. One of the characters asks how Jews and Arabs are linked in Biblical prophecy, and Jack replies by explaining about the sons of Abraham, not only Isaac and Ishmael, but also the sons he had with Keturah, the wife he married after Sarah died. By his explanation, the Sunni nations are cousins of Isaac's descendants: "They share blood with one another. They are cousins to one another, it makes sense that they could come together in mutual blessing, mutual protection, mutual economic and technology and medical benefit" (referring to the historic Abraham accords). However, Shia Muslims, like Iran, are not related by away of Abraham. And this is where Ezekiel 38-39 comes into play. "God is using geopolitical reasons, pragmatic reasons, economic reasons, protection reasons, all of these things. He's bringing the Abrahamic family together".

I thought this was such a great explanation of the incredibly complicated situation in the Middle East that many outside of this region do not understand completely. And in light of the Abraham Accords that have happened since (UAE, Bahrain, Bhutan, Morocco, Sudan, Kosovo) and the ones that might come soon it was especially enlightening. 

If you like reading contemporary fiction set in "our day" that is strongly linked with real-life events, then this series is worth the read! You can get it here on Amazon, and please let me know what you think about it below!

BIG NEWS from Israel! (I'm going in July!)

Last week was a BIG week in Israel!

First, Naftali Bennett was officially sworn in as the new Prime Minister, after Netanyahu's historic 12-years of service. 

PM Bennett represents a coalition government, made up of parties from left, right, and center. It's the first of its kind to be in power. He will hold the PM position for 2 years and 3 months, and then Yair Lapid will be PM for the same amount of time.

Second, Gaza announced a new Prime Minister as well. Their new premier is Issam al-Da'alis, and he was also sworn in on Sunday.

Third, on June 15, Israel officially lifted all mask mandates for both inside and outside. Now, the only people who have to wear them are either traveling on planes, on their way to quarantine, or people in long-term care facilities.

But, the biggest news for me, was that ISRAEL IS OPENING TO FOREIGN TOURISTS JULY 1!!!!

Which brings me to MY big news- I'm going to Israel! As of the date I'm writing this post, I'm still looking at tickets, but I know it will happen sometime next month! Remember how my trip for April 2020 was cancelled? I'm so thankful that it has worked out for this year, and I cannot wait to get there and explore this incredible, amazing Land and culture!

Another election?

Israel will have its 4th election in 2 years next week. 

Just 12 months after the elections in 2020, after which a unity government was formed, Israel is heading back to the polls. After personally living through a presidential election in Argentina in 2019, then the 2020 election (and January 5 GA run-off) in the States, the word "election" makes me tired. And maybe triggers some PTSD. I can only imagine what it's like to head back earlier than planned—multiple times! 

Will Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be re-elected? Or will his rival, Benny Gantz, win? Or someone else entirely?

We'll be watching to see what happens on Tuesday, March 23! Check back next week for more details on who won and what that means for Israel!

Shocking news from Israel!

Yesterday, I saw 3 SHOCKING stories come from Israel. Are you ready for this?

WOW! 

I'm still in shock over the 4 that happened, and there might be 4 more peace deals between Israel and Arab nations on the way! Based on this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, I'm going to guess: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Mauritania. WOW! WOW! And I don't think these will be brokered by another nation, which is even more astounding! I am definitely going to stay tuned for this!

Here's the 2nd story that caught my attention. Because I LOVE archeology, I definitely dorked out over it:

In the "Cave of Horror" in the Judean Desert, which earned that name because the only way to enter is by repelling 80 meters down (263 feet!) from a cliff into it, they found 2000-year-old Biblical texts (the first since finding the Dead Sea Scrolls!), a basket dating back 10,000 years, coins also almost 2,000 years old, and the skeleton a child dating back 6,000 years. 

• Of the scroll fragments, the article states: "The scroll was written in Greek, but God’s name appears in paleo-Hebrew. It contains passages from the Minor Prophets, including Nahum." This is the first find since the Dead Sea Scrolls!
• Of the basket, it says, this is said to be "a 10,000-year-old exceptionally well-preserved basket which experts say might be the earliest item of this kind ever uncovered." I don't quite understand this, as the earth is only about 6,000 years old. But the dating of the coins and scroll fragments is unmistakeable.
• The coins date back to the Bar Kochba Revolt in 70 AD.
• Of the mummy, he or she was so well preserved because of the desert conditions but also by his or her wrapping and burial. To me, this is evidence of how loved he or she was. And while it is heartbreaking to read and imagine, that is comforting.

And for the 3rd story... this isn't so much shocking as good news, it looks like Israel might be the first nation to emerge into a post-Covid world. They are even talking of opening up tourism in April!

What do you think of these 3 amazing stories from Israel? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy New Year! And the latest news from Israel!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated it by getting the all-clear from the vet for 7-month-old Annie to run and jump again, as she was spayed the week before Christmas. I'm not sure who is more relieved—her to be able to play freely, or us, who don't have to deal with her pent-up energy!

(this photo is from the day before her surgery, but it definitely captures her essence as #poodletough)

A lot happened in Israel in the last 2 weeks! First of all, they entered into their 3rd national lockdown of the year. This one is supposed to only last for 2 weeks, but could be extended to a month if the covid-19 rate doesn't lower enough.

But before that, they began vaccinations, and as of the writing of this, have vaccinated more people per capita than any other nation. They plan to start vaccinating the general population by this week, and Prime Minister Netanyahu says Israel could be the first country to come out of the Covid-19 crisis. There is hope of herd immunity by Seder night (Passover) 2021.

One other HUGE thing has happened, pictured in the first news image above. The emergency coalition government formed in 2020 was unable to pass a budget at the end of the year, triggering their 4th election in 2 years, which will happen on March 23.

Wow! That's a lot. What do you think of this latest news? Let me know in the comments below!

Historic Peace Treaty between Israel and Sudan

 Did you see this?

On October 24, the US, Israel, and Sudan announced a 3rd history peace treaty- agreement to normalization- between Israel and an Arab country. Since this is only the 5th ever, but the 3rd agreement reached in about 2 months' time, this is a BIG DEAL. '

And it's estimated that there are about 5 more countries in line for their own agreement. This likely will not happen until after the US election on November 3, as these deals were brokered by the US. However, of these 5 countries, we know that Oman is one, and 2 others are rumored to be: Saudi Arabia and Iraq! WOW!!! (Click on the links to see articles referencing this).

We are definitely living in historic times!

In other news, Israel just finished their 2nd major lockdown of 2020, which lasted a month this time and ended on Oct 18. Thankfully, their rate of COVID-19 has lowered significantly, and they are slowly starting to re-open. In fact, they will start human trials for a vaccine on Nov 1, and together in coordinated efforts with India, have created a rapid (and accurate) test for COVID-19 that hopefully will be ready soon. There are such high hopes for it that it is called "open skies", because, as the Israeli Ambassdor to India, Ron Malka, said: "[This vaccine] will be good news for the entire world. Until we manage to immunize the entire population, this joint operation, which we had named ‘open skies’, would literally open the skies in terms of international travel and other economic activities as this can be used at airports and other places by requiring a person just to blow into a tube and the result would be available in 30-40-50 seconds" (quote from this Behold Israel article).

Here's open borders everywhere will be able to safely open soon! 

Why THE CHOSEN Shocked Me: An Open Letter to Dallas Jenkins

Dear Dallas,

I've never done this before, and might never again, but I wanted to take the time to publicly thank you for making The Chosen.

When I heard there was a "Jesus show for phones", I wasn't interested. Partially, because the last thing I want to do is watch a long video on a phone screen (now that I better understand how the technology connects to a tv, I think it's really cool), but mostly for 2 big reasons:

1) The "cheese factor": The majority of Christian movies fall into this category and *most* "Jesus movies" definitely do (I say movies, because yours is the first multi-season series! YAY!). The first category is so cheesy that it's painful. There's not enough cheese in France to rival some of these. And, not only are they cheesy, but they are often sub-quality, from the writing to the acting and production—everything. It's the kind of thing that could attract Christians, but not so much people who don't know Christ.

As a Christian and an artist, I'm a firm believer that we have the best reason of all to produce quality Art. It's a big soapbox of mine. We shouldn't have to qualify a Christian movie by saying, "For a Christian movie, it was really good." A question I always have when I hear of another Christian movie is "Does it have 'real' actors?", because that is often the first clue that it will need the above qualification. My second question is usually, "Are these actors actually Christians?" because of my second reason.

2) The "hypocrite factor": Christians in secular movies produced by Hollywood are often one of two things: cheesy, head-in-the-clouds, not-in-the-real-world characters or (worse) monsters. There is no faithfulness to the Gospel or God's Word. We can argue all day that those characters aren't really Christians, but that doesn't change the damage their portrayal does. It even more cringe-worthy, because these characters only contribute to false beliefs about God, Christians, and our faith.

For this reason, I don't go see Christian movies until they've been recommended by a lot of people I trust as both Christians and artists. This is to save my writer's heart from being discouraged again by another work that sacrificed Story for cheese.

But I had enough people tell me about The Chosen, and I had the time thanks to COVID-19, so I figured I'd give it a shot. And I wasn't just pleasantly surprised, as Nicodemus says in episode 7, "my heart was swollen with fear and wonder" (Don't get me started on how much I love that scene- or how many times I've watched it!).

Wonder, because this is high-quality Art that is what Christian Art should be: Story that points to God's character. Every element is so well done. You even have 'real' actors, haha, and from interviews I've seen that many are also followers of Christ. And while I talk here about many of the reasons why I've enjoyed this show, the main reason is because of Him.

As I told a friend, I saw Jonathan Roumie's portrayal of Jesus and thought, He reminds me of the One I love. I don't think I've ever thought that before about any Jesus movie or tv event. From the big conversations to the tiny nuances (a wink, a compassionate glance that somehow reaches straight through the character, through the screen, and into me, or a well-timed joke), God has given you the ability to capture both the humanity and the divinity of Jesus in a way that is a glimpse into who He really is—and who the first century world saw: His person. It's made Him personal in a way I've never seen in a "Jesus movie" before. How in the world are we going to get through the crucifixion episodes (which, I think, is partially the point)? How did his friends and family do it then, when they really thought all hope was lost?

Thank you for stepping out in faith and making this series. I know there's a long road ahead that will be filled with more incredible moments of God at work as He uses this show to reach people around the world. I can't wait to be part of it as a viewer and share-er. That's where the 'fear' comes in, although it's not so much fear as the knowledge that you will also continue to write, film, produce, and release in a great warfare, as this is a Story that the enemy does not want shared in this way. It's way too powerful, too close to the truth. Thankfully, we know who the victor is, and the guy you brought to life on screen looks a lot like Him.

I believe you when you say that you ask for people to lift the show up in prayer, and I will join with them, as this has such incredible potential for astronomical impact—much more so than any "Jesus movie" I've ever seen. I pray that God will continue to give you and those involved with The Chosen great wisdom, good health, and a reach that extends around the globe. May God continue to use this series to bring people to Him for years to come.

I've always believed that there could be Christian Art that tells a great story that is powerful, relevant, and faithful to God's Word. I believe this is one, and am so thankful someone told someone who told someone who told the many someones who told me about it. Now, I'm telling as many people as I can.

A sister in Christ,
Kristen Torres-Toro



*I say "most" because there are always exceptions. Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is an excellent example of a non-cheesy Christian movie.

Have you seen THE CHOSEN yet?

A few months ago, a friend of mine recommended that I watch The Chosen, a crowdfunded, multi-season television show about the life of Christ (right now there's only 1 season of 8 episodes completed).

It's available on an app, or here online.

I'm a little suspicious of Christian movies, especially ones based on Bible stories, because so many I've seen seem to have substituted quality for cheese, which to me, dilutes the message. (Not all of them do, but many have). I don't believe it is okay for Christian art, in any form, to be substandard, since we have the best reason of all for our art—glorifying God and proclaiming His power and love. But, okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. I promise I only have 2 or 3. 😀

I waited to watch the show, because I didn't want to start a new television show binge just yet. Also, I wasn't sure at the time if I'd be able to watch it on my computer (you can), and I didn't want to watch it on a phone (even though it was free). But the week before Palm Sunday, the show's creator, director, and co-writer, Dallas Jenkins, streamed it on youtube for a week. He talks before and after, often interviewing actors via video call (since this is during COVID-19), and even showing behind-the-scenes stories and information. The episodes are there in the middle of the streams. 

Last night, I finished episode 8, the finale of season 1, and I have a lot of thoughts. So, these posts are going to be a series, much like some of the book discussions we've had on here. Stay tuned for next week's post, when we will dive into The Chosen!

But for now, *spoiler alert* I'll just let you know:

I loved it.

And if you don't know what I'm talking about click below to watch the trailer:

Please let me know below- have you seen The Chosen yet? What did you think?