The restoration of the Prophet Nahum's tomb in Iraq

In April 2017, two jeeps sped towards the tiny Christian town of Alqosh in Kurdistan, Iraq, with a secret mission—to find the deteriorating tomb of the Biblical prophet Nahum who prophesied about the great destruction to the Assyrian city of Ninevah.

Only 15 miles away, ISIS was battling the Iraqi Army. It was a dangerous mission.

What they found was a crumbling, crooked building. One strong storm could easily level it.

The truth was, they didn't want to just find the tomb; they wanted to restore it. 

Nahum, who lived in 7th Century AD, grew up in this area in a community of what were likely exiled tribes of Israel. For millennia, Jews in this area identified this building as the resting place for the body of Nahum, who was a minor prophet, and later, a synagogue. This common knowledge of this place continued for more than 2,000 years, and the building was saved from being turned into either a mosque or a cathedral. In the 1950s, the Jews of Alqosh fled Iraq for safety, asking local Christian families to care of the building. They did, but when ISIS came through, the building was badly damaged.

Still, the historicity of this place was clear, from the Hebrew inscriptions on the walls to its very architecture. The three men who led this project, Israelis Yaakov Shaffer and Meir Ronen, and American Adam Tiffen, examined the structure. Of his first visit to the tomb in 2016, Tiffen said, "I was amazed at its beauty and the dozens of Hebrew inscriptions on the walls. I was also shocked at its terribe condition, with several parts of the roof having fallen in, and mounts of rubble surrounding the tomb." Now, a year later, its condition had only worsened. But together with the 2 Israeli engineers, the 3 men began to dream.

First, they needed to protect the structure, as one strong wind would blow it all down. Then they could go about the work of restoration. They needed permission from the local authorities, as well as funding, and deeper knowledge of the ancient Jewish community of the area. They also needed rabbinic blessing to undergo such a work.

Four years later (delayed because of covid-19), the project was complete, and the tomb of Nahum and its surrounding synagogue has been restored. It's an incredible story, and I hope you go to read it here from the Times of Israel. It's incredible! They did a beautiful job!

The J.B. Collins Collection by Joel C. Rosenberg

This J.B. Collins collection left me speechless. 

This was only my 2nd time reading a series by American-Israeli author Joel C. Rosenberg, and so far, it's my favorite. So real, so thrilling, so full of rich detail and insight into the Middle East. It felt like I was reading events that could have been ripped from the headlines of a slightly alternate reality, especially considering all that has happened in the real world since the first book's publication in 2015.

I don't want to go too in depth into the series in this review because I want to leave it for you to discover yourself. But, here is a quote that stood out to me from the first 1st book, The Third Target. In it, the main character, J.B. Collins, a reporter for the New York Times, is speaking with the King of Jordan. The main reason why I want to highlight it isn't really because of the story, but because of something new I learned about Jordan: 

"It is not widely known in the West, but we have in Jordan a small but thriving Christian community that is perhaps the oldest in the world. The place where Jesus was baptized is Jordan's most important Christian site. It is here on the east bank of the Jordan River. This is where Jesus' mission started. This is where Christianity began. Jordan is also where Moses lived and died. This is where Elijah the prophet was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. There is so much rich history here...." page 334.

Basically, now I want to go to Jordan to see these places myself!

But, back to the point of this post: this 3-book series. If you love military-action thriller series', it will not disappoint! Click here to find it on Amazon!

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!