Feast of Theophany today, at the River Jordan

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Now is the Feast of Theophany for Coptic, Syrian, and Ethiopian Christians and for those Orthodox who follow the Old Calendar.
To quote from our Ministry of Tourism's nice Holy Land Calendar of Christian Feasts & Events

For the Eastern churches, this feast denotes Christ's baptism in the Jordan River.
Theologically, it is Jesus' first revelation as the Son of God and the revelation of the Holy Trinity.
Morning of Jan. 18 - A procession of Orthodox clergy and pilgrims goes down to the river bank [at Kasr il Yahud, east of Jericho]. ... By submerging a cross in the river, the Patriarch purifies and consecrates the water, which is then sprinkled on the crowds of faithful.

The Ethiopians celebrate the baptism at the river that afternoon.
The Syrian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church have the river the next morning, Jan. 19.

 I visited Kasr il Yahud on a regular day in May 2012 and chanced to see a Canadian pastor baptizing  his whole youth group.

Should you need a life preserver. . .

The gift shop on the Israeli side of the river has souvenir T shirts for you.
Click on the photo to read the Bible verses.
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To see more of the baptism site, see my posts on Kasr il Yahud.
There are some posts about John the Baptist too.
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Sr. Vassa has a 9-minute video about St. John and how "he didn't get in the way."
You will enjoy it, for sure!
Happy Theophany to Sr. Vassa and all who are celebrating now.
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What would John the Baptist say?

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Some pictures for John the Baptist on his birthday! 

Enlarge the photo above and see John baptizing Jesus in the River Jordan.

The gift shop at Kasr il Yahud, near Jericho, is full of souvenirs for pilgrims.

Sometimes I wonder how John would react if he could see the modern version of his desert  baptismal site,  complete with tourist buses,  Israeli army patrols,

refrigerated trucks bringing ice cream to the kiosk,

and groups of young North Americans being dunked by their pastor,
while being photographed and filmed,

to the accompaniment of guitars and songs.
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What do you think?
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(More blog pictures of Kasr al Yahud here.)
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More Kasr al Yahud on the Jordan

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Let's continue (from yesterday's post) looking at Kasr al Yahud.
Once you get down to the baptism site, it looks like an oasis.

But first you have to get there, and  all around  is desert.
Follow the signs, leave the main Jordan Valley road and head east.

Soon you see the army patrol road, a sure sign that you are nearing the border (which is the Jordan River).

Be very alert to the many "DANGER - MINES" signs.
Don't even think of leaving the paved road.

The badlands were indeed bad in the 1970s, with many terrorists coming through.
That is why the IDF laid the mines back then.

In the past few years Israel has been working hard and investing millions in order to make this Christian holy site on the River Jordan safe and comfortable for the thousands of pilgrims who want to immerse in the river.
It was just recently dedicated and is now open seven days a week.

Tomorrow I'll show you the lighter side of the site.
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(The blue desert skies of May are for SkyWatch Friday.)
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UPDATE June 2019:  See stunning photos and video of the Romanian church at
https://www.timesofisrael.com/stunning-romanian-church-is-final-monastery-cleared-of-mines-at-qasr-al-yahud/
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At holy water's edge

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The subject of City Daily Photo group's Theme Day today is "At water's edge."
I am happy to show you very special (some say holy) water--the River Jordan!

My photos are from the Israeli side; the other edge of the narrow river is already in the Kingdom of Jordan.
This place is called in Arabic Qasr al Yahud.
It is just east of Jericho.

The old traditions say that here John the Baptist baptized Jesus, that Joshua led the Israelites across the river into the Promised Land, and that the Prophet Elijah ascended into heaven.

I watched a Canadian group witnessing as to what had brought them to faith and to this holy place.
One by one they descended the stairs and their minister blessed them and dunked them.
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You can enlarge the photos; click and then click again on what opens.  It will make the little river look bigger, maybe.
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More information on Kasr al Yahud in this article.
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To see the other baptism site called Yardenit, favored by Protestants, where the Jordan flows out of the Sea of Galilee, please see these posts.
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To visit other bloggers posting their water's edge, go to the nice new City Daily Photo website.
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The song of silence

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Happy Pentecost to all Orthodox Christians and especially in Athens, where our weekly PsalmChallenge is centered.

Psalm 65

1. For the leader. A psalm. Of David. A song.

2. To You, silence is praise, God, in Zion; a vow to You will be paid.

3. It is He Who hears prayer; unto You all flesh shall come.

4. Reports of sins overpowered me; our iniquities You will expiate.

5. Happy is he whom You choose to bring near and to dwell in Your courts; we will be sated with the bounty of Your house, the holiness of Your temple.

6. With awesome deeds of righteousness answer us, O God of our deliverance, O hope of the distant ends of the earth and sea,

7. Who by His strength has formed the mountains, Who is encompassed in power,

8. Who stills the roaring seas, their roaring waves, and the tumult of peoples.

9. Those who dwell at the ends of the world are awed by Your signs; You cause the portals of morning and evening to exult.

10. You watch over the earth and water it; You enrich it greatly, with a god(-like) stream full of water;
You form grain for men; truly, indeed, You do form it.

11. Engorge its troughs, its ridges level; with showers You will soften it, its growth You will bless.

12. You have crowned the year with Your bounty; abundance will drip in Your paths;

13. the wilderness grasslands will drip; with joy the hills will be girded.

14. The pastures will clothe themselves with flocks; the valleys will drape themselves in grain; they will raise a shout; they will even sing.
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Translation by Rabbi Benjamin Segal. See also his notes and the Hebrew.
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Photos:
1. The Jordan River at Kasr al Yahud
2. Neighbor goats in our valley in the hills
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Segways on the bridge

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Summer is for touring Jerusalem on Segways.
These three young people on the bridge were admiring the view to the east just before sunset.
The mountains of Moab in the Kingdom of Jordan, across the Dead Sea, were just visible in the haze.
Mount Zion is on the left in this photo.
Below is Gehinnom, the valley (guy) of Hinnom .

Here is their bridge as seen from the Jerusalem Cinematheque.

I posted here about the Bnai Brith Bridge and its famous handprints in the concrete.
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This post joins others at Robin's Summer Stock Sunday and Louis' Sunday Bridges.
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UPDATE: In response to comments I add some more information:
How does a Segway work?
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Mostly you only see these silent electric vehicles being ridden along the Armon HaNatsiv Promenade. A 1.5 hour guided tour costs $55. See their route on this map.
Me? I'd rather walk.
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Japan and a joint Jordanian-Jewish exercise

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Jolted by the level of devastation in Japan, Jordan and Israel are getting together to prepare for our own expected big earthquake.
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All photos by Dani Machlis/BGU

Is this not a heart-warming picture?
One stretcher-bearer from the Jordanian Red Crescent and one from Israel's Red Magen David.
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Photo by Dani Machlis/BGU

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One week ago the two medical organizations and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev held an "Exercise Simulating a Response to an Earthquake" in Timna, down south in the Arava valley.

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Ben-Gurion University's photographer, Dani Machlis, covered the event and he has very graciously agreed to share his beautiful photos with us for this post.

Thank you, Dani!

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Photo by Dani Machlis/BGU

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Two hundred people took part, including trained professionals that included academic faculty and students at BGU.

Together they treated the simulated "wounded" and set up a tent camp for those who would have been made homeless by a quake, for example, in the nearby cities of Eilat and Aqaba.

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Students (including Jordanians) can study for a bachelor's degree in emergency medicine at Ben-Gurion U. medical school.

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Please see more about the joint exercise in the Jerusalem Post.
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The earthquake-prone Great Rift Valley (the Syrian-African Rift) runs along the shared border of Jordan and Israel.

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The Israeli city of Eilat and the Jordanian Aqaba are on the bottom of the map.

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These troubled days we are greatly admiring Japan's embedded culture of preparedness and we will try to learn to be more like the Japanese.

Meanwhile, an Israeli team is setting up a field hospital in a hard-hit fishing village north of Tokyo and we are sending mattresses, blankets, coats, gloves and chemical toilets.

Our hearts and prayers are with the Japanese people.

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(The J theme is a contribution to today's ABC Wednesday meme. )

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A voice from heaven at the Jordan--in Pidgin English

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Let's see more of Yardenit, the baptism site that we talked about in Saturday's post.

Click on the picture to witness Christians baptizing in the River Jordan.
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But what are all those ceramic plaques on the wall?

More of them at the main entrance to Yardenit.
Can you read any of the three biblical languages here?
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And the basalt pipe links were part of a 4th century aqueduct that carried water from the Yavniel springs down to Tiberias.
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All the many plaques are quoting Mark 1:9-11, in many different languages.
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The ceramic wall was designed and created by artist Hagop Antreassian from Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter.

My favorite has to be the one in Hawai'i Pidgin! It's so full of life and excitement!
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There is even a website about Da Hawa'i Pidgin Bible.
Maybe our blogger friends in Hawai'i, Kay and Cloudia and the others, can tell us more.
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Down to the river

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And I thought we Jews had a lot of holidays . . .

For the Roman Catholic Church and the churches in the Anglican Communion, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord is observed on the first Sunday after Epiphany. Ya'ani, today.
For one thing, it is meant to remind Christians that the public ministry of Jesus began with a consecration--his baptism by John in the Jordan River.
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Here are two pictures from our local monastery, which honors John the Baptist.
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Click on the photo to better see the water and the traditional icon for the day.

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While digging in the Internet I discovered a 5-minute movie trailer from Ten Thousand Films.

You can get a stunning aerial glimpse of the Jordan where it meanders and of the desert and of the dig going on at Bethany Beyond the Jordan.

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(If it takes long to load, try going straight to YouTube.)

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Here is what they write about the video:

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"An archaeological-detective story uncovering the pieces of the ancient mystery of where Christ was baptized. Christians around the world know Bethlehem where Jesus was born, and Jerusalem where Jesus died and was resurrected, but no one knows the location of his baptism. This being one of the three holiest places of Christianity.

Where was he baptized? Why was the site lost? How was it discovered and what was found there? The remarkable story of how the actual location of Jesus’ baptism had disappeared from human memory, lost in time for almost 1000 years; And the fascinating story of its rediscovery and the ongoing excavations taking place there. Only 5% of the area has been dug until today. Who knows what else lies beneath this place and what it could reveal about Jesus Christ and the birth of Christianity.

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The 53 minute documentary is concerned with the recent discovery of the baptism site of Jesus Christ in an area known as ‘Wadi al-Kharrar’ on the east bank of the river Jordan, the 'Bethany Beyond the Jordan' of the Gospels. A complex of unique churches, baptismal pools and monasteries are amongst the important discoveries uncovered so far.

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The area, since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, was a military zone and heavily mined making it impossible of access. However in 1994 after Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty, archaeologists begun their excavations. . . ."

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Looking east

Yesterday I thought only cats were cat-napping in the warm sun. Today this human did the same, just outside the Jaffa Gate.
What do you suppose? Was he
1. A Northern European "sun-worshipper"?
2. A tired tourist?
3. A patient husband waiting for his wife to finish shopping in the Old City bazaar?
We were lucky today to have good visibility.

From the Tower of David at Jaffa Gate we could see all of the Old City of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, and clear over to the mountains of Moab and Edom in the Kingdom of Jordan. Over there is Mt. Nebo where Moses died.

In the deep Rift Valley between Jordan and Israel lies the Dead Sea.

If you click on the photo you can see the faint line of mountains just at the level of the crane arm.