Self-Directed Touring and Driving
Touring Israel can be a wide variety of things for a wide variety of people. Without the right input, if you went, you could miss out on the best that you could get out of it.
Going to museums, etc., on my own for a week, and especially renting a car for a day, was a little hard on my nerves. This depends on how much you’re used to driving where people take baffling risks, and/or how much of a risk-taker you are.
Speed with precision is their specialty. Incessantly honking the horn around Jerusalem itself just means “as soon as that light changes you’d better move.” Showing no shame over anything is the norm. English signs will help you on the main highways, but you’ll likely only see Hebrew if you get off them.
If instead, you want to go on a guided tour with a group, local tour guides will likely talk about current day events about one-third of the time. Another third will be for medieval events, and Bible time events will get the last third of the time. It will be information overload for all the first-timers, so bringing a recording device is ideal (with lots of memory). Afterward, everything becomes a blur with too much to remember.
This type of tour will also likely include too much focus for anyone’s preference on churches at holy sites. Unless you actually like the medieval churches, art, and history. (See example, Church of Annunciation.)
Would you regret your arrangements for a trip to Israel if you didn’t make it worth your while? What would make the trip extra special for you? A week of looking at things without someone to explain and tell me interesting insights was plenty for me.
If you want to focus on envisioning Bible times, there are a few experts that I would be happy to go with. A couple I’ve never heard myself, but have had highly recommended to me, is Dr. Doug Bookman or Dr. John Currid.
Guided Tours with Local Tour Guides
To Focus Best on Bible Time Eras
2 Experts I’d Recommend Going to Israel With
Dr. Bookman teaches at the Shepherds Theological Seminary and wrote a few books. My parents heard him speak and thought he was the best.
Dr. John Currid is the author of numerous books including the commentary on Leviticus that I quote lots in my blogs. A Christian man I met highly recommended him, and I’m very happy I read his Leviticus commentary.
I’d also recommend the Biblical Resources Center and Nazareth Village. These 2 organizations provided all the highlights of my trips in 2002 and in 2004. But since I learned so much from both of them, I decided I’d better create 2 more web pages with a better introduction to each of them.
The first time I went to Israel was with Friends of Israel and a local tour guide. They took us to the Biblical Resources Center for an evening, which at that time was still in Jerusalem. My visit there convinced me that, when I went back to Israel in 2004, I should go with this organization, instead. Dr James Fleming is the Christian archaeologist I went with in 2004, and Hannaniah Pinto was his assistant.
See more about me at my main website under About Me.
Hannaniah took us on the first half of the tour north to Galilee. He grew up in Brazil and went to Israel right after college. He lived there 20 years. Then the tourism industry in Israel was dying and opportunity opened for the Biblical Resources staff to open their facility in Lagrange, Georgia, instead.
Hannaniah co-authored the book “Jesus’ Last Night with His Disciples” (with Dr Jim Fleming) which has become one of my most favorite books. Check it out!
The 2 Experts I Went With Myself, That I’d Recommend
Dr Fleming went to Israel in 1969 when he took a year’s graduate course in history, geography and archaeology of the Bible at the Hebrew University. “That was when he became ‘hooked’ on Israel.” Listening to him was a lot like listening to someone reciting an encyclopedia set, except he could make it all so much more interesting.
Dr Fleming had numerous lectures printed. I quote from them a little in my blogs and found them most helpful especially in my early days of research.
These 4 experts I list on this webpage don’t likely all go to Israel every year, but it’s well worth saving and waiting to go with them the next time they are going. Make your trip worthwhile, when you do go. And bring a recording device!
Visit my YouTube account at https://tourisraelbyremote.com or check out these same documentary links on the web pages listed above under the main menu option “Tour Israel.”
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envisionbibleworld.com
Tour Israel by remote through my website with a Christian archaeologist. Find pictures, video clips and information to envision the Bible world better.
This stuff is great! Check it out, about half an hour but real interesting
This content isn't available right now
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted. I read this book recently & enjoyed it as much as Joachim Jeremias, which says a lot :)
www.biblicalarchaeology.org/reviews/jesus-last-night-with-his-disciples/
www.biblicalarchaeology.org/reviews/jesus-last-night-with-his-disciples/
I like AI (Artificial Intelligence) improving my pictures in my blogs, although I hope in the future it can improve them more. AI is recent technology & usually the 1st versions of anything improves with time. I never liked pictures of Jesus for a few reasons (i.e. accuracy is only 1 reason), but would like them better if his face was mostly hidden by the angle &/or his clothing. Yet I felt I needed pictures to display what my blogs were about. So I look forward to improving this in time.
So it turned out to be too much this year for my student to get my recent research database available online, we went back to the demo from up-to 2016 research again. Perhaps if I get 1-2 real good student next year it may be within reach now, but I'm content with researching off-line & with hopes my programmer/friend will find time to do it eventually.
Check out my YouTube Account (www.youtube.com/@tourisrael). Just keep in mind the YouTube Account play lists are still under construction as of July 6, 2024, which will soon show all my documentary links. You may want to check out my trailer for the documentary, too:
Did you read your Bible lately?
Heather, May 2023
