Israeli women sail to Miriam’s Well on Lake Kinneret

For the last 12 years, on the anniversary of Miriam the Prophetess’ death, artist Maureen Kushner has led a boat full of women to the spot on Lake Kinneret where, according to Jewish lore, the mystical spring known as Miriam’s Well now rests. Though the pandemic altered the group’s plans this year, it didn’t stop them from making the pilgrimage.

Holy Smoke! Archaeologists Find Cannabis Residue At Ancient Jewish Temple

(TRAVEL) Based on chemical analysis of resin found on the limestone altars of a Tel Arad shrine, researchers in Israel recently published a study that suggests the ancient Israelites used cannabis mixed with animal dung to spark a level of ecstasy during worship.

Middle East, Travel, Culture, NewsGil ZoharJune 16, 2020cannabis, marijuana, israel, Jerusalem, Jewish temple, drugs, Gil Zohar, TravelComment

'Zoo Rabbi' opens museum featuring Biblical wildlife with virtual tours

(TRAVEL) See Rabbi Natan Slifkin’s collection of creatures ranging from locusts to lions at the newly virtually opened Biblical Museum of Natural History in Israel while staying safe at home during quarantine.

5 virtual tours of religious sites you can take while you stay home

(TRAVEL) With most of the world’s population stuck at home in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus, travel has come to a standstill. Springtime, and the approaching summer, are typically a time to take a flight and explore another part of the world.

Inside Israel’s Guatemalan Outpost

In a remote part of the Guatemalan highlands, Israeli businesses are creating jobs and wealth for Guatemalan youth. The Israeli-Latino alliance relies on the prominence of evangelical faith in Guatemalan politics and culture that sees Israel as an important ally, even as locals worry whether Israeli backpackers are a bad influence on their kids.

The Muslim 'Amish' environmentalists of Indonesia

(TRAVEL) A village once burned down by radical Islamists is maintaining its culture by following Islam as well as their pre-Islamic ancestral traditions, including living mostly without electricity, building from wood and bamboo and living 430 steps below access to a main road.

The pilgrimage that inspired Ferrero Rocher chocolates

The chocolates resemble the pilgrimage site in Lourdes, France where St. Bernadette is believed to have first seen the Virgin Mary on this day 162 years ago.

Finding quiet on the 507-mile route Camino de Santiago

(OPINION) Walking part of a medieval pilgrimage route alone along the northern coast of Spain taught me self-sufficiency and how to be fully present.

Gazan Christians can now escape to Israel's holy sites on Christmas

(OPINION) Israel ended a travel ban that now allows Gazan Christians to cross the border into Bethlehem and Jerusalem for Christmas, but the tiny (and shrinking) community continues to struggle under Hamas.

Celebrating Prophet Muhammad's Birthday in Indonesia

(OPINION) A trip to the Sekaten festival reveals a colorful Islamic tradition that is scorned in some Sunni regions, but celebrated with much ado in Indonesia.

The Chinese Muslim whose legacy is still guarding Indonesia from radicalization

A Chinese apostle of Islam is a symbol of religious and racial harmony in the world’s largest Muslim country.

How the oldest surviving Latin Bible was scribed in England

(TRAVEL) A recent trip to Northumbria, England and Florence, Italy had an unexpected connection — a text of the Bible that’s arguably shaped Christianity more than any other, revitalizing Roman Christianity for Anglo-Saxons.

The many charms of Indonesia’s West Sumatra

This Indonesian province has a rich history of a matrilineal society that’s shifting from its indigenous culture toward a more austere form of Islam. Cultural and theological divides are widening with less openness to discussion.

A peek inside the restoration of New York’s historic Trinity Church

As Americans gather to celebrate Independence Day, it is worth remembering that historic Trinity Church in New York City played a significant role in the birth of America and remains the burial site of several Founding Fathers, including Alexander Hamilton.

Pilgrimage: Normandy and Lourdes defy France's secularism

(OPINION) Two very different French sites — Lourdes, one of the holiest in the world for Roman Catholics, and the American cemetery at Normandy — have the ability to bring visitors closer to God in very different ways.

Vatican tour tops list of world's best 'travel experiences'

A new survey named the Holy See’s famous museums first among its top 10 travel experiences — beating out second-place Chicago for their architectural river cruises — and the only religious tour to crack the global list.

Inside the Christian camp that used to be Oregon's infamous cult ranch

Do you ever wonder what happened to Osho’s ranch in Wild Wild Country? Young Life, a Christian student ministry, bought the land for a camp retreat center 20 years ago this month. We paid a visit.

The nuns who built a monastery (but are famous for their bakery)

One nun acted as the church’s contractor and another the mechanical engineer to build this $2 million Greek Orthodox church and its surrounding monastery, including a popular bakery and coffee bar that locals and tourists drive more than 50 miles through Indian country to reach.

Hans Nielsen Hauge: An Early Norwegian Entrepreneur Evangelist Revered From Oslo To Minnesota

Who could imagine that a Norwegian itinerant preacher and entrepreneur born in the 18th century would become a leadership model in modern business?

Lag b'Omer: the Jewish holiday of faith and folklore

The annual pilgrimage is the 33rd day of Judaism's somber seven-week "counting" between Passover and Pentecost and marks the ceasing of a plague that killed 24,000 disciples of Rabbi Akiva ( c. 50–135 CE), a sage martyred by the Romans during the genocidal persecution of the Emperor Hadrian.

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