“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Isaiah 55: 6-7
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Jaunts in Israel with Noam and Her Family
A few days ago, I watched a movie that I had not seen for several years: Cast a Giant Shadow. You can buy the DVD on Amazon, and you should be able to stream it on Prime Video, Netflix, and other streaming platforms.
The movie was released in 1966. It’s about Israel’s War of Independence in 1948. It stars Kirk Douglas, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Senta Berger, Angie Dickinson, Chaim Topol, and many others. It focuses on the early days of the War of Independence when Israel was very weak militarily.
Immediately after Israel declared her independence, she was attacked on all sides by Arab armies under the command of Sir John Bagot Glubb, a British soldier, scholar, and author. He led the Arab Legion and was affectionately known by the Arabs as “Glubb Pasha”.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) didn’t exist in 1948. Israel’s fighting forces were a hodgepodge of loosely connected and poorly organized groups like Haganah, Palmach, and Irgun. To bring them together as a united force, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion asked former U.S. Army colonel Mickey Marcus to take over command as Israel’s first general since Joshua. He accepted the assignment and was responsible for cutting the Burma Road to Jerusalem.
The Arab armies that attacked Israel in 1948 focused first on taking Jerusalem. It was under siege, and getting the Jews in Jerusalem the food, medical supplies, and weapons they needed to defend themselves was difficult, because Arabs controlled the main artery to the city. Today, that road is Highway 1. The Arabs positioned snipers all along the route and picked off supply trucks and soldiers. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.
The Burma Road bypassed the main artery and Arab military outposts between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem like the one in Latrun. The road was cut in less than 2 weeks over very rugged terrain. It was a remarkable accomplishment. The movie goes into detail about the Burma Road.
At the end of the movie, Mickey Marcus was shot and killed by friendly fire in Abu Ghosh just before the Burma Road was completed. That’s true. It really happened.
As the crow flies, Abu Ghosh is about 6 miles west of the City Center of modern Jerusalem. In the Bible, Abu Ghosh is called Kiriath-jearim. The Ark of the Covenant stayed there for about 20 years before David finally moved it to Jerusalem. See 1 Samuel 7: 1-2.
For more details about the Burma Road, see “Breaking the Siege of Jerusalem – the Burma Road”.
In 2013, the year Noam and Chen were married, Noam and her father, Ishai, took Katie and me to Jerusalem on the Burma Road. That’s something few tourists to Israel ever do. Thanks to Noam, Chen, and Ishai, we have seen lots of off-the-beaten-path sites in Israel, and we are truly thankful. For information about Noam and her family, see “The Pope and Me: A True Story”.
Below are several videos that I took over the years of Noam, Chen, Ishai, Katie, and me visiting sites in Israel. I hope you enjoy them.
Mount Carmel where Elijah had a Confrontation with the Prophets of Ba’al
Apollonia North of Herzliya
David Ben Gurion’s Home in Sde Boker
Masada
The Valley of Elah where David Killed Goliath
Abu Ghosh
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“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
John 10: 14-18
