A Bridge Between Ancient and Modern Israel

The latest Hebrew- English Bible with a defined Israeli savor, the Israel Bible has been slated for publication in recognition of the 70th anniversary of Israel.

The anniversary which began on the 18th of April 2020 and ended the following day featured discussions about the Bible. About the Bible, Israel365 said: “its the world’s first Bible centred around the land of Israel, the people of Israel and the unique relationship between them.”

Israel365, the organization which created it together with Menorah Books, a branch of Koren Publishers Jerusalem educates Christians about biblical importance of Israel and the association of the Jews with the land.

These teachings were on the basis of the text of the 24 books that comprises the Tanakh. Tanakh is the Hebrew name for the Bible and what the Christians refer to as the Old Testament.

The group has up to 300 thousand subscribers majorly evangelical Christians to their newsletter. Included among these are the most powerful proponents of Israel.

Mayaan Hoffman, Israel365’s vice president of marketing and brand strategy describes the objective of the new Bible in The Jerusalem Post as: “ to convince a divided Jewish people, Christian Zionists and what sometimes seems like an anti-Israel world that Israel belongs to the Jewish people.”

Importantly, Israel was established as a refuge for Jews after the Holocaust which witnessed the mass killing of the world’s Jewish population. The Holocaust was known by many Palestinians as Nabka ( or “catastrophe” in Arabic) as well as those who challenged the Jews’ right to what was previously part of the biblical land of Israel.

The commentary of the Israel Bible written by Orthodox, links the history of the Jewish people to contemporary Israel. For instance in the book of Jeremiah chapter 4 and verse 16, a sentry directed the Israelites to set up a signpost. This was meant to lead those escaping from attackers in the North to Jerusalem.

Similarly, the Bible’s commentary  recounts the incidence of a man known as Michael Halperin. He was known to have assembled a group of people in central Israel. Halperin had subsequently unrolled a blue and white flag decorated with the words “nes Tziona”. 

The Israel Bible clearly noted that the site of the event developed into modern-day Nes Tziona city. The banner of  Halperin consequently became the prototype for the future Israeli flag. Although the Israel Bible was created taking wild cognizance of non-Jews its editor Rabbi Tuly Weiz said: “there is nothing a Jewish leader will find questionable about its presentation or the contents of its text.”

He hopefully believes the Bible slated for publication in June will promote more understanding among Christians and Jews. Weisz said: “for two thousand years the Bible was the number one source of division between Jews and Christians; my hope is that the Bible will become a source of unity between the two peoples.”