JOHN THE BAPTISTFROM EIN KEREM, JERUSALEMHighlight Films' TV reports from Israel includes the story of Ein Kerem and its most famous son: John the Baptist.Home of John the BaptistEin Kerem is the cradle of Jewish and Christian history in the land of Israel, and to a lesser extend also that of the Muslim presence. Abraham met the Canaanite king on the Holy Hill where the church of John the Baptist stands. The present church was built on the ruins of the original Byzantine church – parts of which still are part of the present church. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, had the first church built where the home of John was believed to have been.
In the process of building the church, Helena had her men knock down the statue of Venus erected by the Romans where Jews had had a mikveh and probably a synagogue. General Allenby's army discovered the statue when digging a ditch for their cannons. Today the statue is in the Rockefeller museum in the old city of Jerusalem. Dr. Moshe Amirav, an Israeli author and an expert on the history of Jerusalem, leads us through Ein Kerem's history and the life and persona of John, discovered during his research for his book on Ein kerem, a Mikve (bath) next to the church dating back almost three thousand years. The village, located on the slopes between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, was for thousands of years a Jewish agricultural settlement. Zachariah, John's father, was a high priest in the Temple. One week he performed his duties as a priest and the following week he grew vegetables in Ein Kerem. His wife was got pregnant when she was considered too old to conceive. Her pregnancy occurred at the same time as Mary's with Jesus. Zacharia lost his voice till his son was born, after God appeared to him in the Tabernacles telling him that his wife was pregnant and ordered him to call his child John, according to the New Testament. During her pregnancy Mary stayed with Elisabeth and Zacharia for three months in Ein Kerem. The two women met at what is today called Mary's fountain in Ein Kerem and John is said to have recognized Jesus as the Messiah and jumped in his mother's womb…. Later infertile women came to drink from the fountain since local legend claimed that any woman who drinks from the water would conceive. Next to the fountain stands Omar's mosque, built by the Moslem conqueror Omar on his way to conquer Jerusalem. John grew up to be a social revolutionary and was recognized even by his cousin Jesus as the most prominent Jew of his time, said Moshe Amirav who dedicated a whole chapter of his book on Ein Kerem to John the Baptist: "John was maybe the first socialist – he preached that if you have two shirts you must give one to the one who has non – he is my Jewish hero", said Amirav, an Israeli university professor. John also preached all over Judea against Herod's corruption and paid for it with his life. He was beheaded by Herod's soldiers after Herod's wife asked for John's head.While John preached all over Judea he always returned to Ein Kerem where he retreated to the idyllic valleys to meditate and pray. The story of Ein Kerem and John will be illustrated with beautiful footage of Ein Kerem and the archeological remains: churches, synagogues, the picturesque village today and interviews mostly with Amirav, but also other religious experts and historians. Today Ein Kerem is a peaceful village where Christians and Jews live together and even worship together. Traditionally, Christian dignitaries and residents came to the synagogue on Yom Kippur while the Jewish residents attended Christmas celebrations. There is also a community of Jews for Jesus based in the village. Moslems fled the village during the 1948 war. For hundreds of years Ein Kerem was a unique Arab agricultural village where the population was half Christian and half Moslem. Today Jews returned to the place Abraham met the Canaanite king and live in good neighborly relations with Christians in John's hometown. Producer: Lamya Lahoud-Steiner For more information: info@highliight.co.il Back to Reports in production This page was last updated on January 26, 2012 . |