From the Archives: Pilgrims and tourists are flocking to a baptismal site in the Holy Land in search of religious experience—and souvenirs.
Pilgrims and tourists are flocking to a baptismal site in the Holy Land in search of religious experience—and souvenirs.The Yardenit Baptismal Site is a pilgrimage place that many visitors say allows them to connect to events outlined in the Bible, including the baptism and ministry of Jesus.
Yardenit offers little religious or historic authenticity, says Noam Savion, a licensed Israeli tour guide who is accompanying Beptiste’s group around the country. “But it is still a special experience,” Savion adds, as he waits for the group to finish their immersion in the river. It remained in use for centuries and eventually became quite popular with Christians in North America and Western Europe in the early 20th century, as the United States, England, France, and other countries grew interested in the Middle East and tours to the Holy Land became more common.
The Israeli tourism ministry helped create Yardenit to offer a safe site for pilgrims after an ancient site downstream became too dangerous to visit.Now Duger works at Yardenit’s massive gift shop, which employs 60 people and is a significant source of income for the kibbutz along with the snack bar and restaurant. The shop sells everything from local olive oil to rosaries to placemats depicting Jesus’ New Testament miracles.
Duger says the kibbutz has a very businesslike approach to the site. “It’s not a spiritual connection, it’s a business connection,” she says. According to Chen, there have been a handful of other attempts over the years by other kibbutzim and local Israeli communities to woo pilgrims onto their riverfront property for baptism, but the sites have not caught on or had the success of Yardenit or Qasr al-Yahud.
“Usually the place that becomes sacred is where individuals or groups perceive that the temporal realm has encountered the divine realm,” Badone says. And the site must, in a sense, continue to offer this experience of the interaction between these two realms to each pilgrim. “It has to satisfy their desires, or they won’t come,” she adds.
At Qasr al-Yahud, the Jordan appears brown and muddy, not clear like at Yardenit, and the site attracts fewer visitors, despite an Israeli government investment of 10 million shekels to build a chapel, construct wooden ramps into the river, and upgrade the toilet facilities. The other ancient site, Bethany Beyond the Jordan, which is across the narrow section of the river here, reopened to tourists in 2002.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Holy oil to anoint King Charles III on his coronation, has been consecrated in Jerusalem | CNNThe sacred oil that will be used to anoint King Charles III at his coronation May 6, has been consecrated at a Christian holy site in Jerusalem, Buckingham Palace has announced.
Read more »
Texas senators, facing criticism, soften proposed ban on Chinese purchases of landThe measure, endorsed by Gov. Greg Abbott, originally would have banned citizens of China, Iran, Russia or North Korea from buying land in Texas. Under a new version considered Thursday, the ban wouldn’t apply to dual citizens or lawful permanent residents.
Read more »
In dry West, farmers balk at idling land to save waterStill, sentiment is growing that some fallowing will have to be part of the solution to the increasingly desperate drought in the West, where the Colorado River serves 40 million people.
Read more »
In dry West, farmers balk at idling land to save waterWASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Brundy, an alfalfa grower in California's Imperial Valley, thinks farmers reliant on the shrinking Colorado River can do more to save water and use it more efficiently.
Read more »
California farmers balk at idling land to save water“Given the volume of water that is used by agriculture in the Colorado River system, you can’t stabilize the system without reductions in agriculture. That’s just math.”
Read more »