Photographing Biblical Prohibitions in the Holy Land <br> <small> -- continued</small>

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Photographing Biblical Prohibitions in the Holy Land
-- continued

"Thou shall not plow with
an ox and an ass together."
לא תַחֲרֹשׁ בְּשׁוֹר וּבַחֲמֹר יַחְדָּו
Deuteronomy 20 (circa 1890)
-- from an earlier posting

We noted previously that the American Colony photographers took many pictures of plowing practices of the Arab community in Palestine. The photographers were good Christians, and their pictures were probably meant to show Biblical prohibitions such as animal threshing wheat while muzzled or mismatched animals under a yoke pulling a plow.

View the earlier feature here.

Recently, we discovered in the medical archives of the Dundee University in Scotland the picture below with the same subjects -- an ox and a donkey pulling a plow. The picture was taken by the head of the Scots Mission Hospital in Tiberias, Herbert Torrance, who was both a doctor and a Christian missionary who undoubtedly also knew his Bible well.

"Plowing with an ox and an ass" (April, 1929, Torrance Collection, University of Dundee)

2 comments:

IsraelPMarch 18, 2013 at 9:33 AM
And we have been subjected to coalition governments of that sort ever since.
ReplyDelete
Jesus Really Loves Deaf People!March 18, 2013 at 12:08 PM
Was the command to not pair them together because the oxen would have been over yoked? I know G-d has a good reason for commanding it.
ReplyDelete

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About the Book

U.S. Interests in the Holy Land

Although Jewish life in the Holy Land reawakened during the 19th century, photographs of Jews in Palestine and the life they lived there are scarce. Collecting photographs from the archives of the the Library of Congress, the Ottoman Imperial Archives, the New York Public Library, libraries in universities and churches around the world, and in families’ albums, Lenny Ben-David provides a unique and visual history of the American fascination and dedication to a Jewish national home in the Holy Land.

Photo essays include fascinating stories such as why Lincoln wanted to visit Jerusalem, how the U.S. Navy saved the Jews of Palestine in 1915, why the Chief Rabbi of Palestine visited the White House in 1924, why there was a Ferris wheel on the holy Temple Mount, Mark Twain's stay in Jerusalem, and much more.

About the Author, Lenny Ben-David

Lenny Ben-David has been involved in the study and enhancement of U.S.-Israel relations for more than 40 years. He served as director of AIPAC's Israel office for 15 years, and is the author of Myths and Facts published in 1985 and 1989. Ben-David served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Israel's Embassy in Washington, D.C for three years, and consulted for foreign governments and other corporations.

Ben-David is the Director of Publications at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

He and his wife reside in Efrat, Israel, where they are surrounded by children, grandchildren, and fruit trees.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Photographing Biblical Prohibitions in the Holy Land -- continued

2 comments:

Photographing Biblical Prohibitions in the Holy Land
-- continued