In 1985 Vernon Wayne Howell visited to Israel, where according to him, recieved a vision that he was a modern day Cyrus, and hence changed his name to David Koresh (Koresh being the Hebrew version of Cyrus). The trip to Israel is usually described as the turning point in Koresh’s leadership of the Branch Davidians of Texas, a saga that would ultimately end in the tragic 1993 standoff and fire in Waco.
Koresh was not the first person who traveled to the Holy Land and believed that he was endowed with special messianic gifts (hence the entire Jerusalem syndrome phenomenon), nor was he the first Branch Davidian who made the pilgrimage to Israel. In 1958, Benjamin and Lois Roden (whom Koresh would succeed as leader of the group), and other Seventh Day Adventists (whom the Branch Davidians are an off-shoot of), were the first organized Christian group to be recognized as an immigrant group in Israel. The Rodens and their followers settled 3 villages, two which were loss due to lack of inhabitants, but they had far greater success with Amirim.
Today a vegetarian resort village near the Golan Heights, in 1958 the Rodens and others settled Amirim as the first vegetarian village and co-op in Israel. On the International Vegetarian Union website, there is an article about the village’s founding (although no mention of the Rodens):
NO PILLS. NO INJECTIONS IN VEGETARIAN VILLAGE
Extract from “The Jerusalem Post,” Dec. 11th, 1958:”SAFAD – Israel’s first vegetarian-naturist settlement, called Amirim – was inaugurated on Tuesday with a modest but impressive ceremony in which members of the vegetarian-naturist movement from all over the country participated.
The secretary of the new ‘moshav shitufi,’ Mr. Mordecai Tarnari, said in his opening speech that to settle at Amirim was not only a physical act but also a spiritual one. ‘The return to nature will bring man back to the state he enjoyed in the Garden of Eden, to a comprehension of the great harmony of nature and the liberation from extremist theories,’ he said.
Mrs. Gila Gun, wife of the chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee, said that the purpose of the settlement was to create a healthy, sensible and, above all, happy type of man. She claimed that, because of proper nutrition, there would be no cases of polio in this settlement, fevers would not be reduced artificially, by pills, and there would be no inoculations or injections.”
But as the book “The Branch Davidians of Waco” explains, Amirim was not exactly a utopian experience for the Rodens. Strict keepers of the Sabbath, the Rodens didn’t realize that as part of the co-op community, they would be collective owners of orchards and equipment utilized on the Sabbath. With their refusal to participate, tensions grew between them and the other settlers-eventually the Rodens moved to Jerusalem and eventually back to Texas.
9 responses so far ↓
History Punk // November 6, 2009 at 12:12 am |
Thanks for the kind words about my blog.
Owen // November 9, 2009 at 11:37 pm |
Come on, we want to see some pictures of your holidays!
Daniel // November 12, 2009 at 6:40 am |
The Waco incident where FBI attacked and killed, aka: massacred, more than 90 people – includng defenceless children – was a pretext for revenge.
Two years later, Timothy McVeigh, on the anniversary of the Waco Siege, he bombed federal government’s building in Oklahoma City. Close to 170 people died, including defenceless children.
I still believe that the government did not have right, whatsoever, to use excessive force which resulted in the murder of innocent civilians in Waco, and subsequently in a disgusting revenge leveled by McVeigh in Oklahoma City.
Owen // November 25, 2009 at 6:12 pm |
I think the new banner suits the title of the blog, but is that all we’re going to get from Turkey?
shaina // November 26, 2009 at 11:47 pm |
to tell you the truth, probably (at least with regards to my trip), of course I do have some Turkey related topics to write about-but non trip related.
Owen // December 6, 2009 at 11:08 am |
That’s a shame, but slip some photographs in when you can!
Srebrenica Genocide Blog Editor // December 8, 2009 at 7:16 am |
Shaina, come on, brings us a new post !
The one above is almost 2 months old.
New post! New post! New post!
Owen // December 12, 2009 at 5:16 pm |
The demons on your shoulder won’t leave you in peace until we’ve nagged you back into action again!
Owen // December 20, 2009 at 10:39 pm |
And there’s scope for some culling of your Blogroll – quite a few have been abandoned. It’s quite sad to see Ed’s blog becoming a home for bingo spammers.