The Holy Land,a 1934 black-and-white film

[Music] [Music] at the far eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea is the sea port of Jaffa this seaport is more than 3,500 years old and is the worst part of the world for steamers are obliged to come to anchor one mile from shore the passengers are compelled to go ashore and clumsy native robots or in launches if they are lucky Java is the seaport of Jerusalem and is also the center of an important fruit industry the Jaffa oranges are famous for their sweetness and flavor and as we come into town I leo familiar name it is my old friend yo Corey who used to run a delicatessen store in the Bronx but now thanks to general Allenby who conquered the Holy Land yo Coney runs a stationery store in Java the weather is warm in Java and our friend the lemonade man does a thriving business however if you don't careful in an age it is your privilege to patronize his chief competitor an old Arab who dispenses Java snowball first he has to save the ice into a bowl and then he picks up the ice with fruits and nuts pouring over it a colored syrup that probably tastes better than it looks no Board of Health here to worry him besides the natives like the cooling mixture and don't seem to be any the worse off for eating the land that drew the Crusaders from their distant fire sighs the land dreamed up by the Russian pilgrims from the icing off the land that called the dusty Nubians from the torrid south the land towards which hearts have turned from the farthest corners of the earth the unique land of promise and fulfillment but to these children who never went to Sunday school the Sea of Galilee is just the glorious swimming hole and a great place to go fishing who knows when they go up they may keep on fishing for a living continuing our journey toward the south we came upon this spot where time and progress has stood still for century this primitive wooden water wheel was built more than a thousand years ago it has been lazily doing its work ever since the water is being raised only a few inches but that is enough to provide irrigation for the neighboring fields what a gap there is between this primitive mechanism and the great big water wheels and turbines of modern engineers I wonder if the marvels of today will last a thousand years and if they do with a scene primitive to those who see them then the water used in household is handled in a still more primitive way but much more picturesquely the oriental custom of letting the women do most of the hard work still prevails in Palestine these two stalwart Rebecca's make countless pitch to the well and then walk off easily and lightly each for the load of 65 pounds and a head maybe this is what gives them such a faithful game and such a stately carriage as we leave the smiling plains of Galilee tender beauty and poetry disappears we come upon Jerusalem city of severe reality crowning darrell hills bleak and almost forbidding cactus please add to the uninviting scenery the palestine camels however have no eye for beauty and poetry but they have got an appetite when they are hungry they don't allow a little matter like a bunch of needles to stand between them and a square meal for all know what a tough lining the camels must have in their mouth and throat we might call them the Leathernecks of Palestine and so we ride through the Damascus Gate a picturesque opening through the third wall built nearly 2,000 years ago by Herod Agrippa king of Judea to protect Jerusalem we pass along through narrow streets under the arch where pilot is supposed to have shown Christ to the multitude exclaiming ex gay homo behold a man and now we come to the oldest and the most authentic pile of place and we left standing in Jerusalem the western wall of the enclosure where Solomon's Temple is supposed to have stood in all its glory here the Jews both men and women come daily to pray to wail and to lament that bygone glory facing the gigantic stones many of which have been worn smooth by the pressure of devoutly they read aloud from their Hebrew prayer book or recite the prayers from memory and as they seek divine comfort they find also a spiritual strength that has given them the courage and patience to carry on through centuries of persecution some of the prayers or petitions have been written down and the folded papers are reverently placed in the big cracks between the stones their sincerity is genuine and commands respect prayers and momenta intoned in pure Hebrew making a sound that is pleasing to the ears even to those unfamiliar with the language tonight edgy fashion you know we are Najee Harmon polish Phylicia Rashad ISA he called could negotiate of iona high definition of a teeny how to behave of colossa st. maline iridina be so happy 50 million it would Malian icons jajajaja as fer ye shi Yan enormous email down this street it is supposed Christ walked on his way to Calvary as a matter of fact the streets of two thousand years ago like deeply buried beneath the ruins and rubbish of twenty centuries franciscan monks exclaimed the sacred mysteries of Jerusalem to the pilgrims another landmark that has withstood the ravages of time and destruction is the Tower of David not far from the place where once took the palace of Herod and at last we are at the entrance of the end by the Roman Emperor Constantine as the probable place where Christ had been in tune it is so accepted to this day all the nations of the world regardless of religious Creed for gather here the Orthodox believers come too weak to worship to a door of pagans and unbelievers to seek profit at the expense of gullible pilgrims to whom they sell sacred relics may or may not be genuine this is the altar over the Holy Sepulcher it is a fantastic gaudy structure almost barbaric in its splendor a mass of gold and silver and precious stones strangely enough dedicated to the apostle of humility on festival days especially at Easter the religious fervor of the pilgrims from many lands becomes intense to the point of Puri the church is crowded to suffocation with a swaying Restless mass of worshipping men and women processions of richly attired priests patiently elbow the way through the dense clouds of excited pilgrim the clamor of many tongues hymns loudly chanted in several different languages at the same time the clapping of countless hands the shouts and screams of thousands of believers under the influence of a rising religious delirium produce an unbelievable uproar but at midnight on Easter Eve a solemn hush falls on the frantic mob as the bell begin to ring the cloud breaks up and groups go marching through the streets joyously singing Christ is risen [Music] [Music] [Music]