Description

In the West we have all but forgotten the Christians in the Middle East. This tender elegy paints the land of Jesus in new light. Taybeh's deep-rooted faith illuminates these stories of saints, olive trees, and the echos of war. Taybeh is a small village about 25 miles north of Jerusalem not far from Ramallah and with a beautiful view over the desert, the Jordan valley and the Dead Sea. The gospel of John says Jesus went to Taybeh -then called Ephraim- after he raised Lazarus to life and the Jewish authorities planned to put Jesus to death. Living amidst Muslim villages, Israeli settlements and military roadblocks, Taybeh's inhabitants are intensely proud of their Christian heritage. But Taybeh is to be the last Christian village of the Holy Land, its people mostly forgotten, even by most of their Christian brothers and sisters around the world. These expertly and lovingly created chronicles of Christian life in Taybeh remind us of the intensity of faith and the tragedy of destruction that are both present today, precisely where Jesus walked the earth. Every Christian would do well to read this exceptional book which received the prestigious Prix littéraire d'Oeuvre d'Orient.