Today marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day! Here at Bethlehem Handicrafts we believe that Earth deserves more than one day of recognition!
The Bible is full of beautiful language and theology for celebrating God's creation. The Bible talks about God’s creation, his love and care for it, and our role as stewards of the resources he’s given us (including our environmental resources).
Caring for creation is a powerful demonstration of our understanding of God’s love for us and his gift of creation to us.
While the coronavirus is domanating news headlines, today Earth Day is more important than ever. Thus, we would like to dedicate this blog post to our planet.
There’s a lot each and everyone of us can do to turn the tide and start moving in the right direction. Here at Bethlehem handicrafts we believe that every little thing we do to save the Earth is significant.
Therefore, no living healthy trees are ever dug up for carving. The industry nowadays is already facing many challenges because of the tens of thousands of olive trees that are constantly being destroyed or uprooted by Israel's Separation Wall and settlement infrastructure.
All of our statues are carved of the branches that are pruned which helps olive trees in numerous ways like extending their productive life. Dead or diseased trees are also used for larger carvings.
As it is well known, olive trees can live for a very, very long time. Some of the oldest olive trees can live up to millennium. Some of the most famous examples are found in the Garden of Gethsemane at the Church of All Nations at the base of the Mount of Olives, where Christ prayed that He would not be led into temptation immediately before His Passion (Matthew 26, 36-46). True, most olive trees do not live that long, but as far as trees go, they do generally live comparatively long lives!
Garden of Gethsemane
Dead olive trees are used for fuel or carving material.The trunk and heftier branches of a dead olive tree often becomes fuel for the wood-burning stoves of kitchens and living rooms of family homes. In a land with brief but harsh winters, stone and cement homes, and no central heating, fireplaces may seem far more worthwhile an investment than people from northern climates may believe. Many bakers and restaurants still use wood-burning stoves for bread and pizza as well.
The second purpose, of course, is for carpentry and olive-wood carving. Wood cannot be indiscriminately used to create items: only select pieces of wood, once cut and dried, that meet the qualifications of the carver are selected. But once a piece of wood passes the test, the incredible process of transformation begins.
See some of the most spectacular creations of hand-crafted olive wood products here:
We, the Bethlehem Handicrafts’ team, are so proud to put the Holy Land in your hand by giving you a variety of the best and the most outstanding original Bethlehem’s olive wood carvings with the best quality made in the Holy Land.
