The 51st anniversary of Earth Day has arrived! We believe the Earth needs more than one day of celebration here at Bethlehem Handicrafts!
Wonderful language and theology for praising God's creation abound in the Bible. God's creations, his love and concern for it, and our position as guardians of the resources he's given us are all mentioned in the Bible (including our environmental resources).
Caring for the environment is a strong reflection of our gratitude for God's love for us and his gift of creation.
As the coronavirus dominates the news, Earth Day is now more important than ever. As a result, we'd like to devote this blog to Earth.
There is something that each of us can do to help turn the tide and get things going in the right direction. At Bethlehem Handicrafts, we feel that any step we take to save the Earth is important.
As a result, no healthy living trees are ever pulled up for carving. Because of the tens of thousands of olive trees that are continuously killed or uprooted by Israel's Separation Wall and settlement construction, the industry is still facing various challenges.
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!
Olive trees that have died are used as fuel or carving material. A dead olive tree's trunk and heftier roots are commonly used to heat wood-burning stoves in kitchens and living rooms of family homes. Fireplaces may seem much more worthwhile an investment in a land with brief yet harsh winters, stone and cement houses, and no central heating than people from northern climates think.
Of course, the second aim is for carpentry and olive-wood carving. Wood cannot be used to produce products arbitrarily: only selected pieces of wood, once cut and dried, that match the carver's qualifications are used. However, if a piece of wood passes the test, the amazing transforming process 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.
