Bobservations Column: "For Three Transgressions"

Amos’ prophecy is addressed to the Northern Tribes.In Israel’s west bank, we find a town named Balata, a suburb of Nablus in the disputed Palestinian territory. It is in Balata that we find the Well of Jacob. It has been a Holy Site since the days of Constantine, protected under the walls and ceiling of a Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Only Christians and Jews refer to it as Jacob’s Well, for the Palestinians do not acknowledge God’s blessings upon Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. And, Palestinians tend to ignore the well because it is within the walls of a Greek Orthodox Cathedral.As in the days of Jesus and before, during the days of the Kings of Israel and Jerusalem...