During a year in Eretz Yisroel, Sholom Raskin decided to explore the stories of Tanach at their real-life locations according to reliable Torah sources. To help other travelers, he documented it all in a comprehensive online travel guide.
By Anash.org reporter
When bochur Sholom Raskin left Montreal for Eretz Yisroel for the first time, he was fascinated to encounter the real-life locations of all the stories from Tanach he learned growing up. During his year and a half there, he intensely explored hundreds of historical and archeological sites and documented it all in a unique travel guide for others to easily access.
“I grew up learning from the words written in the Torah,” Sholom told Anash.org, “so when I came to Eretz Yisrael, it was the first time that I was able to visualize the words that I had learned growing up. I spent all my free time exploring as many places as I could that are a part of Jewish History.”
Secular and non-Jewish touring websites are filled with false information about the historical sites. They write inaccurate information about the characters and stories in Tanach and, ignorant of halacha and Jewish life, draw false conclusions about archeological finds.
“I spent a lot of time researching locations to travel,” adds Raskin, “and almost all the informational websites out there are non-Jewish and full of misinformation. I decided to create a website that can help frum people traveling in Eretz Yisrael. My favorite suggestion as to where people should travel is, they should open up a Tanach, find a story that resonates with them, and travel to the locations from that story.”
The guide contains warnings for Kohanim if there are Kevarim in that area; a spreadsheet of places where they are mentioned in Tanach; 115 locations based on tiers, location in Eretz Yisroel, archaeology, history, nature, and viewpoints; an interactive Google Maps page; as well as hundreds of pictures and videos.
To view the complete travel guide, visit SholomTravels.com
