Author Bio

 

Steve Babbit’s life-long interest in modern Israel and the Jewish roots of Christianity inspired him to study the history of Israel, Biblical Scriptures, and the Hebrew language.  In 1971, less than a year after graduating from high school, he lived and worked in Israel, where he first began to learn Hebrew while living on Kibbutz Gevulot
(a collective farm in the Negev Desert, about 10 km from the SE corner of the Gaza Strip). 

                  Mt. of Olives   1971                                                                 Jerusalem Promenade  - 2009                                                   Jaffa Gate - 2009

In 1975, Babbit began his professional career in secondary public education. He has taught middle school, high school and university summer extension classes in a wide variety of subjects.  In the spring of 2009, he retired from full-time teaching to pursue his desire to  learn and teach Biblical Hebrew.  During the 2009 - 2010 school year, he taught an adult Hebrew language class at Temple Beth El in Tacoma, WA.

 
Since his first trip in 1971, he has spent many of his summers in and around Jerusalem, often living with his Jewish “adopted family”. In 1984, Babbit lived for a summer among Christian Arabs in the West Bank town of Ramallah. These first-hand experiences have provided insight into the cultural, religious and political environment of the Holy Land, past and present.

 
By the end of 2010, Babbit hopes to begin co-leading tours in Israel with his close friend, an Israeli citizen who immigrated to Israel from Russia.

Please check this site, beginning in the fall of 2010, for up-coming tour information.