Modern Israel, I've come to find out, is not just the romanticized land of the Bible, but it's also a messy melting pot of people who often carry a lot of pain, and have found various self-destructive, addictive ways to suppress it—at least for a few hours. Take away modern technology, however, and life is not all that different from Jesus' day—instead of Samaritans there are Palestinians; instead of lepers there are drug and alcohol addicts. And then there are the women who, just like 2,000 years ago, feel they have no option for survival but to sell their bodies by the hour. For many Jews and Christians, these kinds of people are to be avoided.
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