TV REVIEW Feiler guides viewers to The Promised Land

BY NANCY JEFFERY ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

598 words

14 January 2006

The Arkansas Democrat Gazette

17

English

Copyright (c) 2006 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.

Don't miss the third and final installment of the PBS miniseries Walking the Bible, "Toward the Promised Land: Forty Years in the Desert." The hour-long broadcast, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday on AETN, takes viewers along the path of the Israelites wandering in the desert, up to what might have been Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments, and finally to Mount Nebo, where the book of Deuteronomy says Moses looked over into the Promised Land and then died.

This is the next best thing to being there, and in some ways, even better. Parts of the desert, while stunningly beautiful, look really cold.

Bruce Feiler, who guides viewers on the journey, first gained notoriety with his New York Times best-seller of the same title, and now he has turned the 10,000-mile journey into a highdefinition, digital video odyssey which he narrates with charisma and a boyish curiosity that is contagious. He's interested in everything - the sights, the smells, the weather, the spiritual motivation, the history. He wants to know and to understand the land of his spiritual roots.

Certainly not new subject matter, this broadcast is, however, very special. Unlike a talking head taking us on a tour of religious shrines, Feiler is like your favorite next-door neighbor who had done his homework. He hikes into the less-visited but no less important biblical locations and is so excited with what he has found, he wants you to experience it too.

He asks questions you'd ask, and - this is most wonderful - he asks them of quiet, faithful people who are not preening and impressed with their credentials. Monks, Bedouins and adventurers. They know their land and provide far more than many religious scholars could ever begin to give.

These desert dwellers speak of faith not from a removed, analytical or politically correct viewpoint, but from history and beliefs that span centuries and come from the heart. Although Feiler is Jewish, this is a story that will appeal to a universal audience. Muslims and Christians in particular will find the scenes and thoughts expressed of much interest. And Feiler constantly opens his Bible and reads from passages that pertain to a particular site, discussing whatever is found there with his companions, whether they be Muslim, Christian or Jewish.

The give-and-take and openness to discussion without agendas are refreshing and enlightening.

And it seems every scene is more beautiful than the next. (Lucky you, if you own a high-definition television.) A Bedouin's explanation of what manna might have been is fascinating, and Feiler asks exactly the right question: "Can I taste it?" (It truly tastes like honey, he reveals.) St. Catherine's Monastery, the oldest operating church in the world and the legendary home of the burning bush, is another visual treat. Feiler spends the night there in a tiny room (with a spectacular view) and gets up at 3 a.m. to join a Byzantine Greek prayer service that has been repeated four times a day for centuries. But he doesn't miss the humor in a deeply spiritual environment - quietly pointing out the fire extinguisher that sits nearby the rare wild raspberry tree. (No one really wants to see the bush actually burning again.) Check local cable listings for Walk the Bible. As one of Feiler's companions said, the values of the Bible are universal. They belong to everyone.

This article was published 01/14/2006

Document AKDG000020060116e21e0000n

© 2006 Dow Jones Reuters Business Interactive LLC (trading as Factiva). All rights reserved.