(ABP) — Would-be pilgrims searching for rebirth in the waters of the Jordan River can now buy it in handy 8 oz. bottles — new body lotions available just in time for Christmas. And buyers won't even have to wade through the river's sewage to get them.
Thanks to recent approval from local authorities to use Jordan River water in its products, Yarden Nahara Ltd. has launched a line of bath and body-care products aimed at helping Christian women cleanse their body and spirit.
The announcement comes on the heels of news reports the Jordan River has become an “open sewage canal.”
According to Israeli environmentalists, the section of the river south of the Alumot dam has become rife with untreated sewage, salt water and drainage-pipe runoff. For neighbors nearby, the smell alone is overpowering, the Religion News Service reported.
Gidon Bromberg, who heads the Israeli branch of Friends of the Earth Middle East, told RNS reporters the pollution problem has worsened in recent years. In addition to the pollution, much of the south part of the river has dried significantly as farmers diverted water for irrigation.
“In the summer, the Lower Jordan River — the river below the Galilee — is dry in certain places, and this is a totally man-made problem,” Bromberg said. “The Lower River is an open sewage canal, and the sad irony is that the sewage water is keeping the river flowing. Being baptized in the water below the dam cannot be too spiritually uplifting.”
But Ronit Tzelnik and Debbie Saperia, the two Israeli women who developed the skin product idea, insist their lotions are unpolluted agents of rejuvenation.
Anne Sharp, a spokesperson for Yarden Nahara, said the source of water used in the beauty products is north of the polluted area.
“Yarden Nahara draws water from a point on the Jordan River just as it flows out of the Sea of Galilee, close by the famous Yardenit baptismal site where tourists and pilgrims go to be baptized,” Sharp said. “In addition, after the water has been drawn, it undergoes a stringent cleaning process at the manufacturing facilities. Therefore, the water in Nahara products does not contain any of the pollutant chemicals.”
The Nahara products include “purifying” shower gel, bubble bath, body scrub, body mist, hand cream and body lotion. The products come with a “keepsake” stone from the Sea of Galilee in a gift box decorated with “breathtaking” photos of the river. The box's interior transforms into a map of the region. Many of the products use the more widely recognized Dead Sea salts among their ingredients.
As a gesture of goodwill, the women of Yarden Nahara plan to participate in river conservation efforts. “Tri-national committees are discussing the proper use of this national resource to ensure that this crucial natural resource is not ruined,” Sharp said.
According RNS, Friends of the Earth Middle East partners Palestinians with Israelis and Jordanians to protect and restore the river. They also use publicity stunts to garner national and international attention for the pollution problem. Last July, the Jewish and Arab mayors from surrounding cities jumped together into the north part of the river.
Tzelnik and Saperia are hoping the awareness translates into a renewed interest in the “deep, spiritual history” of the area.
“We have worked diligently so that as women of faith use our products, they will experience the sensation of immersing themselves in the purifying waters … enjoying a virtual baptism and rebirth in the privacy of their own homes,” Tzelnik told the RNS.
Yarden Nahara, based in Tel Aviv, means “Jordan River” in ancient Aramaic.