Day 6 - Israel

Unbelievable!!!!    We arrived in Haifa this morning which is a northern port of Israel. It was pouring rain.  One of my first surprises was that there was not an overt military presence at the port, leaving the port or at any of our stops today in Nazareth, Cana, Galilee, or Capernaum.  We went through one check  point (sailed right through on the way to Jerusalem this evening, but the few times we encountered military, they were wearing dark clothes so the black Uzzi did not call attention to it.  Haifa is a diverse city where Arabs, Jews and Christians live side by side – the tour guide suggested they may be because there are no holy sites in Haifa.  They have 2 major universities – a general one, an art academy and a tech/engineering school.  Another surprise for me was my notion that kibbutzes were located in the rural areas – not so, they can be a large farming area located right in the middle of the city. 

Today’s tour followed Jesus’ life in the Galilee area.  Wherever there was an event of a biblical nature, the site is commemorated by a beautiful church in an outstanding setting.  The description of these and the pics follow.

First stop outside of Haifa was Nazareth where Mary and Joseph lived and Jesus spent his younger years.  The Church of the Annuncation is on the site of Mary’s original home and where the angel announced to her that she would be with child.  The church itself is very modern with many different country’s art depiction of Mary (I have included a few below).  Next to this church is the St. Joseph Church where Joseph’s family lived.  Ruins under these structures show pillars from the original structures.  In Jesus’ time, Nazareth was a small village that no one wanted to admit they were from.  Today it is an Arab city with only 30% Christians and when tensions are high you see painted slogans in the town square as pictured below.

 

 

 

 

We drove through Cana where Jesus turned water into wine and continued through a green countryside that grows bananas, dates, figs, olives, avocados, and citrus fruits.  The Golan Heights ridge is the background and Is a strategically located and the site of many battles between which Israel and Syria over for years. 

 

The next stop was at the location of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (or the 8 beatitudes as they are commonly known).  The Church of the Beatitudes has a beautiful garden and chapel with a awesome panorama. 

 

 

 

We then went to the Church of Multiplication where Jesus turned loaves of bread into fish.  This church was small, but with a scenic courtyard containing olive trees.

 

The last church was the church at Capernaum where Peter lived with his in-laws overlooking the Sea of Galilee.  This was formerly the site of a synagogue and the ruins still exist today and part is under archeological excavation. 

 

We then went to the Jordan River the site of John the Baptist’s baptism and I got to walk barefoot in the river which was frigid.  The trees hanging over the river is reminiscent of boat cruises at Disney World – one expected to see alligators jump out – again a beautiful, serene setting. 

 

We then drove on the western highway of the Jordan River to Jerusalem (approx.. 2 hrs.) passing the Dead Sea and Jericho.

The hotel we are staying at tonight is a modern one on Mt. Scoplus where part of the Hebrew Univ is located.  We had dinner here at the hotel before heading out for a night view of Jerusalem.  Deciding the crowds would be much less at night we stopped at the Western Wall (“wailing” wall) which is part of the last Solomon’s temple and the place where Jews hope to see a third temple when the Messiah comes.  One can write prayer requests on paper and stick it in crevices in the wall.  The wall is divided between men and women’s side.  Unfortunately Jim didn’t get the memo and came on the women’s side until someone approached him about this.  I put my request in the wall while another woman took my picture (those will be available later as I used my cell phone, not my camera).  The wall area is a large plaza area that was lit by high powered search lights.  We then drove different sections of Jerusalem.  Jerusalem has 770,000 Jewish inhabitants of which the majority are orthodox Jews – it is rare to see a non-Orthodox on the streets.  Jerusalem is viewed as the serious city with the weight of 5,000 yrs upon it as keeper of the Holy sites (as opposed to Tel Aviv which never takes a break).  Some of these pictures you will see in tomorrow’s blog.  Tomorrow we walk the streets of Old Jerusalem and go to Bethlehem.  Our day today ran from 7 am to 10:30 pm., but well worth it.