Israel (Hebrew: יִשְרָאֵל, Yisra'el; Arabic: إسرائيل, Isrā'īl) officially the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia located on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area. The West Bank and Gaza Strip are also adjacent. With a population of about 78 million, the majority of whom are Jews, Israel is the world's only Jewish state. It is also home to Arabs Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Samaritans, as well as other religious and ethnic minority groups.
The modern state of Israel has its roots in the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael), a concept central to Judaism for over 3000 years. After World War I, the League of Nations approved the British Mandate of Palestine with the intent of creating a "national home for the Jewish people." In 1947, the United Nations approved the partition of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. On May 14, 1948 the state of Israel declared independence in accordance with the UN decision and this was followed by a war with the surrounding Arab states, which refused to accept the plan. The Israelis were subsequently victorious in a series of wars confirming their independence and expanding the borders of the Jewish state beyond those in the UN Partition Plan. Since then, Israel has been in conflict with many of the neighboring Arab countries, resulting in several major wars and decades of violence that continue to this day. Since its foundation, Israel's boundaries and even the State's very right to exist have been subject to dispute, especially among its Arab neighbors. However, Israel has signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, and efforts are being made to reach a permanent accord with the Palestinians.
Visiting Israel was an eye-opening experience. Not only can one see all of the major locations and sites mentioned in the Bible, but you can also see upfront much of the conflict areas broadcast to the world over CNN. Its an amazing country with lots to offer and I guarantee it will not be at all what you expect. Its an amazingly modern country with all of the amenities one would find in the U.S.A. (sans the warring neighbors of course!). However, much like other places in the Middle East, gun-carrying soldiers, bomb sniffing dogs, and metal detectors are ubiquitous - a stark reminder that the country is surrounded by threats in every direction.
JERUSALEM
Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, Located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern tip of the Dead Sea, modern Jerusalem has grown up outside the Old City of Jerusalem.
The city has a history that goes back to the 4th millennium BC, making it one of the oldest cities in the world. Jerusalem has been the holiest city in Judaism and the spiritual center of the Jewish people since the 10th century BC, contains a number of significant ancient Christian sites, and is considered the third-holiest city in Islam. Despite having an area of only 0.9 square kilometer (0.35 square mile), the Old City is home to sites of key religious importance, among them the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque. The old walled city, a World Heritage site, has been traditionally divided into four quarters, although the names used today — the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters — were introduced in the early 19th century. In the course of its history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.
Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem has been repeatedly condemned by the United Nations and related bodies, and Palestinians foresee East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. In the wake of United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, most foreign embassies moved out of Jerusalem.
We spent several days in Jerusalem and had an opportunity to visit not just the Old City but the more modern environs as well. The city is quite modern but has kept its "medieval" feel largely by ensuring that new construction generally follows the look and feel of the Old City rocks. The city was vibrant with a late night arts and crafts fair contrasted against a rocky landscape of settlements, new apartment buildings, and even bedouin towns as you enter the city.
Mount Zion
Mount Zion is a hill just outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. There is reason to believe that in Biblical times the name Mount Zion referred to the area of what today is called by Jews the Temple Mount. However, as early as the first century the hill today called Mount Zion had acquired the name for unknown reasons. Important sites on Mount Zion are Dormition Abbey, King David's Tomb and the Room of the Last Supper. The Chamber of the Holocaust (Martef HaShoah), the precursor of Yad Vashem is also located on Mount Zion. Another place of interest is the Catholic cemetery where Oskar Schindler, a Righteous Gentile who saved the lives of 1,200 Jews in the Holocaust, is buried.
Room of the Last Supper
In the Christian Gospels, the Last Supper (also called the Lord's Supper or Mystical Supper) was the last meal Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles and disciples before his death. The Last Supper has been the subject of many paintings, perhaps the most famous by Leonardo da Vinci. Today, many Christians believe the room of the Last Supper lies on the second floor of a building on Mount Zion just outside the Dormition Church behind the Franciscan house on Sion, and south of the Zion Gate in the Old City walls. In the basement of the building is what is supposed by Jewish leaders as King David's Tomb, although the Bible says David was buried in the city of David, which is south of Mount Moriah.
Our guide gave us a brief narrative on the relation between the room, Islam, Judaism and Christianity - in particular those who follow Pentecostalism which is a fundamentalist religious movement within Christianity. Pentecostals believe in a holy rapture of Christians before a great tribulation and that speaking in tongues serves three distinct functions. The first belief is that "speaking in tongues" is the "outward manifestation" or "initial evidence" of the Baptism with the Holy Ghost. The second belief relates specifically to prayer and occurs on a more personal level. In this case, the person communicates to God in a language of which they have no understanding. This language may not necessarily be a language spoken on Earth, as it is a more personal worship between the individual and God. Consequently, it is usually categorized as Glossolalia. The third belief relates to its role inside the church community. Pentecostals believe that God can communicate to the church through the Holy Spirit. This is not limited to speaking in tongues, but can also include other means of communication such as prophecy.
Mount Herzl and Museum
Mount Herzl is a hilltop and national cemetery in Jerusalem named after Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism and the father of Israeli state. Herzl's tomb lies at the top of the hill and near the museum is a cemetery for national figures, soldiers, and other security force personnel. In fact, Mount Herzl is the burial place of three of Israel's prime ministers: Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir and Yitzhak Rabin (who is buried beside his wife Leah).
Chagall Windows
Marc Chagall was a Russian-Belarusian-French painter of Jewish origin, who was born in Belarus, at that time part of the Russian Empire. In 1960, he created stained glass windows for the synagogue of the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem and, in 1966, wall art for the new parliament being constructed in that city. During the Six Day War the hospital came under severe attack, placing Chagall's work under threat. In response to this, Chagall wrote a letter from France stating "I am not worried about the windows, only about the safety of Israel. Let Israel be safe and I will make you lovelier windows.". In 1973, Israel issued a series of stamps featuring the Chagall windows, which depict Twelve tribes.
Tomb of King David
King David's Tomb is believed to be buried inside the City of David together with other Judean kings, but ancient tradition holds that he is buried in the structure adjacent to the Dormition Church. The tomb has David's name on it, covered on beautiful clothes with crown-shaped ornaments placed on top of Torah scrolls.
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem (also spelled Yad VaShem; "Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority") is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament. The origin of the name is from a Biblical verse: "And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name (Yad Vashem) that shall not be cut off." (Isaiah, chapter 56, verse 5). Located at the foot of Mount Herzl on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem, Yad Vashem is a 45-acre complex containing the Holocaust History Museum, memorial sites, such as the Children's Memorial and the Hall of Remembrance, The Museum of Holocaust Art, sculptures, outdoor commemorative sites such as the Valley of the Communities, a synagogue, archives, a research institute, library, publishing house and an educational center, The International School for Holocaust Studies. Non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust, at personal risk, are honored by Yad Vashem as "Righteous Among the Nations."
Our guide described the premise behind Yad Vashem including some interesting factoids regarding countries that stood by (and didn't stand by) during the murderous Final Solution. He describes one of the most touching places - the Children's Memorial - which is dedicated to the 1.5 million Jewish children who were murdered by the Nazis in World War Two. As you walk through the Memorial, the names of children are recited and candles flicker in the darkness. Our guide informed us that in order to hear the same name twice, one must revisit the Memorial every three and a half years.
Yad Vashem is an amazing place to visit but a somber reminder of humanity's capacity for evil.
Israel Museum
The Israel Museum was founded in 1965 as Israel's national museum. It is situated on a hill in the Givat Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem, near the Knesset, the Israeli Supreme Court, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The museum complex was designed in the late 1950s by Alfred Mansfeld and Dora Gad, with the Shrine of the Book designed by Armand Phillip Bartos and Frederick John Kiesler, and the Billy Rose sculpture garden designed by Isamu Noguchi.
The museum today includes extensive collections of Judaica, ethnography, fine art, artifacts from Africa, North and South America, Oceania and the Far East, archeology, rare manuscripts, ancient glass and sculpture. A uniquely designed building on the grounds of the museum, the Shrine of the Book, houses the Dead Sea Scrolls and artifacts discovered on Masada.
Old City
The Old City is a 0.35 square mile area within the modern city of Jerusalem. Until the 1860s this area constituted the entire city of Jerusalem. The Old City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and its Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians, and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims. Traditionally, the Old City has been divided into four quarters, although the current designations were introduced only in the 19th century. Today, the Old City is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter.
According to the Bible, before King David's conquest of Jerusalem in the 11th century BC the city was home to the Jebusites. The Bible describes the city as heavily fortified with a strong city wall. The city ruled by King David, or the City of David, is now believed to be southwest of the Old City walls, outside the Dung Gate. His son King Solomon extended the city walls and then, in about 440 BC, in the Persian period, Nehemiah returned from Babylon and rebuilt them. In 41-44 AD, Agrippa, king of Judea, built a new city wall known as the "Third Wall." The current walls of the Old City were built in 1538 by Suleiman the Magnificent. The walls stretch for approximately 3 miles, and rise to a height of 16–49 feet, with a thickness of 10 feet. Altogether, the Old City walls contain 43 surveillance towers and 11 gates, seven of which are presently open.
During the era of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, there were four gates to the Old City, one on each side. The current walls, built by Suleiman the Magnificent, have a total of eleven gates, but only seven are open. Until 1887, each gate was closed before sunset and opened at sunrise. As indicated by the chart below, these gates have been known by a variety of names used in different historic periods and by different community groups.
Western Wall
The Western Wall, or simply the Kotel, is a Jewish religious site located in the Old City of Jerusalem. The wall itself dates from the end of the Second Temple period, being constructed around 19 BC. It is often referred to as the Wailing Wall, in connection with Jewish practice of coming to the site to mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple.
The Western Wall commonly refers to an 187 feet section of ancient wall situated on the western flank of the Temple Mount. This section faces a large plaza and is set aside for prayer. In its entirety however, the above ground portion of the Western Wall stretches for 1,600 feet, most of which is hidden behind residential structures built along its length. The wall functions as a retaining wall, built to support the extensive renovations that Herod the Great carried out around 19 BC. Herod expanded the small quasi-natural plateau on which the First and Second Temples stood into the wide expanse of the Temple Mount visible today.
According to the Bible, Solomon's Temple was built atop the Temple Mount in the 10th century BC and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. The Second Temple was built in 516 BC. In around 19 BC Herod the Great began a massive expansion project on the Temple Mount. He artificially expanded the area which resulted in an enlarged platform. Today's Western Wall formed part of the retaining perimeter wall of this platform. Herod's Temple was destroyed by the Roman Empire, along with the rest of Jerusalem, in 70 AD during the First Jewish-Roman War. However, the Western Wall was spared.
In Judaism, the Western Wall is venerated as the sole remnant of the Holy Temple. It has become a place of pilgrimage for Jews, as it is the closest permitted accessible site to the holiest spot in Judaism, namely the Even ha-shetiya or Foundation Stone, which lies on the Temple Mount. According to majority rabbinic opinion, Jews may not set foot upon the Temple Mount and doing so is a sin punishable by karet. While many believe that the rocky outcrop in the Dome of the Rock is the Foundation Stone, others say it is located directly opposite the exposed section of the Western Wall, near the El-kas fountain. This spot was the site of the Holy of Holies when the Temple stood.
Jewish tradition teaches that the Western Wall was built by King David and that the wall we see today is built upon his foundations, which date from the time of the First Temple. The Midrash writes that God promised that the Western Wall will never be destroyed. Jewish sources teach that when Roman Emperor Vespasian ordered the destruction of the Temple, he ordered Pangar, Duke of Arabia, to destroy the Western Wall. Pangar however could not destroy the wall because of God's promise that the Wall will never be destroyed. When asked by Titus why he did not destroy it, Pangar replied that it would stand as a reminder of what Titus had conquered. He was duly executed. There is a tradition that states that when water starts trickling through the stones of the Wall, it is a signal of the advent of the Messiah. Throughout the ages, the Wall is where Jews have gathered to express gratitude to God or to pray for divine mercy.
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross (or Way of the Cross; in Latin, Via Crucis; also called the Via Dolorosa or Way of Sorrows, or simply, The Way) refers to the depiction of the final hours (or Passion) of Jesus Christ, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St. Francis of Assisi and extended throughout the Roman Catholic Church in the medieval period. It is less often observed in the Anglican and Lutheran churches. It may be done at any time, but is most commonly done during the Season of Lent, especially on Good Friday and on Friday evenings during Lent.
The object of the Stations is to help the faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer, through meditating upon the chief scenes of Christ's sufferings and death. It has become one of the most popular devotions for Roman Catholics, as well as featuring in the worship and devotion of other Christian denominations.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, the meditation is often performed in a spirit of reparation for the sufferings and insults that Jesus endured during His Passion.
In its traditional form, the Stations of the Cross go from the Lions' Gate to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre via Dolorosa. The Stations themselves are marked by circular metallic plaques with Roman numerals and concentric cobblestones on the ground. Today, churches or altars have been built on most of the Stations. There are some alternate forms but the 14 stations described below are the ones most commonly followed and the one we tracked and included in the photos:
1. Jesus is condemned to death
2. Jesus receives the cross
3. Jesus falls the first time
4. Jesus meets His Mother, Mary
5. Simon of Cyrene carries the cross
6. Veronica wipes Jesus' face with her veil
7. Jesus falls the second time
8. Jesus meets the daughters and women of Jerusalem
9. Jesus falls the third time
10. Jesus is stripped of His garments
11. Crucifixion: Jesus is nailed to the cross
12. Jesus dies on the cross
13. Jesus' body is removed from the cross (Deposition or Lamentation)
14. Jesus is laid in the tomb and covered in incense.
For you movie fans, Mel Gibson's 2004 film, The Passion of Christ, follows the Stations of the Cross. The fourteenth and last station, the Burial, is not prominently depicted (compared to the other thirteen) but it is implied since the last shot before credit titles is Jesus resurrected and about to leave the tomb.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Latin: Sanctum Sepulchrum), also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a Christian church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. The site is venerated by most Christians as Golgotha, (the Hill of Calvary), where the New Testament says that Jesus was crucified and is said to also contain the place where Jesus was buried (the sepulchre). The church has been an important pilgrimage destination since at least the 4th century, as the purported site of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus. Today it also serves as the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. It is contains the last few Stations of the Cross.
For the Christians among you, this is truly a spiritual experience - if you can look beyond the hoards of tourists! For me, there was much more significance and tangibility in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre than any other Christian atlar or reliquary I have ever visited around the world. Highly recommended!
BET SHE'AN
Located at the intersection of the Jordan and Jezreel valleys and surrounded by farms and fishponds, this town has one singular site: Bet She’an National Park.
The area extends over 400 acres and was first excavated in the 1920s. Settlement of Bet She’an first began in the 5th millennium BC and later came under Egyptian rule. After multiple changes of ownership, a massive earthquake hit the city in 749 AD which devastated the city.
Scythopolis, as the city came to be known, had collonaded main streets converging on a plaza that contained a temple, fountain and monuments. Elaborate Byzantine bathhouses extended over 1.25 acres and there are still remains of an amphitheater today. The mountain (or high tell) on the site to the north was the location of Canaanite in the Old Testament over 2,500 years ago. There are some very interesting sites here including Roman bath houses which were used as the first places to spread the word of Christianity, and early public toilets.
BETHLEHEM
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank, approximately 10 kilometers (6 mi) south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism.
According to the New Testament, Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. The town is inhabited by one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, though the size of the community has shrunk in recent years due to emigration. The city is also believed to be the birthplace of David and the location where he was crowned as the king of Israel. The city was sacked by the Samaritans in 529 AD, during their revolt, but was rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. Bethlehem was conquered by the Arab Caliphate of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb in 637, who guaranteed safety for the city’s religious shrines. In 1099, Crusaders captured and fortified Bethlehem and replaced its Greek Orthodox clergy with a Latin one. The Latin clergy were expelled after the city was captured by Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and Syria. With the coming of the Mamluks in 1250, the city’s walls were demolished, and were subsequently rebuilt during the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottomans lost the city to the British during World War I and it was to be included in an international zone under the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. Jordan occupied the city in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and it was subsequently occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War. Israel has retained control over the entrances and exits to Bethlehem, though day-to-day administration has been under the purview of the Palestinian National Authority since 1995.
Modern Bethlehem has a Muslim majority but is also home to one of the largest Palestinian Christian communities. The Bethlehem agglomeration includes the towns of Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, as well as the refugee camps of ‘Aida and Azza. Bethlehem’s dominant economic sector is tourism which is particularly high during the Christmas season as the city is a Christian pilgrimage center, being home of the Church of the Nativity. Bethlehem has over thirty hotels and three hundred handicraft work shops, employing several of the city’s residents. Rachel’s Tomb, an important Jewish holy site, is located at the entrance of Bethlehem.
In order to get to Bethlehem, we took a bus literally 15 minutes from Jerusalem to the Israeli-Palestinian border. There we left our Israeli guide, walked over the border, and were greeted by our Palestinian guide. Israelis do not enter the West Bank territories for fear of kidnapping. Once we were over the other side, it was an exciting but somewhat nerve racking experience. During our time over the border, there were some “issues” which led to the border being closed for a very short amount of time.
The Church of Nativity
The Church of Nativity contains a star where pilgrims come to touch and hope for the Lord’s blessing. There is also an altar for the three wise men who gave Jesus gifts of gold, frankinsense and myrrh. Finally there is an altar where baby Jesus is believed to have been swaddled and cradled. A truly surreal and spiritual experience!
CAPERNAUM
Capernaum was a fishing village established during the time of the Hasmoneans, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It had a population of about 1,500. Archaeological excavations have revealed two ancient synagogues built one over the other. A house turned into a church by the Byzantines is believed to have been the home of Saint Peter.
MASADA
Masada (Hebrew: מצדה metsada, "fortress") is an ancient fortification in the Southern District of Israel situated on top of an isolated rock plateau, akin to a mesa. It is located on the eastern edge of the Judaean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea 20 km (12 mi) east of Arad. Herod the Great built two palaces for himself on the mountain and fortified Masada between 37 and 31 BCE.
According to Josephus, the siege of Masada by Roman troops from 73 to 74 CE, at the end of the First Jewish–Roman War, ended in the mass suicide of the 960 Sicarii rebels who were hiding there. However, the archaeological evidence relevant to this event is ambiguous at best[2][3] and rejected entirely by some scholars.
Masada is one of Israel's most popular tourist attractions. During 2005 to 2007 and 2009 to 2012, it was the second-most popular, behind the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. The site attracts around 750,000 visitors a year.
NAZARETH
Nazareth (/ˈnæzərəθ/; Arabic: النَّاصِرَة, an-Nāṣira; Hebrew: נָצְרַת, Natzrat; Aramaic: ܢܨܪܬ, Naṣrath) is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". The inhabitants are predominantly Arab citizens of Israel, of whom 69% are Muslim and 30.9% Christian. In the New Testament, the town is described as the childhood home of Jesus, and as such is a center of Christian pilgrimage, with many shrines commemorating biblical events.
The Church of the Annunciation, sometimes also referred to as the Basilica of the Annunciation, is a Catholic Church in Nazareth, in northern Israel. It was established over the site where the Catholic tradition holds to be the house of Virgin Mary, and where angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced that she would conceive and bear the Son of God, Jesus – an event known as the Annunciation.
TEL AVIV-JAFFA
Tel Aviv-Jaffa, often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline, it is the economic and technological center of the country. If East Jerusalem is considered part of Israel, Tel Aviv is the country's second most populous city after Jerusalem; if not, Tel Aviv is the most populous city ahead of West Jerusalem.
The walled city of Jaffa was the only urban centre in the general area where now Tel Aviv is located in early modern times. Jaffa was an important port city in the region for millennia. Archaeological evidence shows signs of human settlement there starting in roughly 7,500 BC. The city was established around 1,800 BC at the latest. Its natural harbor has been used since the Bronze Age.
GOLAN HEIGHTS
The Golan Heights, or simply the Golan, is a region that refers to a basaltic plateau bordered by the Yarmouk River in the south, the Sea of Galilee and Hula Valley in the west, the Anti-Lebanon with Mount Hermon in the north and Wadi Raqqad in the east. As a geopolitical region, the Golan Heights refers to the border region captured from Syria by Israel during the Six-Day War of 1967; the territory has been occupied by the latter since then and was subject to a de facto Israeli annexation in 1981. This region includes the western two-thirds of the geological Golan Heights and the Israeli-occupied part of Mount Hermon.
The Golan Heights are located in the northern most part of Israel and span approximately 37 miles in length and nine to 16 miles in width. The whole region was once volcanic and the mineral rich soil is ideal for growing a wide variety of crops including grapes for wine. The Golan Heights were part of Syria and were captured by Israel as a result of the 1967 war. One major note of caution is the area is littered with mines that are still active today.
Mount Bental Observatory
Located in the Golan Heights is Mount Bental Observatory. From the top of this volcanic cone are the remains of a military outpost. From here you can see the Syrian border and the town of Kuneitra which was captured by Israel in 1967, lost and regained in the Yom Kippur war of 1973, and returned to Syria in the Disengagement Agreement. It is now a demilitarized zone which houses some United Nations observers.
Visiting this observation point gives one a sense of just how precarious the Israeli situation is in the face of its enemies. Although this border with Syria is probably the quietest relative to that shared with Lebanon and Jordan, recent “secret” talks between the two countries do not appear to be progressing and it is possible that this could be the site of military activity in the future.
Kibbutzim
A kibbutz (Hebrew: קיבוץ, קִבּוּץ, lit. “gathering, clustering”; plural kibbutzim) is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The kibbutz is a form of communal living that combines socialism and Zionism. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, but have gradually embraced a more “scientific” Socialist approach. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Although less than five percent of Israelis live on kibbutzim, they are disproportionately represented in key positions and high-status fields.
TIBERIAS
As the only town on the Sea of Galilee, Tiberias is almost 2,000 years old and has become a resort town. The city was founded in 18 AD by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, and dedicated to Tiberius, then emperor of Rome. Most people avoided living in the town because it was built on a cemetary. It was only later after a purification ceremony that people began to settle there. The Tiberians had little desire to see their city destroyed by the Romans as a result of Jewish uprisings so quickly surrendered and thus became the focal point of Jewish life following the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. By the 4th century, the Sanhedrin had settled in Tiberius and it was here that Jewish Oral Law was compiled into what became known as the Jerusalem Talmud. The city fell under hard times during the Byzantines and stabilized under the Muslim rulers and declined again under the Crusaders. Today the city is entirely Jewish.
The Sea of Galilee is in fact a freshwater lake approximately 13 miles long and 7 miles wide. The Jordan River feeds it from the north then leaves it in the south to travel to the Dead Sea. Almost completely ringed by cliffs and steep hills, the lake likes about 700 feet below sea level and its shores are covered with Christian landmarks.
As we left the town of Tiberias to travel along the Sea of Galilee, we passed a few other interesting sacred Christian locations. One such place was the Church of the Multiplication in Tabgha where Jesus is believed to have miraculously multiplied two fish and five loaves of bread to feed the crowds that followed him. Less than 200 yards east of this church is the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter which is built on the water’s edge over a flat rock known as Mensa Christi (the Table of Christ). After his resurrection, the New Testament describes Jesus appearing to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee and eating with them on a miraculous catch of fish. Three times Jesus asked the disciple Peter if he loved him and after his reply of “You know that I love you”, Jesus commanded him to “feed my sheep”. The episode is seen as annointing Peter and establishing his primacy.
The Mount of Beatitudes is located a few miles south of Tabgha and it is here that Jesus had his Sermon on the Mount. Pope John Paul II celebrated mass with some 100,000 faithful higher up the hill. There is a domed Roman Catholic church at this location.
TZFAT (AKA SAFED)
At 3,000 feet above sea level, Tzfat is the highest city in Israel. It is reputed as the center of Jewish mysticism (aka Kabbalah). The Crusaders built a fortress here and has become a center of Kabbalah study.
Kabbalah which dates back to the 12th century was formed as a reaction to formal rabbinical Judaism and is essentially about reading between and around the lines. Each letter and accent of every word in the holy books has a numerical value with specific significance offering added meaning to the literal word. You can walk around the city and enjoy many of the Kabbalah learning centers and artist shops.
AKKO (AKA ACRE)
Located at the northern tip of Haifa Bay, the walled Old City of Akko (aka Acre) is a great mix of mosques, markets, khans (Ottoman inns) and Crusader ruins. As you walk around you can see the remains of the 12th century walls built by the Crusaders who made Akko the main port of their Christian empire.
The underground Crusader city is located beneath the 18th and 19th century buildings standing in the city today. Deep inside is a series of vaulted rooms known as the Crusader Vaults and Halls. These chambers were discovered when a prison (built above the vaults) had a break in the 1940s and prisoners tunneled into the ground below. The hole through which they escaped can still be seen today high up in the ceiling of one of the vaults.
HAIFA
Located off the cliffs of Mount Carmel and adjacent to the Mediterranean is the city of Haifa, Israel’s “San Francisco”. It is Israel’s largest port and 3rd largest city. The city was ruled for over 400 years by the Ottomans and grew into a cosmopolitan city servicing the Middle East. Much like many cities in Israel, Haifa came under both Roman and Arab control. There are a few sights in the city but one of the most intriguing is the Baha’i Shrine and Gardens. Note this was the city that was bombarded by rocket fire from Lebanon less than two years ago. I’m happy to saw we didn’t see any sign of damage and no rockets were to be seen while we were visiting!
Haifa is the world center for the Baha’i faith which was founded in Iran in the 19th century. Its main tenament the unity of mankind. The Baha’i teach that great prophets have appeared throughout history to reveal divine truths: Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed and most recently the founder of the Baha’i faith, Mizra Husayn Ali known as Baha’u’llah. Baha’u’llah’s remains are located at the Baha’i Shrine which is one of the most prominent domed buildings in all of Haifa.
We also had the opportunity to visit a Druze Village and meet several Druze. This is a small sect of Arabs who practice a unique form of religion. Some of their key tenets include reincarnation, marriage only among Druze, and identification of specific individuals who serve as repositories of religious knowledge, Interestingly Druze serve in the Israeli military despite the obvious conflict that they are likely fighting Arabs of similar ethnic background. We were treated to a great dinner which had enough food to feed an army!
CAESAREA
Walking through the Crusader city of Caesarea is like walking back through time in history. Located at the northern tip of the Sharon Plain, Caesarea is packed with Roman, Byzantine and Crusader ruins. Despite the tremendous heat in August, its a great place to visit for tourists: a Roman theater, a Crusader city, and Roman-Byzantine remains that include a mosaic floored bathhouse, a Herodian amphitheater, parts of Herod’s port and an ancient aqueduct. Herod’s theaters were the first of their kind in the Middle East. The theater today seats 3,600 and is a spectacular venue for summer concerts. There is also a Herodian amphitheater which is a huge elongated horseshoe shaped hippodrome.
Herod the Great gave Caesarea its name dedicating the magnificent Roman city he built to his patron Augustus Caesar. It was the Roman emperor who had crowned Herod King of the Jews around 30 BC. Construction began in 22 BC and included palaces, temples, a theater, a marketplace, a hippodrome and water and sewage systems. In 6 AD after Herod died, Caesarea became the seat of Roman procurators one of whom was Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea when Jesus Christ was crucified. With Jerusalem predominantly Jewish, the Romans preferred the Hellenistic Caesarea as the seat of their administration. After much turmoil, Caesarea became a Roman colony and the local Roman capital of Palestine for 600 years. It was here that Peter converted the Roman centurion Cornelius to Christianity and Paul preached and was imprisoned for two years.
The walls that surround the Crusader city were built by King Louis IX of France. They enclose the remains of the Herodian port and the Crusader city itself which was actually only one-third the size of Herod’s original city. Most of what we saw dates from 1251 when the French king actually spent a year restoring the existing fortifications. The Crusaders first seiged and conquered Caesarea in 1101 after it had been ruled for nearly 500 years by Arabs who had allowed the port to remain fallow.
The port construction at Caesarea was an unprecedented challenge. Archaelogists were stunned to discover concrete blocks near the breakwater offshore indicating the highly sophisticated use of hydraulic concrete which hardens underwater. Historians knew that the Romans had developed such techniques but before the discoveries at Caesarea they never knew hydraulic concrete to have been used on such a massive scale. The main ingredient in the concrete, volcanic ash, was probably imported from Mount Vesuvius in Italy.
Just outside the city there is a Roman aqueduct on the beach. During Roman times, the demand for a steady water supply was considerable but the source was a spring about 8 miles away in the foothills of Mount Carmel. Workers had to cut a channel approximately 4 miles long through solid rock before the water was piped into the aqueduct whose arches spanned that entire length.
ROSH HANIKRA
Rosh Hanikra is a geologic formation in Israel, located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in the Western Galilee near the border with Lebanon. It is a white chalk cliff face which opens up into spectacular grottos that are cavernous tunnels formed by sea action on the soft chalk rock. Today a cable car takes visitors down to see the grottos. Throughout history, Rosh Hanikra served as a passage point for trade caravans and armies between Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Egypt, and Africa. The British dug a tunnel through the nearby rocks for trains on what was the Cairo-Istanbul railway.
Rosh Hanikra was the site where Israeli and Lebanese officials negotiated and concluded an armistice in 1949 which ended the Lebanese-Israeli component of the 1948 War of Israeli Independence. There is a military outpost above the grottoes which is good for taking pictures!
QUMRAN
Caves in the western cliffs of Qumran are the site of probably one of the most significant archaeological finds of our lifetime: the Dead Sea Scrolls. They were found in 1947 when a young Bedouin shepherd stumbled on a cave containing parchment scrolls in earthen jars. Most believe the scrolls were written by the Essenes, a Jewish sect which set up a monastic community here in the late 2nd century BC. During the Great Revolt against Rome, they hid their precious scrolls in the caves in the cliffs before the town was destroyed in 68 AD. Almost all books of the Hebrew Bible were discovered here, many of which are identical to the texts still used in Jewish communities. Several of the scrolls are on display in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem – which we had the honor of seeing.
JERICHO
Jericho is the oldest city in the world was made famous as the place where “the walls came tumblin’ down” at the sound of Joshua’s trumpets. At 850 feet below sea level, Jericho is also the lowest city in the world. They have been under Palestinian control since 1994 so consists of mostly Muslim Arabs and a tiny Christian Arab population.
Given its location in the West Bank, we simply drove by on our way to the Dead Sea. From a distance we could also see the Mount of Temptation, identified as the mountain from which Satan tempted Jesus Christ with dominion over all the kingdoms of the world.
EIN GEDI
After driving for what seemed like miles of desert and sand dunes, we spotted the Ein Gedi oasis located near the Dead Sea region. Although we didn’t have time to visit the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, we were told there is a stream called Nahal David (David’s Stream) where it is believed David hid from the wrath of King Saul some 3,000 years ago.
We spent our time at the Ein Gedi Spa which offered access to the Dead Sea, Dead Sea mud and warm sulfur pools. Despite their supposed theraputic value, I had a hard time sitting in the sulfur pools for more than the half of the recommended 10 minutes. It probably had a lot to do with the awful smell! The mud baths were fun but not particularly satisfying.
Floating in the Dead Sea was a unique experience as it was almost impossible not to float on the surface due to the high salt content. However, given the high concentration of salt in the water it was not recommended to stay longer than 15 minutes. Afterwards, it took a great deal of scrubbing with fresh water to eliminate the slippery residue left on the surface of my skin. You can’t actually swim in the Dead Sea as its density is about 10x that of the ocean. The area is one of the world’s primary health retreats for psoriasis, rheumatic and arthritic ailments.