Holy Land Mountaintop Pilgrimage -- Israel and Jordan, January, 2014 -- Days 8 and 9

Day 8, January 26, 2014 … we tooled around the Negev Desert today.  Shellfish is not Kosher, so our guide told us “we can’t eat the shrimp because it is not Kosher … so to make them Kosher, they circumcise them!”  It’s a “guide joke!”   Quite early after leaving the kibbutz we saw some Ibex along side the road … such long arced horns!  This portion of the desert has some shrubs on it, and we

Ibex

We stopped at Sde Boqer, a site honoring the first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion.  He is considered the “King David” of modern times.  Shortly after Israel became a state, in 1948, he was driving through this area and stopped to talk with some people from a kibbutz near here.  He was so impressed and decided that is how he wanted to live his life that he resigned as prime minister to participate in the kibbutz life (don’t know if I ever explained that that means commune … everyone works to the best of their ability and everything is shared equally.  If I’m remembering correctly, there are 47 kibbutzim in Israel today). 

This is a beautiful spot overlooking the Tzen River. Here Jeff gave a teaching explaining:  God promised the Children of Israel a land of milk and honey.  Using Jerusalem as the center of a circle, draw a straight line from about 8 o’clock to 2 o’clock.  The left stage is the land of honey, date honey not honey from bees.  Here there is a lot of rain, the area is fertile, cities, have it easier and predictable; but there are also distractions which makes it more difficult to hear the word of the Lord.  The right stage is the land of milk from the goat herders, as there is very little rain, it is desolate, and difficult to live … but it is a quieter life with fewer distractions and easier to hear the word of the Lord, which is why hermits and many religious went to the desert to contemplate.   It is also here where the Israelites were afraid and decided not fight the Amalekites, and as a result they ended up roaming the desert for 40 years.   Fear … subtracts God from your future.  The lesson for me  -- learn to let go and Trust God. The most common instruction in the Bible is “Do not be afraid.”

Next stop, Ein Ovdat, where we walked about a mile in along the Tzen River to a waterfall … simply fascinating rock formations, a deep canyon with an oasis of a river in the desert, eagles flying overhead --- a wonderful and exhilarating walk!

Next, Ovdat (or Avdat) … a tel with 3 levels of civilizations … Nabatean, Roman, Byzantine.  The Nabateans used this area to stop here along the “Perfume Road” between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.  There was also a “Spice Road” in a slightly different location.  The Nabateans were desert traders who lived and stayed in caves. During the Byzantine period, two churches were built on top of the mountain overlooking the valley.  We had Mass in that ancient church built about 350 CE and which has been partially reconstructed (only the walls, some pillars and the alter are there now)  Lunch was at the quick stop place at the entrance to the Avdat.

Because of time constraints we had to skip the trek further south to the Ramon Crater, one of the biggest in the world that is naturally made, not made by meteorite.  Instead we headed north to Be’er Sheva, which today is a bustling town of 120,000 people.  You can see the area gradually getting greener, as this area gets about 10 inches of rain per year compared to the two inches further south.  It is Bedouin area, though it was pointed out that when Israel became a nation, these nomadic people had to decide which country they would live in. For the Bedouins to become Israeli citizens, they must educate their children as mandated in the country.  As a result of that education, many Bedouins now choose to live in towns in stone houses rather than as nomads in goat-hair tents.  So only 10 percent of them now live according to the ancient ways.  We toured Tel Be’er Sheva, the ancient town ruins.  Jeff gave another teaching noting this is the area that Abraham and Isaac built wells, the southern border of the tribes of Simeon and Judea and where the prophet Elisha took refuge.  It is also the approximate location of where Sarah asked Abraham to send her maid Hagar and Ishmael out into the desert because she envied them.  We know that Ishmael is the father of all the Arab nations and of Islam; whereas his half-brother Isaac is the patriarch of Judaism and Christianity.  The sin committed by Sarah was that of envy, a deadly sin which takes us away from our relationship with God.

As we continued north, we stop at the Joe Alon Bedouin Center where we got a great lesson on Bedouin hospitality which they are so

Bedouin hospitality

famous for, and the ritual they go through to serve their guests.   They welcome anyone.  Time simply is not important in the desert, so they start making the coffee when the guest arrives by first roasting the beans, then grinding them, with a mortar and pestle which is so loud that it can be heard for as much as a mile away beckoning others to come and hear the stories of the guests (they don’t have TV or the Internet to get the news!), then making very, very strong coffee and serving only a fourth of a cup at a time.  After 3 cups, they serve tea with sugar in a bigger cup … everything is symbolic and has specific meanings.  Very interesting

Finally we go up to Jerusalem, 2,000 feet above sea level, a town of about 800,000 people.  In Hebrew it means “City of Peace” and is first mentioned in the Bible where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac, though God stopped him and they slaughtered a ram instead.  The first temple was built here by King Solomon.  It is an important location for Jews, Muslims and Christians.  When coming into town we walked from Mt.  Scopus, a part of the Mount of Olive range, a short distance to Jerusalem, then had a Jewish ceremony/blessing before going into the City and our hotel.  We are staying at the Olive Tree Hotel … very nice.  A wonderful buffet dinner.

It was a cloudy, coolish and windy day today, but it didn’t rain (which we as tourists liked but which is greatly needed during this winter season right now).   Expensive …  $18 for a load of wash about the size of a grocery bag!!!

Day 9, January 27, 2014.  Bob was up at 4:45 a.m. to walk with the group to the Holy Sepulcher to pray before the tomb of Jesus.  After breakfast, our guide talked about what it was like prior to 1967 when Jerusalem was divided into four parts, each controlled by a different entity … what a mess!  After the 1967 war, the City is controlled by Israel, is Israel’s capitol and is open to all, even the Palestinians who choose to work here.  We went to the tomb of Herod the Great, which was found only seven years ago on the side of the

Modern day Bethlehem

mountain beside the amazing castle he built in Herodian, about 15 miles east of Jerusalem  We climbed, climbed, climbed steps to the top of the ruins of the castle, explored the main floor … a very impressive structure.  It must have taken a lot of slaves to built this in seven years.  We then walked down, down, down very high steep steps through the underground water tunnel system, then up, up, up again to the actual site of Herod’s tomb.  They are still examining the ruins, digging out what was the main entrance to the castle.  This was Herod’s “vacation get-away”!

Next, Bethlehem, where we celebrated Mass at the beautiful Church of Saint Catherine.  We have a different guide for today, a Palestinian Christian, because Bethlehem is in the West Bank under control of the Palestinians.  While Bethlehem was an extremely small area in the time of Jesus, today it is a bustling city of about 60,000 people.  This is also the place where King David was born. The Church of Saint Catherine was built by the Roman Catholics because the other area was too small for Masses.  It is from this church that Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve is broadcast throughout the world.   The Church of the Nativity, the oldest church in the Holy Land, is attached, and we walked to the site where Jesus was born.  The church itself is being renovated, because nothing has been done to it for over 500 years.  The Church is shared by Catholics, Greek Orthodox and Armenians. Everything is very ornate

Birthplace of Jesus

The cave in which Jesus was born has been covered for protection because people were chipping off parts of it for souvenirs.  Now there is only a one-foot area or so where people can touch where Our Lord and Savior was really born.  The area is surrounding by a 14-point star … 14 for the number of generations between Abraham and David; 14 generations between David and the Babylonian Exile; and 14 generations from the Exile to the birth of Jesus.  As soon as our guide started to explain all this … the Holy Spirit just gripped me, and as we walked down the narrow steps to the site, I just burst out in tears knowing this is where Jesus was born … very emotional!  There was also the manger area nearby.

From there we drove to Shepherd’s Field, a place where it is said the shepherds were told by the angels of Jesus’ birth.  Now it is a little part of Bethlehem which is about 19 percent Christian … sadly, in the 1990’s it was about 90% Christian, but most left because of the fighting in the 2000’s, which totally stopped tourism for seven years, tourism being the main source of income for these Christians.  We walked down several flights of steps to the Grotto Restaurant … very nice salads, humus and pita bread, followed by lamb and chicken, followed by baklava, followed by Turkish coffee (not me!).  We also had entertainment as 2 young women and 2 young men in period costume danced to traditional Arab music. It was entertaining!

Then we walked down to the memorial area of Shepherd’s Field where Jeff talked about the genealogy of Jesus, especially how God used four women in that line, including Mary, who is the new Arc of the Covenant.  It was a little eerie when around 3 o’clock over loudspeakers that could be heard over the entire City Arabic singing was calling all Muslims to pray.

Beautiful olive wood carving of the
 Last Supper

We also got a simple explanation of the Jerusalem cross … the main cross represents Jerusalem, which even scientists are saying is the center of the world, and the four small crosses in each corner represent the four corners of the world.  Incidentally, four is the symbolic number for the world.  And the tradition is that people from the four corners of the world will return to Jerusalem at the end times.

Next … shopping!  We stopped at Kando’s Christian souvenir shop.  It was interesting that this shop supports about 60 families, and Mr. Kando’s grandfather was the person who was given the Dead Sea scrolls found by a Bedouin shepherd, and he was the person who made known their importance.  On display was one of the actual clay jugs that the scrolls were found in.

Another holy site that we visited was Rachel’s Tomb … Jacob’s second wife, she bore Joseph and Benjamin but died during childbirth of Benjamin.  Because Jewish tradition is the body must be buried before sunset, they buried her here in Shepherds Fields rather than in the family tomb in Hebron.  Israel has a special arrangement with the Palestinians for access to this tomb … we drove down a road with very high concrete walls along both sides plus observation towers along the way to get to the site.  Jews pray at this site 24 hours a day.  Rachel is a Jewish symbol of motherhood, and many go there to pray if there are problems in the family. Because it is a Holy Site, Jewish tradition is that the women go into one door, men into the other … they do not even see each other but pray their own prayers. One elderly Jewish woman talked to us about how “Rachel is crying in her tomb because there is no peace.”  She then took us out into the street to look at the concrete wall barrier and said “We do not want this.  We pray to Rachel for peace.”

Arrived back at the hotel a little early for dinner this evening, then a little talk by Emily Cavins about the Church of the Holy Sepulcher that we will be visiting tomorrow, and a nice restful, relaxing evening.  This is a very nice hotel, and the buffets are elaborate, but Internet is only available in the lounge area … hope to get down there tonight to mail these journals out!  It’s going to be an early day tomorrow … and they’ve warned us about lots of walking!