Holy Land Mountaintop Pilgrimage -- Israel and Jordan, January, 2014 -- Days 1 and 2

Days 1 & 2, January 19-20, 2014 … We caught a 6 a.m. flight out of Minneapolis to Chicago; a 1.5-hour layover before flying to Newark where we met the others in our tour group; then a 4-hour layover before departing for Tel Aviv.   It was an interesting cultural change at the gate in Newark to depart for Tel Aviv as there were many Jews getting on the plane … many men, young men and boys wearing yarmulkes plus the Hasidic Jews wearing their black brimmed hats, black jackets with white prayer shawls underneath, long curly hair and long beards.   Just before coming into Tel Aviv this morning, those with prayer shawls covered their heads with their them, stood in the front of our section of the plane facing East and silently prayed for about half an hour, constantly bobbing their heads.  Another interesting observation is that the gate for the Tel Aviv flight was all blocked off and we went through security again just to get on this flight … plus Israel’s regulation is when flying into the country, all passengers must remain in their seats beginning one-half hour before landing in the country.  We arrived at 9:30 a.m., having lost 8 hours … meaning it’s been about 42 hours with no sleep to speak of at this point!

The entire group piled on two buses … they are really quite organized, Jeff Cavins having done this about 40+ times.  Our guide, Amidl, is a third-generation Israeli and is very knowledgeable. We are learning not only about the geography of the country, but where historical Biblical events took place, cultural differences and political survival of the State of Israel.  Fascinating!  From the Tel Aviv airport we drove north through the Plans of Sharon … lots of housing developments plus lots of olive groves.  At one point, Israel, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Palestinian-controlled West Bank, is only 9 miles wide.  We drove past “the wall” that Israel built along the West Bank to prevent suicide bombers from coming into the country … only 5 percent of the border is walled, but the attacks have pretty much stopped. 

View of Mt. Carmel

Cooking our lunch!

We stopped in the Druze village of Usafyia on the top of Mt Carmel … another significant Biblical site and the site of the Carmelite monastery.  The Druze religion is a splinter from Islam that occurred about 1,000 years ago.  It is a secret religion … as only those chosen know it all … and it is a closed religion as only those born into it with both a Druze father and mother are considered Druze.  One cannot “convert” to Druze. They believe in reincarnation of the soul of a person who dies into a baby born about that same time … in order to continually improve oneself. They are Arabs but they choose to be complete citizens of Israel, including their young men serving in the military.  (Side note … Israel requires every male to serve in the military from age 18-21 and every female from age 18-20 … and then they are in the reserves until age 45 or so, which requires 6-weeks of training every year).  We had lunch at the home of a Druze family … the home overlooked the beautiful Megiddo,  known to Christians as the Valley of Armageddon where the final battle on earth will take place, according to Revelations.  We were treated to typical Arab Druze food … freshly made humus, cucumber salad, chicken with rice, stuffed grape leaves, eggplant with tomato sauce, meatballs in a sauce, couscous and beans, flat bread baked on an outdoor open fire, flatbread pizza pieces … different tastes but all delicious!

Finally we traveled east across all of Israel (about an hour) through the lush agricultural Valley of Jezreel (more about that later … many,

Beautiful mosaic scene

many Biblical events in this area) to the edge of the Sea of Galilee to the town of Magdalene where it is believed Mary Magdalene, a disciple of Jesus, lived.  Just recently they started an archaeological dig there … and we got to actually walk the streets with both Mary Magdalene and Jesus probably walked 2,000 years ago … amazing!  We had Mass at a new church (this was only the second Mass for the church) … it is beautiful with 4-5 side-chapels with stunning mosaic pictures depicting something Jesus did in that vicinity (calling Peter and Andrew for discipleship, calming the sea, etc.)  The total glass wall behind the alter views the Sea of Galilee … and the alter itself is a huge boat of Jesus’ time with a crucifix off the one side … very unique!  We are staying at a kibbutz called Ein-Giv … nice accommodations.  Good night … as we must be up by 5:30 a.m. tomorrow!

DAY 3:  Tuesday, January 21, 2014 … a pretty good night’s sleep (finally!), an early wake-up and another delicious meal at Erin Gev on the Sea of Galilee, which is 680 feet below sea level.   The meals here at buffet style, and there’s so much to choose from … all different tastes and dishes than what we have at home.  Their salads and vegetables with flavored dressings are so delicious.  And for breakfast there where at least a dozen different white cheeses, half a dozen different grains for cereal, eggs and salads. Israel had decided early on that they wanted to be self-sufficient, so there isn’t much that is not produced here! 

Basilica of the Assunciation

Believed to be the home of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Ein Gev is on the east side of the Sea of Galilee, so this morning we drove along the south side, crossing the Jordan River where it drains from the Sea, climbed the mountains with the gorgeous view back down to the Sea, through the town of Cana (Kana) where Jesus performed his first miracle at the wedding feast there.  This miracle was performed on a Tuesday, and so to this day, Tuesdays are the most desirable day to get married!  Cana is now an Arab village, mostly Muslim but some Arab Christians.  We continued to head eastward to Nazareth.  From a town that was noted in the Bible as “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”, it is now a bustling town of 90,000 Jews, Muslim Arabs and Arab Christians living together peacefully. We had Mass at the Basilica of the Annunciation .. a beautiful Basilica built over the first century ruins of the house of Mary and Joseph … gorgeous statutes of the Holy Family and mosaic depictions of various events written about in the Bible.  On the other side of the same complex is the Church of Saint Joseph, built over the excavated ruins of St. Joseph’s carpentry shop.  It was a very special time for me to pray and reflect for a few minutes as I have been praying to St Joseph for almost a year now for a special intention … and I am so grateful it is being answered. 

Our guide again talked about the Arabs living as Israeli citizens, pointing out that they are the only Arabs in the entire region that enjoy true freedom.  They have all the rights and privileges as an Israeli citizen; however, they do not have to serve in the military because it is recognized they may not want to fight against friends and family from other countries.  

From the Basilica we drove to Mt. Precipice, the cliff where Jesus’ kinsmen and other towns’ people attempted to throw Him off after He

Bob & Me on Mt. Precipice

read the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue.  Jeff gave a beautiful teaching on “Freedom from Bondage”, explaining in depth why the people got so upset with Jesus in His teaching to the point of wanting to push him down the hill … which is high, steep sides, millions of large and small white boulders contrasted with green pine trees.

From this point we got a great view of the newest section of Nazareth on one side and the very lush Valley of Jezreel on the other side.  Today the Valley of Jezreel (Israel Valley or Ksulot Valley) is the powerhouse area of crop production in the country, but it is very rich in Biblical historical events as well. From there we went to a Park which has the archeological dig of the City of Sepphoris (near Zippori).  It is believed that it is in this City that Joseph would have sold is carpentry items because at that time it was a much larger city than Nazareth and is only a 3-4 hour walk between the two towns.  In the first century there were many Roman houses there, and they unearthed a treasure of a wealthy Roman home.  One of the trademarks in this entire area is mosaic art … many of the floors in buildings at the time were of mosaics … all telling a story, generally done by an Egyptian who would bring the different colored stones with them.  In this find, there are 23 different colors of stones (normally only 8-10) and about 50 stones per square inch (normally 4-10) … it is a very good shape … quite astounding.  They also unearthed other mosaic floors which were in public buildings.   There is also a Citadel in the area built by the Crusaders in the 11^th to 12^th century.  It was interesting that they “recycled” back then … as some of the walls were constructed from crypts from a nearby cemetery.  Both the Romans and the Jews buried the bodies until they decayed, then reburied the bones elsewhere … so these crypts were empty!

Lunch was at St. Peter’s Restaurant … dozens of delicious salads!  Then off to the Mount of Beatitudes where it is believed Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount … at least somewhere in that vicinity.  It is logical that He would be able to speak to so many thousands of people because of the natural acoustics of the area!  A beautiful church was built on top of the mountains with lovely gardens surrounding it.  We had an opportunity to take some quiet time to mediate while here.  Next, a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee from Capernaum to Tiberius … at sunset … gorgeous!  Jeff gave another little teaching on forgiving and releasing.  And then the owner of the boat, a Christian Jew, sang a couple songs.  He and another guy have made a couple albums of Christian music sung half English and half Hebrew … powerful! 

Dinner again at Ein-Gev … soup, chicken, tongue, lamb, fish, numerous salads and desserts!  This evening we gathered around a bonfire on the beach of the Sea of Galilee, said the Rosary and all had an opportunity to go to confession (there are 5 priests on the pilgrimage with us).  Wow … I have to pinch myself to realize I’m actually here … and learning and experiencing all of this.  God certainly is good to me!