And Then We Were in Israel…

We were awakened early in the morning with announcements from the bridge: today we were going to have to meet with Israeli security officers face-to-face in order to get the proper documentation to come ashore.  We would call this “profiling” and there would be a lot of angry discussion about it.  Not so in this country, determined to keep its citizens safe.  We had landed I Haifa, one of Israel’s largest cities located in the northern part of Israel and on the slopes of Mount Carmel. 

B'hai gardens in Haifa

I don’t know what I was expecting, but the city looked much like other cities we had seen located in hot, dry desert landscapes.  Haifa has a population of 280,000 people with another 300,000 living in towns similar to our suburbs.  While it is the birthplace and center for the Baha’I faith, it is 90% Jewish, with more than a quarter of that made of up immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

Because it was an important port location through the ages, the area has been conquered and ruled by the Phoenicians, the Persians, Hasmoneans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, British and Israelis.  Now, in modern times, the city is governed by the Haifa Municipality, a part of the state of Israel, established in 1948.

The spring area where Mary alledgedly
drew water.

Tourists clustered at the entrance

Inside church of The Annunciation
built around the remains of a
Byzantine church to mark the spot.

It is amazing to us how really small the state of Israel is, compared to the US.  Tel Aviv is only 60 miles to the north of Haifa and Jerusalem is only 100 minutes to the south .  So getting around the entire country is less trouble than going to Columbia or the Lake on a weekend!  We chose to spend 3 days and 2 nights off the ship in Jerusalem, the cultural and religious center of the country, with a private guide named Jonathon ("Yonaton” in Hebrew), who ferried us around to the important locations for Christians and Jews in this ancient country.

Examples of over 30 mosaic and tile
gifts to the church from all over the world.

I am reading a book right now, chosen specifically because we were traveling to the location of the beginning of civilization, called “The Source” by James Michener.  It was written during the 1970’s and follows this area (now a country) from the time when men lived in caves to modern Israel.  While it is fictional in the characters, the events and locations are very real and it meant a great deal to me to see the actual spots were things happened.

Nazareth as we left for Galilee

Sea of Galilee

Our guide Jonathan showing us a branch of the
thorn tree alleged to have made the crown for Jesus. 

The foundations of Capurnum with the syagogue
(white) moved there during the late middle ages to attract more tourists

This is supposed to have been Peter's home.

The fresh juice vendors at Capurnum

Two pictures of Banana plantations found all over the area,
some shaded to protect from the scorching sun and the blue
covers keep the pest from seeing the yellow.

Sea of Galilee

For instance, in my book, a great deal was made of Herod who built many Roman-like cities in Judea, as it was called back then. He played an important part in the development of Judea about when Jesus showed up. And the Jews as well as the rather new Christian religion created a growing impediment to Rome at the time.

The baptizing area at the headwaters of the Jordan
near where John the Baptist is supposed to done his work.

Elaine and Kathy above the Jordan

An Arab tank stopped by the people of the Kabutz
right behind it.

View of the old city from our Hotel In jerusalem 

 Herod married a Jewess, although he himself was not Jewish.  And his signature piece of art was the city of Caesarea, on the coast of the Mediterranean.  He took tax money both from citizens and from Rome and created a for-that-time modern city, glowing with white marble columns and slabs of marble to make the city a showplace to himself and Rome. He lived a very lavish life for the times.  During the construction process, he became paranoid schizophrenic, imagining (although some of it may be true) that even his own friends as well as the Jews and slaves were plotting against him.  He had his wife and sons killed for that reason.  And he even had his best friend and his best friend’s wife imprisoned in preparation for their deaths.  While eating their last meal, news came that Herod had died – and his closest friends survived, with only a few short hours to live!  Today they are restoring Caesarea, which is located in a kibbutz by the sea.

Of course, we also went to Masada.  Now, I knew nothing of Masada and its gory history. In preparation for this trip, I watched a movie about the story of Masada, which was excellent.  But those of you who are as ignorant as I was of this seminal point in Jewish history need to understand first that there were always struggles in this area between tribes and particularly the Romans, who controlled this area for centuries. 

Upon a huge mount near the Dead Sea, that same Herod built his summer palace and refuge if needed.  It was the perfect location, as it stood on this mountaintop that was impregnable with a view of the surrounding countryside.  Now Rome, after reclaiming Judea from the Jewish revolt and laying waste to Jerusalem, was constantly being pestered and attacked by the Jews; a thorn in their sides for sure.  So finally they decided to conquer the Jews once and for all – and sent the Roman general Silva to conquer them – on top of Masada.  Impossible, people told them.  It was impregnable.  There was no way up, the Jews in the village on top had several water sources so they could hold out indefinitely to a siege.

But that did not stop Silva.  He took his soldiers and the slaves, mostly Jewish, and decided to build a ramp to get to the top of Masada and batter it in with a tall tower holding a battering ram.  It took time.  But, to make a long story shorter, it worked.  And, when the Romans broke through the walls, what they found was…..all the Jews, men, women, and children were dead, killed by their own hands, not wanting to surrender to the Romans and be made into slaves.  An empty victory; which has lived on in Jewish history for many centuries. 

Today Masada is a national park and monument and there is a cable car system to take visitors to the top to observe the drama of it all. 

Did we see the “regular” stuff?  Yes, we saw the Old City, the New City, the Wailing Wall, the location where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, the Fishes and Loaves location, the cave from which Jesus supposedly arose, the location of the Last Supper, everything most tourists want to see – and I won’t bore you with it all.

But, on our final day, we searched out the Marc Chagall stained glass windows.  I bet you are wondering what exactly I am talking about.  Marc Chagall is of Russian origin, but was living in France when the Women’s Zionist Organization called Hadassah asked him to create the 12 windows based on the 12 tribes of Israel.  They stand in a special synagogue in the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, hidden away in a special room where, if you can find them, you have the privilege of seeing his work.  For those people who appreciate art, history, and the long struggle of a race of people to carve out a country, this visit to the windows was a fitting end of our trip to Jerusalem. 

No, we did not see any of the Palestinian side of the country’s struggles.  Our guide, who was born in Israel of a Yemeni father and Jewish mother, spoke “perfect” Israeli “information”.  That part is probably the darker side of a visit to Israel.  To we as visitors, it was most interesting to see the country where my book “The Source” was centered – and make that history more real for a couple from Midwestern St. Louis!