Day 7: Jerusalem (In the Garden)

Started the day by heading up to the Mount of Olives for a panaramic view of Jerusalem. Breathtaking!

Then we worked our way down the Mount of Olives, stopping at several holy sights. We stopped at St. Anne's Church which honors the mother of Mary. Here is a statue of Anne with Mary:

Inside St. Anne's church you are encouraged to sing. The acoustics are such that it echoes off the walls and it sounds like a beautiful, angelic chorus - it is hard to describe but it is really astounding. Our group was the only group in the church, so we sang "Holy, Holy, Holy" together and it sounded so amazing it literally brought me to tears.

We walked the route used every year to commemorate Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday:

And we visited the Basilica of All Nations:

My favorite today was the Garden of Gethsemane. It is a beautiful, fenced off area next to the Basilica of All Nations. There are olive trees within it that are 2500 years old:

Throughout our time here we have also gotten a chance to interact with a number of different people of varying backgrounds about their life in Israel. It has been a very educational and enlightening experience. I'm so grateful for this opportunity. 

We'll be visiting more sights in Jerusalem tomorrow.

Shalom,

Lisa

Day Six: The Dead Sea

We left Jericho and headed down the West Coast of the Dead Sea. Saw my first camels today, hanging out outside a gas station.

We headed to see Masada, a magnificent palace and compound built by Herod the Great on top of a mountain overlookinng the Dead Sea. There is a trail you can walk up to the top - or you can do what we did and take a cable car to the top. Not a ride for the faint of heart.

Masada was the sight where Jewish freedom fighters took a stand against the Romans.  Although it didn't end well for the freedom fighters, the sight has become a cultural icon.

After Masada we moved on to Qumran, the sight of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I  was particularly interested in this as I took a seminary class on the Dead Sea Scrolls taught by Dr. John Kampen, a Dead Sea Scrolls scholar and one of the professors leading this trip. It was a thrill to be in the location we had studied with an expert in the field.

Cave 4, the cave where the majority of the fragments were found:

After Qumran we had lunch (the food has been fantastic!) and then stopped to float in the Dead Sea. The Sea has so much salt that you naturally raise to the top and float. While floating, I started talking to an American woman nearby who I came to find out, believe it or not, grew up in the church in Lancaster where Rev. Tussing used to serve - so Rev. Tussing was her childhood pastor! You just never know who you'll run into in the Dead Sea!

Finally made our way to Jerusalem where we'll be for the next few days. After dinner some of us wondered the streets nearby just to get a small taste of the city:

More on Jerusalem in the coming days.

Shalom,

Lisa

 

Day Five: Jericho

We left the lush green rolling hills of Galilee and headed south on Road 90, the longest road in Israel. Stopped at what is now my favorite archeological spot of the trip thus far - Bet She'an. First we saw the ruins of a Roman Amphitheatre - this is the stuff of gladiator movies and lions and Christians:

Then a ways farther we saw the ruins of an ancient Roman city - just astounding. There have been discoveries on this site that date from 1500 BCE through the 8th century CE:

My favorite was the theatre:

We stopped at one more archeological site, then crossed through the border into the West Bank:

Arrived in Jericho where we are spending the night. Jericho is a Palestinian City in the West Bank. There are about 35,000 residents. Most are Sunni. There are about 500 Christians who also live here.

We visited the ruins of one of the palaces of Herod the Great. We also visited a palace from the Umayad Dynasty where you can view the most famous mosaic in the world called, "The Tree of Life":

To say it was hot today as we stood outside at Herod's palace is pretty much the understatement of the century. To quote Tom Hanks from the movie, "Volunteers," it felt like we were about a mile from the sun. Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter. :-)

Shalom

Lisa

 

Days Three and Four: Galilee ("Put Your Hand in the Hand")

I am combining days three and four so I can get "caught up" with the blog. We are packing so much into each day, it's hard to keep track of everything we have done. 

We left Nazareth on Sat 30th for Upper Galilee. Stopped at a number of archeological sites along the way. We are travelling by bus, by the way. There are 14 of us in all. Took this photo tonight with my "selfie stick"!

So, yesterday we toured archeological sites at Hazor and Tel Dan. The Dan River is one of the three sources of the Jordan River:

Excavation began in Tel Dan in 1966. The first city was built here during the early Canaanite period. We toured the ruins and hiked through the grounds, being warned to look out for the poisonous vipers (really!) Hiking around reminded me of hiking in the Hocking Hills - if the Hocking Hills had ancient ruins and poisonous vipers. :-) 

At one spot at Tel Dan you are standing in Israel, but can see Lebanon and Syria:

A recent discovery at Tel Dan is a Canaanite gate dating back to the time of Abraham:

On to archeological sites at Banyas (Herod Agrippa's Palace) and Omrit:

There is no possible way to even begin to share everything we discussed regarding these ancient sites.  I'll have much to share when I return!

We ended the day by arriving at our hotel in Nof Ginosar on the Sea of Galilee where we spent the night last night.

Started out early today to visit the remains of a first century Jewish synagogue at Gamla. The trick was, in order to get to the synagogue we had to literally scale the side of a mountain - down a rocky path, up the other side, then back again:

Now I know why they recommended we do a lot of walking as a build up to this trip. It was a very challenging hike, but beautiful and facinating.

We visited Kursi, Capernaum, Korazim and Magdala where there is another first century synagogue which has just recently been excavated. New discoveries are being made every day.

After lunch on the Sea of Galilee, we took a boat ride. A perfect end to a facinating, exhausting and awe-inspiring day.

On to Jericho tomorrow.

Shalom,

Lisa

 

Day Two: Nazareth (Take a Load Off, Fanny)

So, we spent the first two nights in Nazareth. What a unique and interesting place. 

The signs are all in Hebrew, Arabic, and English - the three official languages. Nazareth is a bustling city of 90 thousand people - all apparently trying to navigate the narrow, winding, hilly streets at the same time. It reminded me of trying to drive in downtown Chicgo - if Chicago was hilly!

Of the 90 thousand who live here in Nazareth, 60,000 are Sunni and 30,000 are Christian. There are literally no Jewish people in Nazareth. It is the largest Arabic speaking concentration in Israel.

We spent a good portion of the second day at the excavation site of the ancient city of Sepphoris, not far from Nazareth. We had the priviledge of meeting and hearing from one of the excavators. Sepphoris was established in the second century BCE and was a major city during the time of Jesus. It sat on a hill and could be seen from anywhere in Galilee. The excavation there is ongoing.

After Sepphoris we travelled back to Nazareth. We visited a place called, "Nazareth Village," a reconstructed 1st century village. It is situated right in the middle of the modern city, so it was an interesting contrast to modern life going on all around it. We visited a Baptist school and learned about life modern day Nazareth from the director of the school. We visited the Church of the Annunciation - a shrine to Mary:

Finally we visited an excavation site literally right under the Guest House where we were staying. A first century house has been uncovered, and it was facinating to see what a house during Jesus' time would have looked like:

We ended the day with a wonderful dinner on the terrace of our hotel. A very loud wedding celebration was going on down the street, and the call to prayer was going out in the city. Nazareth is a facinating place.

Shalom

Lisa