Today is Memorial Day here - a very solemn day where they honor those who died in Israel's Wars or terrorist attacks...at sundown it is Independence day! A time to get rowdy and celebrate. Because we are here in the midst of these two holidays, some of our itinerary has had to be changed due to closures, etc.
Woke up this morning and looked out my window to see the sun coming up over the Sea of Galilee (which apparently used to be connected to the ocean and was salt water, but now is fresh water )the River Jordan runs in one end and out the other. What a beautiful sight!
Our first trip out this morning to us to a Kibbutz - which previously I had thought to be some sort of hippie collective gardening operation, but now see that it can be a complex community with all sorts of ways to work together to generate money and sustain themselves. Two brothers from this community, sons of fishermen, were walking along the beach one day after a big storm a couple years ago and found an old (and I mean old) nail - everything in Israel has a chance to an amazing discovery - so they kept digging a bit and found even more nails and digging some more until eventually they found what they thought was a boat. They brought in some experts and Lo and Behold! The boat, which was uncovered from under the mud after 3 years of drought, dated back to the first century! This boat is now called the Jesus boat - although there is no evidence of whose boat it was, they do know that Jesus was on several boats in the Sea of Galilee at this time. So cool how they got it out of the mud and preserved it. Most antiquities automatically become property of the state, this however, they allowed the two brothers to keep on the Kibbutz.
The Kibbutz also has an enterprise where they take you out in a replica of a boat from Jesus' time. We loaded onto the boat - the weather could not have been any more beautiful - and set off for a cruise!
The crew raised the American flag, playing the Star Spangled Banner before our guide gave us some information about all of the sites around this area, where Jesus is known to have traveled, performed miracles, slept, ate and prayed. Caleb led us in a hymn sing - a really emotional experience for us all.
Off the boat and on to our next stop - up to the Mount of the Beatitudes - where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount - it is a beautiful area, with a natural ampitheater shape. The roads up to the Church that commemorates the event were all motorcycle-worthy hair pin turns. We found a nice quiet place and took turns reading "the sermon" knowing that it was the same area, smell, sounds, and feel where the sermon was first given.
Next Stop - David's Harp - a new restaurant on the shore of the Gallilee where most were served "Peter's Fish" - a whole fish served on a plate (other options available if you did not want your lunch staring back at you).
On to Peter' primacy, the location of where his disciples -then just fisherman- cast their nets and came up empty. Jesus arrived and told them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat - they could hardly pull them up they were so full of fish. They dropped their nets and followed him to become "fishers of men." (John 21).
As Jesus continues his ministry, more and more people are coming to hear him speak. In the city of Tagbha, he was surrounded by 5000 people. People came far distances and sat and listened to him all day. When it started getting late, Jesus told them that they should feed them! With what - all they had was 5 loaves and 2 fishes....this area has a church dedicated to the multiplication of the fishes and the loaves. Inside the church was a stone where Jesus blessed the fishes and the loaves and the spot is also remembered for his third appearance to his disciples where e commisioned St. Peter as leader of is church. Easy to imagine Jesus speaking from a boat to crowds on the shore.
And we are still going - Next we go to the town of Capernum, Jesus's home base. We know that Jesus preached in all of the synagogues in the area - The synagogue in Capernum where Jesus is known to preach, had another synagogue built on top of it. Peter's house is also on this site - The built a church that looks like a spaceship on top of it or over top of it - it was in Peter's house where Jesus healed his mother-in-law....the house because so overcrowded with people wanting to see Jesus, be healed, etc. some people even went up on the roof and lowered a man down so Jesus could heal him.
Our final stop was Magdala - a city made famous by Mary Magdalene - had some very interesting ruins - found when they tore down the Hawaiin Beach Hotel. In Israel, before any building project can be started, there has to be a dig to determine if there is anything of historical value (anything found will become the property of the state)...The Catholic Church actually bought this site to build a hotel - and because they had a suspician that it was site of value- once they started digging, the found an amazing site just 30 centitmeters down - inside the Synagogue was a Magdala Stone - with symbols that dated it to Jesus's time. This was just found in 2009. They also found a port, a town market, etc.. The church that was build here honors women who played a role in Jesus's ministry. It was a beautiful church - with amazing mosaics, and a beautiful painting.
Believe it or not after all this, we got back early - with just enough time to go for a swim in the Sea of Gallilee! It was cold!!!
and then...walked to the Boardwalk to see how the Independence Celebration was going!
You will have to stand by to see more photos...I'm pooped.
7.12 mile day.
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