Gallivanting Grandma

Tuesday – October 10, 2017

I negotiated with a desk clerk at the Dan Boutique Hotel to have my laundry done at a reduced rate, so I was happy.  Then we went out into another brilliant  sunny day; 19 degrees C and breezy.  Our destination was Yad Vashem – The World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

“I will put my breath into you and you shall live again, and I will set you upon your own soil….” Ezekiel 37:14  Carved in stone, the statement greeted us as we walked into the reception building.

The Holocaust Museum was designed in the shape of a triangular prism and built into the top of a hill known as the Mount of Remembrance.  Yad Vashem is Israel’s memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The museum was dedicated in 2005 and consists of a long corridor connected to 10 exhibition halls, each describing a different chapter of the Holocaust in chronological order.

Photography was not permitted inside the museum.  One million visitors go the Yad Vashem annually to learn about the deplorable events of the Holocaust and remember people who died under tragic and horrendous circumstances.  The exhibits in the museum are excellent with videos, memorabilia, artifacts, and maps.  Walking slowly through the chronological events was extremely sad for me.

After going through the museum, we met with a survivor of the Holocaust.  She had just published her memoirs and related the story about her childhood in Poland, losing her parents and siblings, and finally being rescued from a concentration camp when she was ten years old.  She had lived in Denmark before moving to the United States.  She eventually married and had four children, twelve grandchildren, and now has 22 great grandchildren.  She is a true survivor!

Afterwards, we drove to The Israel Museum which is a huge complex of art galleries and archaeology museums.  Our first stop was the Model of Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period.  This is a scale model of the city prior to its destruction by the Romans in 66AD.

It was a fantastic model of Jerusalem, when the ancient city was more than twice the size of the Old City today.  After this time period, the Great Revolt against the Romans took place and Jerusalem was destroyed as well as the Temple.

The model was completed in 1966 and relocated to the museum in 2006.  According to a plaque, the model is continuously updated as more archeological excavations are uncovered and improve scientists’ understanding of ancient Jerusalem.

Entrance to The Shrine of the Book:

Then we crossed the street and went to the Shrine of the Book where select pages of the Dead Sea Scrolls were on display.  These are the oldest biblical manuscripts in the world, dating from 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD.  900 scrolls were discovered in 1947 in eleven caves near Wadi Qumran, 28 miles east of Jerusalem near the Dead Sea.  This was one of the most important archeological finds in Israel.

The Shrine of the Book building, opened in 1965, and was designed to resemble a pot in which the scrolls were found.  Two-thirds of the building is below ground level.  The scrolls are displayed on a rotating basis.  Also on display was the Aleppo Codex, from the 10th century, believed to be the oldest Bible codex in Hebrew.

Later in the evening, our group went to the home of an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish family for dinner.  We met the young couple, their two year old son, their rabbi, and other friends and family members.  They spoke openly about their faith and their roles in the family, their community, and in Israel today.

It had been another amazing day in Israel!

Monday – October 9, 2017

Today we entered the Old City of Jerusalem which is a walled city located within the heart of the modern metropolis of Jerusalem.

We entered through Jaffa Gate, which is one of seven gates, and walked through a labyrinth of ancient alleyways with other tourists, pilgrims, and local religious people.  The passageways opened to a wide plaza to reveal the Western Wall.  The wall was originally erected as part of the expansion of the Second Jewish Temple by Herod the Great in 19 BC.

The wall is the holiest place where Jews are able to pray in Israel.  We walked through security and our bags were put through x-ray machines.  Here is a view of the Western Wall from the stairs:

Men’s section:

The Western Wall of the Temple Mount is one of the most significant remnants in Jerusalem from the Second Temple which was destroyed about 2000 years ago.  Entrance to the women’s section:

Inside women’s section:

The family below flew all the way from San Diego, California to have Josh’s Bar Mitzvah at the Western Wall.  The women of the family stood on benches to look over a barrier and watched Josh’s ceremony.

The Western Wall Tunnel is an underground tunnel and runs under buildings of the Old City of Jerusalem.   Walking in the Western Wall Tunnel:

Religious Jews have access to underground portions of the Wall and pray there:

The total length of the tunnel is 485 meters (1600 feet) which is significantly more than the 60 meters (200 feet) of exposed wall in the plaza at ground level.

It began to rain as we walked along the Via Dolorosa (Way of Sorrows). This is believed to be the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion.  The Stations of the Cross refer to a series of images depicting Jesus on that day.  We followed the 14 Stations of the Cross:

The Stations of the Cross are located primarily in the Arab Quarter of the Old City.  Walking through that quarter is fun because of all the colorful shops.  It’s a lot like any Middle-Eastern Souq.  

The church of the Holy Sepulcher also called Church of the Resurrection is located in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.  The church contains two of the holiest sites in Christianity:  the site where Jesus was crucified and Jesus’s empty tomb, where he is said to have been buried and resurrected.

There was a very long line around the inside of the rotunda to get into the Aedicule.  This is the marble chapel which encloses the tomb and a fragment of the stone that sealed the tomb.

Stone of the Anointing:

The church was very crowded and it was difficult to see very much or take decent photographs.  However it was a very interesting experience.

We had lunch in the Arab Quarter at a restaurant called Dajani as the noon Call to Worship was broadcast from a nearby minaret.

We walked through the ancient winding alleyways of the Old City and stopped by the modern Jewish Quarter.  We also visited the Room of the Last Supper and King David’s Tomb.

We left the Old City of Jerusalem by the Jaffa Gate and passed the Tower of David, also known as the Jerusalem Citadel, built in 1310 by  Mamluk sultan and expanded in 1547 by Suleiman the Magnificent.

At night we returned to the Tower of David to see an historical light & music show.  It was very well done.

Sunday – October 8, 2017

Sunday is a workday in Israel since Shabbat is celebrated Fridays and Saturdays.  Most of the other guests at our kibbutz had gone home on this workday, so our Sunday was quiet and peaceful.  It was a lovely morning; the sun was bright and birds were chirping happily.

We were staying at Kibbutz Kfar Haruv on the Golan Heights at their Peace Vista Country Lodge – Mitzpe Hashalom, in Hebrew.  The community manages 27 comfortable rustic cabins for Israeli and international tourists.  Several of the knotty-pine cabins are located on the edge of the 1700′ cliff with spectacular views of the Sea of Galilee and the western hills in the distance.

One nice feature of staying at Peace Vista Lodge is that a huge continental breakfast is delivered to each cottage in the morning.  Home baked pastries with cheese and strong coffee was a wonderful way to start the day.  This morning we were scheduled to tour the grounds of the Kibbutz and help make lunch.  One of the members gave us an excellent tour.

Kibbutz Kfar Haruv was founded in 1973 and continues the kibbutz tradition as a collective community.  The Kibbutz movement began in Israel in 1909 as agricultural communities combining socialism and Zionism.  In recent decades, some kibbutzim have been privatized and changes have been made in the communal lifestyles.  Kfar Haruv has a population of 387 people.

A large dairy is one of the successful businesses which the Kibbutz owns and runs.  We visited the cows and also saw many calves.  The settlement also tends orchards of almonds, avocados, and peaches.  The international community considers Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights illegal under international law, however the Israeli government disputes this.

On our tour we saw homes, schools, playgrounds, and the medical center for the residents.  The grounds were very beautiful and well maintained.

The kibbutz owns and operates the A.R.I. factory which manufactures hydraulic equipment.  This is the largest employer of the settlement and provides the most income to the members.

After our tour, we returned to the main building which houses the cafeteria and kitchens.  The OAT group pitched right in and helped the kibbutz by peeling many pounds of potatoes and carrots.  Afterwards, we had a tasty lunch and said our goodbyes to the lovely friendly kibbutz members we had met.

We set off in our tour bus down from the Golan Heights to the vast Jordan Valley, through the desert on our way to Jerusalem.  Notice the hair-pin turn on the left in the photo below:

The terrain changed along the valley as we traveled southbound.  Below are young date palm trees.

We passed many miles of white-sand desert.

When we ran into a significant amount of traffic, we knew we were near Jerusalem.  The bus drove up to the top of a hill and we disembarked to get our “first view” of the famous magnificent city.  Although the sky was overcast, the gold Dome of the Rock Mosque was unmistakable and it glowed.

The walled Old City is on top of a hill and the rest of the city spreads out along  the other hills.  The most surprising thing about Jerusalem is that it’s built on so many steep hills.

We checked into the Dan Boutique Hotel and relaxed a little.  About 6:30 we walked to the old railroad station near the hotel for dinner.  The Jerusalem Railway Station opened in 1892 and was the last stop on the Jaffa-Jerusalem line.

After extensive renovations, the station reopened as a cultural and entertainment center in 2013.  We enjoyed a tasty feast of many dishes: hummus, baba ganoush, stuffed peppers, pasta, fries, kebabs, and decent pizza.

This had been another thought-provoking and amazing day!

Saturday – October 7, 2017

It was a cool sunny morning on the top of the Golan Heights at Kibbutz Kfar Haruv.  We got an early start and ate breakfast in the Kibbutz’s cafeteria.

My OAT tour group and I boarded the bus and we drove to Gamla Nature Preserve, which is an Israeli national park.  On the way, we stopped to look at rock formations called dolmens, which are Bronze Age burial mounds made of huge boulders dating from 4000 to 3000 BC.  The Gamla Nature Reserve has a field containing about 700 dolmens.

Gamla is famous for its griffon vulture observation point and its efforts to keep the birds of prey from extinction.  The nature preserve is home to the largest nesting colony of raptors in Israel.

There are hiking trails throughout the park as well as ruins of a Christian Byzantine village dating from the 4th – 5th centuries.

Rafi, our tour leader, led us out to the observation point which looks out over the cliffs of Gamla Stream Canyon and a nesting colony of vultures.

Gamla is also the location of an ancient Jewish city on the Golan Heights about 81 BC.  Archaeological finds confirm that Gamla had been a fortified settlement during the early Bronze Age – 2700 BC.  Gamla was the capital of the Golan district during the Second Temple period and the inhabitants supported themselves through agriculture.

The historian, Josephus, described the shape of the hilltop village, “like a camel.”   There were three major rebellions by the Jews against the Roman empire between 66 – 136 AD.  Gamble became an important stronghold for rebels and because of this, Gamla is a symbol of heroism for the modern state of Israel.

Back on our bus, we continued to drive north toward the Syrian border and stopped at an overlook. There were five young Israeli military men posted at the site. We spoke to them briefly and they said they were newly inducted into the army just two months ago.  All Israeli citizens over the age of 18 have mandatory military duty; men for 3 years and women for 2 years.   They looked very young!

Today the Golan Heights is used as training grounds for the Israeli military as well as an army base.  We passed yellow flags in the ground which mark land mines left over from the 1967 war.  However, there are also large tracts of land which have been developed for vineyards and cattle ranches.

We continued to the Druze village of Majdal Shams which is built on a high hill and located near the Syrian border.

We had a fantastic feast for lunch at a family owned restaurant called Al Yasmeen.  I used the “Here” app on my phone to tell me where we were.

The owner’s 25 year old son, Mashti, explained that the Druze faith is an Arab speaking religion which is separate from the Muslim religion.  They have a distinct theology and also believe in reincarnation. Druze people live primarily in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel.

We stopped at a local supermarket in the village of Majdal Shams before returning to our cabins at the Kibbutz.  We purchased some food to share later tonight for a communal picnic.

On the way back to the Kibbutz, we stopped at a rest stop which had four military tanks of display.  Rafi told us about his military service and we looked at the tanks.

Later in the evening, we had a lovely time on the promenade of the Kibbutz overlooking the valley.  As the sun set, we shared our breakfast leftovers and purchased snacks. It was an excellent way to end a very busy day exploring northern Israel.

Friday October 6, 2017     23 degrees C and sunny

The OAT group left the Haifa Bay Club Hotel in the morning and we drove to Capernaum, an ancient fishing village on the Sea of Galilee.  This is the town where Jesus is said to have lived for three years and performed some miracles.  A modern Memorial was built in 1990 above the excavated remains of an ancient house and a 5th century Byzantine octagonal church.

Under the Memorial, I saw the remains of a small octagonal building surrounding another structure.  According to legend, this was the house of the apostle Simon Peter.

Our group gathered in the shade of some trees and Alon Neeman, our assistant guide, told us the stories of the site and explained the excavations.

The most astonishing area in Capernaum were the ruins of a 4th century synagogue, which was built on the foundations of a 1st century synagogue.  The ruins include remarkable foundations, colonnades, seats, and walls covered with painted plaster and fine stucco work.

A plaque read: “The late fourth century AD ‘White Synagogue’ built upon the remains of the ‘Synagogue of Jesus.'”  The historical ruins of this building, with inscriptions in Greek and Aramaic, indicate that it is among the oldest synagogues in the world.

Then it was a short drive to the Roman Catholic chapel on the Mount of the Beatitudes.  This is the hill where Jesus is believed to have delivered the Sermon on the Mount.  The exact location is not known, and other nearby hills have been suggested, however this site has been commemorated for more than 1600 years.

The small chapel, which was built in an octagonal shape in 1938, was overflowing with foreign visitors.  The site is run by the Franciscan Sisters who operate a guesthouse on the property for Catholic pilgrims.  As the bus drove down from the chapel, I noticed that the hillside slopes down toward the Sea of Galilee and forms a natural amphitheater.

The bus drove to the shore and to the modern Yigal Allon Centre.  We walked through the center, down the dock, and boarded a large wooden boat to sail out on the Sea of Galilee.

The “Sea of Galilee” is actually a freshwater lake, also known in modern Hebrew as Lake Kinneret.  It is 13 miles long, 8 miles wide, and at its maximum depth is 141 feet deep.  The lake supplies about 10% of Israel’s drinking water, but unfortunately due to increased demand, the level of the water has decreased to dangerously low levels.

Lake Kinneret is located in northeastern Israel and is about 700 feet below sea level, making it the lowest freshwater lake on Earth.  The lake is fed partly by underground springs although its main source is the Jordan River.

Riding on the boat was so much fun!

The crew entertained us by raising an American flag, playing a variety of  loud music, giving a fishing lesson, and teaching the group how to dance the Hora on deck.

The boat docked and we went into the Yigal Allon Center to see the 2000 year old boat.

The unique 1st century boat was found buried in thick silt of the Sea of Galilee during a drought in 1986 when the water level was exceptionally low.  It was painstakingly removed from the sediment and preserved in the Yigal Allon Center.

It is believed to be the type of boats used for fishing and transportation on the lake approximately 2000 years ago.

Afterwards, we drove through the city of Tiberias on our way to lunch at a shoreside restaurant called Galei Gil.  Tiberias, named in honor of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, is located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.

There was a nice boardwalk along the shore which was crowded with families.  We ate a local dish called St. Peter’s Fish at the Galei Gil Restaurant.  This was a whole grilled tilapia served with French fries.

After lunch, we boarded the bus, drove around the northern end of the Sea of Galilee and stopped at the Yardenit Baptismal Site.  This site is located along the Jordan River near Kibbutz Kvutzat Kinneret which owns and manages the site.

It was a lovely location and several religious groups were lined up to immerse themselves in the river while other pilgrims were putting their feet in the cool waters.  The Yardenit Baptismal Site currently averages 400,000 visitors a year.

Another site in Jordan called Al-Maghtas has the earliest religious structures connected with baptisms or religious baths.  UNESCO declared Al-Maghtas (the Hebrew name is Qasr el Yahud) along with Jabal Mar-Elias, (Elijah’s Hill) on the east bank of the Jordan River a world heritage site in 2015.

We continued along the northern side of the Sea of Galilee and drove up the side of the mountain range known as the Golan Heights.  Our destination was the Kibbutz Kfar Haruv seen at the top of the hill in my photo taken from the bus.  It’s the little white building in the center near the top:

Here are views of the Sea of Galilee from the top of the Golan Heights:

We stopped at Kibbutz Kfar Haruv to spend the night.  The Kibbutz owns and operates the Peace Vista Country Lodge and Suites and rents rustic cabins for family vacations.

We had a pleasant evening and had dinner in the cafeteria where the Kibbutzniks eat. The westward view across the Sea of Galilee to the city of Tiberias was fantastic.