Chapter 15 Thurs. May 12th Old Gesher & Meggido (Armageddon)

The day started with the sad news that our beloved friend, Artie Heilweil, passed away last night. Tears were shed but not for the last time on this trip.

We're driving thru the Jezreel Valley Jezreel Valley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and are told that there was a tsunami 100,000 years ago that filled the valley with water. This water slowly receded over the next 40,000 creating the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, which, because of more evaporation than rainfall, became extremely salty. We pass the first kibbutz, Gania, established in 1909 next to the Sea of Galilee. It was not started with the same social outlook as kibbutzim that followed. It was started by a bunch of kids who knew nothing about farming but wanted to farm in the holy land. Luckily for them, the land was very fertile and they prospered.

We arrive at Gesher on the Jordanian border where important battles in the war for independence occurred.

Ronit tells us the story of Pinchas Rutenberg and his electric company. The King of Jordan gives Rutenberg the rights to build plant in exchange for electricity and money. The plant took 7 years to build and the King leases the land to Rutenberg for 70 years (1927 - 1997) but a few wars intercede.The plant produced 90% of the electricity of Israel until the Jordanians bombed the plant in 1948. She also told of the battles that were fought here against the British trained Jordanian army. Old Gesher,israel attractions, israel tours, private tour israel ...

Ronit tells us about the Arab nations dropping flyers for 2-3 weeks prior to War of Independence  advising the Arab residents to evacuate their homes, let the Arab armies drive the Israelis into the sea and then return to their Judenfrei land 2 weeks later. Well, things didn't quite turn out that way but none of the surrounding Arab nations (Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Egypt) would accept these Arab refugees.  The cease fire gave Israel international borders but not peace.

We next hear tales of biblical battles fought here eons ago by Saul, his sons and his heirs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul Some it sounds more brutal than "King of Thrones".

We then travel to Meggido. The original name of the area is Har Megiddo (mountain water of Giddo) which is translated into English as "Armageddon. Looking out onto the Jezreel Valley from Megiddo, you can see why the ancients thought the final battle of good vs. evil would take place here. If ever there was a place on earth that looks like a battlefield, this is it.

Megiddo has a 7,000 year history and was conquered 25 times (but whose counting). Megiddo controlled the road from Egypt to Mesopotamia and was finally abandoned in the 4th century BCE. You can see Mt. Tabor from the top of the ruins. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Tabor

We took a tour of the cistern down 183 steps and through a tunnel and then back up again. Pretty spooky.

Chapter 14 Dinner with Druze family

From Safed, we drive to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to a Druze village past many miles of pine trees planted by JNF - thank you Toby. We drive thru the Karmi'el valley Karmiel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia past miles of olive groves 100's of years old towards the town of Sajur Sajur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

There are 1/2 million Druze in Israel, 1 mill. in Syria and 1 mill. in Lebanon. There towns are located mostly on the tops of hills for safety because they were hunted by the Turks when the Ottoman Empire ruled the area. What unites Druze are their religion and not their politics so the Druze are loyal to whichever country they reside in. The Israeli Druze serve in the military (unlike other Israeli Arabs) and then many go on to careers in the police or other security jobs. Our bus driver from Jerusalem to Eilat was of Druze extraction and a very pleasant, personable fellow.

According to Ronit, Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses started the religion but that conflicts with the history of the Druze on Wikipedia Druze - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. It's a very interesting history and worth a read.

 Other relevant facts told to us by our group leader are:
     The Druze kept the books open for 23 yrs and then closed the books to new members;
     In order to be considered Druze, both parents must be Druze
     If a Druze marries outside the faith, he can't come back to the village;
     They are monotheists that believe in reincarnation
     There are 2 versions - religious and non-religious and you can be either but if you declare yourself religious, then your wife must also be religious;
     That being said, men and women have equal rights;
     The religious wear traditional garb and the non-religious wear western style clothing;
     There flag contains 5 colors symbolizing the following: Red - Love, White - Purity, Yellow - Wheat, Blue - Sky, Green - Nature
     There temples are very simple and they don't turn them into shrines;
    Men and women sit separately at services;
     If your not religious, you don't have access to the prayer book; I found this idea interesting in that you don't have access to the rules until you decide to play the game;
     There is no right of passage and no day of rest;
     You can't eat pork or drink alcohol and there is an aphrodisiac herb that you are forbidden to eat.

The wife cooked the side dishes and the sons barbecued the meat for us. All of it was delicious and abundant. Drinks were lemonade or water.

After the meal, Rabbi Mark presented our hosts with the gift of a very large tablecloth.

Once dessert had been finished, we ended the evening by singing Oseh Shalom.

Chapter 13 Safed (Tsvat)

Safed is mentioned in the Talmud but not the Bible. It is a 16th century town with an influx from the Spanish Inquisition. Safed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia It is one of the 4 religious towns in Israel, the others being Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberias. It becomes the center for Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) - I'm not sure if Madonna owns a home there. Rabbi Itzak Luria settled there and he is known as the father of modern Kabbalah.

Went to Rabbi Caro synagogue and said kaddish for Joe Cruise.

Went into a couple of other synagogues with interesting arks and other decor.

There were many artists around painting, weaving etc.

While we were shopping on one of the main streets, we came across the shop of Rafael Abecassis whose art work we have hanging in Temple Bet Yam.

This was one of the most picturesque towns we visited and one that we would have liked to spend much more time exploring.

Chapter 12 Golan Heights

On to the Golan Heights and a history lesson. The French created Syria in 1944 and gave Syria the Golan in 1946. The French just wanted to get out and they would never give territory to the British which ruled Palestine at the time. The Syrians used the Golan as a launching pad to rain thousands of missiles down on Israeli communities and Israel captured the Golan during the 1967 war.


We drive up Mt. Bentel which overlooks the Golan. We pass vineyards, cattle grazing on open range and lots of military bases with their flags flying - Orange/Black are Engineers, Green/Black are Armor (see the picture of Latrun) and Red/White are paratroopers. (I couldn't write fast enough to jot down the other services).


 The snow capped Mt. Hamon is 1/2 Syrian and 1/2 Israeli and is 9,000 ft. high (remember this is May).

To the left of the mountain is the Lebanese border. It was cool and very windy the day we were there.


Road sign.

The strip that looks like a brown dirt road in the picture below, is the  Syrian border.

Chapter 11 Wed. May 11th Tiberias, Gamla and Katzrin

We traveled along the Sea of Galilee through Tiberias where Maimonides is buried. We cross over the Jordan River which looks more like Bushkill Creek during the dry season than a mighty river. I was surprised by the size in the same manner as the first time I saw Plymouth Rock and had a "You've got to be kidding" moment. The Galilee supplies all the drinking and wash water for Israel and there is very little desalination being done.

We went to the museum to see artifacts proving that there was Jewish habitation in Gamla for more than the past 1500 years.

Toured the ruins at Katzrin and saw a doorpost with an ancient Mezuzah that looks like it was made of bone. Katzrin was established around the 5th century and artifacts found date to the 8th century proving the Diaspora occurred only 1200 years ago and not 2,000 as generally believed.

We sat in the ancient ruins of the synagogue. The Bima faces west because it didn't matter that it face Jerusalem (I forget the explanation).

There was a major earthquake in the 8th century which destroyed the town.

Chapter 10 Kibbutz Lavi

Kibbutz Lavi started as an agricultural kibbutz but now the tourist hotel is the main revenue stream.

Nice comfy beds, flat screen TV & free Wi-Fi. Dining room looked like a cafeteria but the food was tasty, abundant and fresh. The food was Glatt Kosher unlike the other hotels which were just plain Kosher (or maybe Kosher style).

There was a couple from Haifa named Bela and Sholom who had joined us for a Congregational Seder in St. Augustine about 3 years ago that joined us for dinner at the kibbutz. They had waited for us at the B'Hai Gardens for 2 hrs never realizing that we were just going to quickly get out of the bus and snap a few pictures before traveling on. Phyllis K. was finally able to get in touch with them so it all worked out well.

During dinner I see this really tall young man at the salad bar who looks very familiar to me but I can't quite place the face. He sees me and then hears Rabbi do the motzi and his face lights up as he makes the same connection. It is Sam Hayes, one of Rabbi Mark's Flagler students who had just graduated and was given the Israel trip as a present by his father who he was traveling with. He is going to Seminary in NW Alabama near Birmingham where he will study for the priesthood. What are the odds?

After dinner, we attended a very informative lecture about kibbutz life given by a young woman named Elisheva. She has 6 children and is married to a physician. All the money they earn is turned over to the kibbutz and they have a budget they have to stay within and the kibbutz pays for everything. I still don't get the concept and she didn't sound real ecstatic about it.  She stated that she doesn't understand why anyone stays on the kibbutz. Statistically 30-40% of the kids come back to the kibbutz after military service and the rest leave to make lives of their own choosing. There are about 270 kibbutz in Israel. About 180 families with approximately 700 people live on Lavi.

There are beautiful rose gardens on the property.

Chapter 9 Tues. May 10th cont. Akko (Acre)

We traveled across Haifa Bay to Akko which was built by the Crusaders who raped and pillaged the area and murdered many of the inhabitants. It's a huge stone fortress that was later used by the British as a police station and later used by Otto Preminger as a set in the movie "Exodus" depicting the actual jailbreak of Irgun members during the 1948 war from this jail. Our tour began at the Sally Port thru the dining area, meeting room, crypt and escape tunnel.

 The courtyard outside had wide steps so that animals could be lead up the stairs.

Prior to touring the fort, we had lunch at a sit down falafel stand that was organized chaos and one of the few tourist traps we encountered. Falafel was $10 Yikes! Pomegranate/OJ mixture was $7/glass (wine in the hotel didn't cost that much)  and a small piece of halavah was $7 Double yikes! 3- 4 tour buses arrived at the same time and it was a madhouse and all I could hear were angry Germans, angry French and annoyed Americans demanding service and waiters yelling orders into kitchen. Even Ronit and the bus driver got into the act taking orders and waiting on tables to make sure we were taken care of - Kudos to both of them or we'd still be there waiting to be served. Ronit commented it might be the last time she uses that restaurant which wasn't really bad quality wise, just really crowded.

So now it's time for the bus to pick us up and he could only go so far as a plaza close to the fort. There are cars all over trying to make their way back out of the plaza and our bus driver is trying to make U-turn in area that looks absolutely impossible. Artie runs behind bus to help driver navigate and I thought Ronit would have a cow yelling at him to watch out he doesn't get hit. It all worked out OK but I still can't believe he was able to make the U-turn in the space he had - you had to see the size of the bus and how little room there was. Then it was another 20 minutes going up the narrow road leading away from the plaza trying to maneuver around cars heading the other way. Applause rang out as we finally got on our way to Kibbutz Lavi where we would spend the next 2 days.

Chapter 8 May 10th cont. Haifa

Back on the bus, we drive along the Carmel ridge on the way to Haifa. Ronit informs us that the communities with the orange roofs are the Jewish areas and the block houses, many of which are uncompleted, where there is laundry hanging from balconies and look very shabby are the Arab areas. She then goes on to explain at great length why Arab areas look the way they do. I assume what I was told is accurate but there maybe details that I wrote down incorrectly so with that disclaimer out of the way - Arabs, when they build, do not necessarily apply for zoning approval or submit plans to any governmental authority. They also do not pay their taxes (not sure if they completely refuse or just don't pay fair share). In addition, the children stay with their parents so the eldest son will build above the father's house and other siblings may also add on to the existing structure. When parents die, the offspring move into the parents house and the siblings rearrange their living quarters. Over time, this results in neighborhoods with streets either blocked or so narrow that garbage trucks , emergency vehicles, etc can't get thru. Then the Arabs complain that they don't receive any services. Quite a balagan (you can look on-line for the translation to this frequently used Hebrew word - think SNAFU). There are other Arab communities populated by Druze (more about them later) who do pay taxes and don't have extended families living on top of each other which look much better and comparable to Jewish areas. We all had dinner with a Druze family and I'll touch on that subject later in this blog.

We arrive in Haifa, take a brief tour of the city by bus and then stop for a photo-op of the B'Hai Gardens which we did not have enough time to tour.  Bahá'í Faith - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ronit talked for awhile about the German Colony in Haifa which was founded in the mid 19th century. Many left in the 1930's to join the SS or Wehrmacht and the rest were thrown out by the British. The Germans were hostile to the surrounding Jews (no surprise there). There were no 1/2 timbered houses but the style looked somewhat like houses in Germany.

On the bus ride to Akko (Acre), we talked about Russian and Ethiopian immigrants assimilating into the Israeli culture. Generally speaking, Ethiopians assimilated OK but the Russians were not so easily assimilated (I didn't write down the reasons for this so maybe someone could comment, if you remember).

Chapter 7 Tues May 10th Caesarea

Up at 6:30 to be on the road by 8 am. Driving thru Tel Aviv. Buildings look like old style Russian block buildings and very shabby. On the road to Caesarea we pass thru Herzliya Herzliya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia which is the Silicon Valley of Israel with buildings named Microsoft, Google etc. Beautiful neighborhoods with new apartment complexes. Next we drove thru Netanya Netanya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia which also has numerous high tech firms that built here because land costs and taxes are less than Herzliya. We finally arrive at the aqueduct at Caesarea where we leave the bus for a walking tour



of the Roman and Crusader ruins. Caesarea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The stadium has been restored and is used for concerts. What a beautiful venue on the Mediterranean. Maybe 2000 years from now, someone will say the same thing about the St. Augustine Amphitheater.