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.