Several in the group opted to rise early on Saturday and attend synagogue, but others took advantage of the down time in other ways (sleep, exercise, journaling, etc.)

At midmorning, a group of us began a walking tour of Jerusalem in areas around our hotel. Our guide, Shlomo, gave us a brief lesson on the history of Jerusalem as we walked to the Tower of David Museum.  On our way, we walked through the first neighborhood of the city that is now an artists’ colony, with beautiful residences and quaint studios dotting the streets.  We continued on, climbing Mount Zion.

The Tower museum, housed in an ancient castle, is a wonderful accumulation of history with many interactive exhibits throughout.  I could’ve spent the day there, but we blew through much of it.  We climbed the Citadel and were greeted by amazing panoramic views of the city, including the closest quarters of the Old City—the Christian Quarter and the Armenian Quarter.  The Citadel was built by Herod the Great some 2,000 years ago, and its strategic position at the city gates served all of Jerusalem’s successive conquerors.

We enjoyed another amazing meal, as our entire group gathered at The American Colony Hotel for lunch.

Located just around the corner from the hotel is the Garden Tomb, believed to be the place where the body of Jesus was placed after his death on the cross, and where he would later rise to walk again.  Though the garden was beautifully manicured, and the cave, which was discovered in 1867, as well as Golgotha Hill, were all quite moving to see, I found myself a bit put off by the huge gift shop within a stone’s throw away from the tomb (pun intended), to be a bit Disneyworld-ish.  Understandably, the site was overrun with buses and tour groups just like ours, but the lines forming to make the way through the garden and into the tomb took away from the sacredness of the place.  I don’t think everyone would agree with me, but that’s how I found the experience. That said, I have reflected many times on the blessing of being there will always be grateful to have seen it for myself.

Shabbat ended with a time of reflection on how calendar and time shape our collective identity.  This time of sharing was followed by Havdalah—the ceremony of blessings and symbols which ends the day of rest and separates the light of day from the darkness of nightfall, the higher beauty of Shabbat from the common pursuits of the week.

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Now we’re off to Nazareth, the town where Jesus was raised, and Israel’s largest Arab city, home to both Christians and Muslims.  The drive is a pleasant hour south from Tiberius.  Marc pulled out his guitar on the bus and many let loose with “This Little Light of Mine,” “Michael Row the Boat Ashore” and “Give God the Glory” to name a few.  Clearly, we’ve bonded with one another and have become comfortable enough to sing anything—as evidenced by the Beatles’ tunes and other oldies but goodies.  (For the record, I wasn’t familiar with many of those OLD songs!)

As we had on our way to Tiberius, we passed through the village of Cana, a place where couples regularly come to renew their vows.  Today, it is a Muslim village with a few Christians living there.  A bit further south, we enter Nazareth, population 70,000 (2/3 Muslim; 1/3 Christian).  By comparison, in Jesus’ time, Nazareth was 100-150 Christian people.  It’s a bit disheartening to see things like KFC, ACE Hardware and other evidences of Western commercialism a mere stone’s throw from the Church of the Annunciation. Somehow, I’d envisioned these sites as they’ve always been in my childlike mind’s eye.  Whatever “quaintness” there may have been is long gone.

The Church of the Annunciation is the location believed to be where Mary was told by the angel Gabriel that she would bear a son and name him Jesus.  The current church structure was erected in the 1970s, but the original church was constructed in the 5th century.  Today’s building is totally concrete with a limestone façade, the architectural style of the ‘70s.  This active church is the largest basilica in the Middle East.

We left Nazareth for Beit Alfa, the location of a synagogue which houses an excavated and preserved mosaic floor.  The story goes that the kibbutz (like a co-op) which owns the land, had plans to build a dining hall on this certain location, but when they began digging,  they discovered this hidden treasure.  The mosaic includes the signs of the Zodiac and a depiction of binding of Isaac.

We stopped for lunch and a tour at Beit She’am National Park, the location of a 600-acre excavation of an ancient city. It is Israel's most extensive archeological site.  In addition to a main street, evidences of shops and a large bath house, there is a well-known Roman-style theatre at the site. 

As we proceeded further south to Jerusalem, our guide noted the Jordan River to our left and the border to the West Bank about a mile away from our path.  We soon left lush surroundings and entered desert—dry and sandy hills and valleys.  We passed by Jericho, the location of the famous sycamore tree where Zaccheus climbed up to see Jesus passing by.  We spotted camels several times along the way as well—both in fields as we drove by as well as at gas stations, ready for hire.  The advice I received prior to my trip was, “If you decide to ride a camel and pay to do so, know that you’ll also have to pay to be helped down off of the camel as well.” I don’t think I’ll be riding a camel.

We entered Jerusalem and took in the panoramic view the Mount of Olives (Mount Scopus) provides of the city.  We stopped here for a brief service of prayer, blessing and thanksgiving as we prepared to enter this holy city.

After checking in to our hotel, we made our way to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount.  It is the most revered holy site in Judaism.  Being there,  observing a group of young men in their 20s passionately singing and praying—and praying at the  wall myself was one of the most meaningful experiences of the trip for me to date.  It was touching to see all the prayers stuck in the wall, the money placed in the cracks of the wall as well, and also witnessing boys in elementary school praying next to 90-year-olds.  The ritual spoke to me and I was grateful.

Shabbat began at sundown.  We went to Moreshet Avraham Synagogue for services and a shared meal with members of the congregation.  There were many highlights for our group, one of which was witnessing the blessing of the children, a customary part of Shabbat dinner each week.  Many parents in our group couldn’t wait to phone home and share a blessing with our own children.

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