Visit to Turkey & Israel, Part 2
November 2011
Our touring continued on from Turkey to Israel after a long but pleasant stopover at Istanbul airport, again the ladies making up for any shopping they might have missed at the Grand bazaar. All for the best, because we found Israel to be hardly conducive to shopping.
After a short flight we landed in Tel Aviv where to our pleasant surprise, we did not have to pay for the visa, being American citizens. Having heard that Israeli security is very tight, we expected to be searched and questioned, but neither happened. We were met at the airport and since the evening was still young, we were taken for a viewing of the old city of Jaffa on the Mediterranean shore from a high point. It is really a part of Tel Aviv we were told, but in 1948 most of the Arabs fled depleting the population and Tel Aviv was rebuilt. Now there are specific areas where Arab Muslims, Jews and Catholics reside. The sunset was beautiful and we savored the moment. After all, how many times were we going to be lucky enough to see the sun sinking into the Mediterranean sea in a glorious burst of pink and red?
Frankly, many of us did not know what to expect from a sight-seeing tour of Israel. Our focus had been on the Turkey portion of it and we did have a lot of fun and excitement there, each day outdoing the previous one in the amazing sights presented before us. But Israel from the first moment, was a deeply spiritual experience. We are Hindus, our psyche is open to understanding that God is one and to have the chance to experience the land of the One who is accepted as the son of God by a huge part of the population the world over, was really special. In fact we found similarities between Christ and Krishna. For example, Krishna escaped death when he was a baby by being spirited far away from his place of birth where Kamsa had ordered every male child under two years to be killed mercilessly. Similarly, Christ and his parents fled to Egypt for several years to escape the death threat for all babies under two decreed by King Herod who was threatened by the announced arrival of the Messiah.
Aerial View of Old Jerusalem
Our first full day in the holy city of Jerusalem (how lucky were we, when so many long to tread on that holy ground?) began with a spectacular view from the Mount of Olives. The whole city was spread out below us with several domes of churches and mosques visible all around. We could see the walled city of Old Jerusalem, the actual gates, referred to as the Golden gate through which Jesus had walked through. Though these two arches are now bricked in and closed, we would later walk through another gate very close by. In the foreground we could see many graves marked by full size stone covers similar to the Egyptian sarcophaguses’, also referred to as bone boxes. The reason, we were told was that when resurrection happened as promised in the Bible, those nearest would be the first to enjoy that privilege!
We walked for over three hours, following the path known as Via Dolorosa, the path of grief, tracing the tragic events that happened in the life of Jesus leading to his crucifixion. The first church along the path shaped as a teardrop, the Dominick Flevit church. Here it is said He wept, knowing the fate of Jerusalem. Then down the steep, slopey road to the Garden of Gethsemane where we viewed olive trees hundreds of years old.
Our next important stop was the viewing of the miniature outdoor model of the old city of Jerusalem, replicated to show how it was in the days of Jesus. The entire walled city was beautiful to see with amazing scale models of everything. Near it was the museum of the Dead Sea scrolls. Apparently, these scrolls were unearthed not too long ago by a shepherd who went looking for a lost goat. They were found in a cave near the Dead Sea, placed in jars. Eleven jars with scrolls written in Hebrew describe the austere life of the Essins, a group of monastic people as they lived 1900 years ago. They are now exhibited underground in a climate controlled white dome-like structure.
No visit to Israel would be complete without a visit to the Yad Vashem, the museum that recaptures the Holocaust, the extermination of 6 million Jewish people. Hitler, it is told, won the confidence of the people with promises to improve the economy but once he came to power, he wanted to crush all those that he considered to be of inferior race with vengeance. He took over lands of other nations, humiliated its people and built the infamous concentration camps where thousands of people were killed in groups. The exhibit has many, many rooms of authentic photographs with detailed captions, recordings, movie clips and the testimonials of those who escaped from the persecution. It is a visit that will be always etched in our memory and our heart ached for the innocents that were killed or needlessly separated from their loved ones.
After lunch we left Jerusalem and headed north to Haifa. Though it was a rainy day, it cleared up just enough for us to get a panoramic view of the Baha’i temple gardens descending in steep terraces, beautifully maintained by volunteers, almost all the way down to the sea.
The slippery conditions prevented us from climbing down, but the view as worthwhile. We then proceeded to drive to Mt. Carmel. Set on top of a hill, we got a wonderful view of the entire countryside. Here a small chapel commemorates the clash between the forces of good and evil and the natural victory of good. Names that were heard a long time ago like Elijah, Jezebel and Baal figured in the clash that finally established the supremacy of the Lord.
We reached Nazareth and concluded our day’s travel. The next day our tour began early with a visit to the Basilica of Annunciation. Simply put, here was the beautiful church where an angel (Archangel Gabriel) came down to Mary, a sensitive and noble woman, who played a great role in the life of Jesus, besides giving birth to him. The angel “announced” that she would have a baby who would be born to her, Virgin Mary, of an immaculate conception. This baby would be the Messiah or Son of God and would change the way man lived and prayed. Fearful for the safety of the baby, Mary and Joseph travelled all the way to Bethlehem to give birth. At a later date, when Jesus was a young man, they returned to the Nazareth region and it was here that Jesus gave his sermons and collected a band of followers. He performed some miracles too, reluctantly but out of necessity.
The gardens and flowers surrounding the church on the Mount of Beatitude were so nice, we lingered outside and wished we had more time to just relax. This was the original place where the Sermon on the Mount was given by Christ. Eight blessings are mentioned and the church too is re-built in an octagonal shape. The qualities he spoke about were justice, prudence, fortitude, charity, faith, temperance and hope, the seven riches that man should seek.
We viewed the beautiful church commissioned to be re-built by Italy. Italian marble and mosaic was used but it was built by Israeli craftsmen. The high conical dome was shaped like a flower. One unforgettable feature was the exhibits of Madonna – the holy mother, with the child in her arms. So many countries had sent their own versions, replicas from famous churches and our group was particularly fascinated by the Velankanni church from Tamil Nadu, India, that had sent the beautiful statue of Mary draped in a white sari and a crown upon her head and the baby Jesus too with a little crown.
To tell you the truth, we saw so many churches in Nazareth that it is now a whirl in our memories, even with notes taken. Capernaum and Cana were names that stayed with us, associated with the life of Jesus.. To mention the most notable, we did see the two where miracles were performed.
At one where a wedding was taking place and the hosts ran out of wine, Jesus was requested to help and he converted 6 huge casks of water into wine, with just one sip of water. In the second miracle, there were the multiplication of loaves of bread and fish till all were fed. This is depicted by an ancient mosaic of two fish with a loaf in between. The Church of Beatitudes where He gave his Sermon on the Mount. Understand that these churches are in the best of condition being constantly maintained and re-built in case of catastrophe but preserving the original purpose. Lastly, by the sea of Galilee, we viewed a church dedicated to St. Peter and we also saw the “home” where He lived with his parents as a guest of Peter, in Capernaum. In this humble home, the disciples would gather. He handed over his leadership to Peter just by saying “tend to my sheep”. It is well preserved with a glass ceiling and over it a church is built. We enjoyed the few moments where we walked down to the sea and sat on rocks by its edge.
Last but not the least, we viewed an ancient and huge synagogue and next to it an excavated Jewish village. Much like our Hindu temples, when a synagogue is built 1000s of coins are buried in its foundation and that is how the later generations knew that it was a synagogue during its excavation.
Cruise on Sea of Galilee
One of the highlights of our visit to Israel was an hour long ride on the Sea of Galilee in a wooden boat, the replica of a fishing boat used in olden times. Ours was called King David. Though called a sea, Galilee is actually a fresh water lake fed by the Jordan river. Our group had exclusive use of the boat and got a rousing welcome with the playing of the Indian national anthem.
The sun came out and brightened our cruise and we also got a taste of Israeli dance when the crew demonstrated for us and actually made us dance on the deck! All around us was the unspoiled countryside and it was very easy to imagine how it might have been thousands of years ago in the time of Jesus and his disciples. We had driven past the Village of Magdala named for Mary Magdalene, a friend and follower of Jesus and from the boat we got a view of the Golan Heights. All too soon the trip came to an end. After we had our dinner at an outdoor restaurant on the pier we took our bus back to Ben Gurion airport at Tel Aviv. We used up our remaining shekels buying Turkish delights and chocolates before we boarded our flight.
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