Israel - Masada, Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee

Masada – we arrived in the Port of Ashdod, Israel and were picked up by our tour guide and driven an hour and a half to a famous Israeli site called Masada.  This sight has both historical and religious significance as it is used as a symbol of Jewish strength of faith and willingness to die for that faith.

The site is on a high butte out in the desert where 300 hundred Jews were trapped by the Roman Legions trying to bring the Jewish rebellion under control.  The Jews fought off the Roman Legions for months and were only defeated after the Romans using hundreds of slaves built a ramp up the side of the butte and were ready to break through the barriers.  The night before this occurred the Jewish combatants and their families decided that they would prefer death to the torture, rape, slavery and imprisonment of the Romans.  The complete community of remaining Jews (men, women and children) a total of 300 hundred committed suicide and when the Romans broke through the barriers the next day they were overwhelmed by what they found.

The Israeli Army takes their special forces and airborne recruits to Masada upon the night of their graduation to present their wings and have them take their oath of loyalty.

These are the Israeli wings that are set ablaze at night during the wings presentation ceremony

One thing we found extraordinary was that there were a lot of Israeli school children on school trips at the site and all the escorts both teachers and assistants were armed with rifles and pistols and each group had a large medical back pack.  Our guide told us it was Israeli law that all teachers escorting students away from the school must be armed to protect the students in the event of an incident.  Of course every able bodied Israeli adult has had military training and knows how to handle a weapon.  I thought it was an interesting way of introducing some class discipline in Canada but Sam said I was being too extreme.

Yuri our Israeli guide standing beside a model of Masada

Walls of Masad looking out over the Dead Sea

School teacher with rifle

                                                         Ramp the Roman Legions built

 Dead Sea – we next drove to the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth.  It is some 545 feet below sea level.  As we descended to the valley our ears actually popped.  Once at a spa located on the sea we changed and went for a swim or as close to a swim as you could get in the sea.  The saline levels are so high that it is impossible to sink.  They recommend that you walk out to just above waist level then sit down as if you were going into a chair, you are immediately rolled onto your back.  It is very difficult to stand up and you have to fight to get your legs down.  If you get the water in your eyes or mouth it burns like hell and the only way you get relief is to go ashore and rinse in a fresh water shower.  It was a real bizarre sensation and not one that I found not all that enjoyable, but I am glad I experienced it J

Dead Sea with a canal directly infront to drain off water to get salt.

Jerusalem – after the Dead Sea we drove to Jerusalem for the night.  Our guide picked us up at the hotel after we had a chance to shower and refresh and dropped us off downtown.  The area was very lively with young people however, even here there was an extraordinary amount of weapons as all on duty/uniformed Israeli soldiers actually carry their weapons.

The next morning we toured Jerusalem and followed the Via Dolorosa or “Via Crucis” the path of the Stations of the Cross that Jesus was led to his crucifixion.  It is very interesting as it crosses from the Jewish section to the Armenian section to the Arab section of the city.  At many spots it is hard to understand the religious significance as it is more of a commercial operation than a religious site. For example there was a “T-Shirt shop named the Fourth Station of the Cross T-shirt Shop” it went on to say that they would offer a tourist discount on volume purchases.

We also visited the Wailing Wall.  It is an interesting site as in came about as this was the closest Jews were allowed to the holy sites in Bethlehem, the Jews consider this description of the wall as an insult because it was used by the Palestinians to describe the Jews praying at the wall.  The interesting thing at the wall is that men go to one site and ladies to another.  While there I saw Israeli soldiers praying with their rifles slung over their shoulders alongside of Jewish orthodox worshipers, which the Israelis call “Black Hats” these are the orthodox Jews who wear the black hats and have the long side locks.

Via Dolorosa Station number 4 of the Way of the Cross

I first thought it was Jesus coming back but it was just an American tourist dressed up like him

Wailing wall

Men at the wailing wall women are in a separate area

Bethlehem – in the afternoon our Israeli guide dropped us off at the security wall that separates Jerusalem from Bethlehem and we were picked up by a Palestinian guide, Israelis are not allowed to enter Bethlehem as it is controlled by the Palestinian Liberation Organization.  The Palestinian guide then took us to the area where Jesus was supposedly born and to the churches that had been built to honour different religious occurrences that had occurred in the area.

Site where Jesus was suppose to have been born

We returned to the ship that night and we sailed to the port of Haifa to meet our same guide who drove there.  Haifa was his home town.

Nazareth – our guide picked us up in the port of Haifa and we drove to Nazareth.  At Nazareth we stopped at the church of the Annunciation on the site where the Holy Spirit supposedly told the Virgin Mary she would give birth to Jesus.  We also visited the ancient town where Joseph was born and worked; this town is also thought of as the place where Jesus was raised.  There however does not seem to be any records of his youth.

Door to the church of the Annunciatiom

The Sea of Galilee – in the afternoon we visited the area where Jesus spent his time preaching before his death.  We also visited the River Jordan where Saint John the Baptist was said to have baptized many people.

Benedictine Monastery looking over the Sea of Galilee

Part of our group at the Monastery

People being Baptized in the River Jordan