Day 11-Dubai to Venice-LEISURELY GALILEE-Port of Haifa, ISRAEL

We arrived in the Port of Haifa at 6:30 AM. Early breakfast to ready ourselves for our LEISURELY GALILEE excursion.

Haifa is perched on the slopes of the Mount Carmel range. The city is a blend of cultures wth many churches, mosques and synagogues. There is even surprisingly to me the Baha'i Shrine and Gardens. Multi-culture very apparent with signs in Arabic and Hebrew.

Below is a map showing Israel in relation to neighboring countries. Israel is the tiny red area, close in size to New Jersey, surrounded by 22 Arab/Islamic countries. Being in Israel made me very aware how vulnerable Israel really is.

 Again, we board a motor coach for our touring. Our guide is Zachary. He laughingly tells us that many call him Jacques, but he is not sure why. He points out how we can see the border with Syria, northern Israel and Lebanon and reminds us how very small Israel is. He tells us we will cross the whole country today, 9 miles wide and 280 miles long. Looking at the map I see the West Bank, named thus by Jordan after they invaded Judea and Samaria, occupied them and renamed them.

The map below helps me understand Zachary's words. I will never question our support of Israel in the Mideast. It is a wee Democratic stronghold. If our support goes anywhere, it is there. Yes, I never was aware of how really small and vulnerable Israel is. 

a. 3 miles wide here
b. Golan Heights
c. Sea of Galilee.   
d. Jordan River... Sea of Galilee
     to Dead Sea
e. 1967 "Green Line"... the 1949
     armistice lines separating
     Israel from its heartland of
     Judea-Samaria when Jordanian
     forces annexed it. After the
     1967 Arab-Israeli war, Israel
      regained that land... at which time
      the world began referring to Judea and
      Samaria as the "West Bank."
f.  9 miles wide here
g. Tel Aviv
h. Jerusalem
i.  Dead Sea
j.  Gaza Strip

Zachary tells us we are heading to Galilee where Jesus spent most of his life, and he points out how green everything is, a perfect green from winter rains. "Come back in two months and everything will be brown." He makes you feel you are visiting at a perfect time. 

We ascend the Mount of Beatitudes on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus delivered His famous sermon. The setting is so peaceful with markers proclaiming the beatitudes.

One lone Franciscan missionary sister preaches to us on proper behavior on the grounds and church.

        Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. 

Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted. 

Blessed are the meek: for they will inherit the earth. 

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful: for they will be shown mercy. 

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they will see God. 

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.                                                                                                                             Matthew 5:3-12

Our next stop was the Chuch of the Multiplication  commemorating Jesus feeding the multitudes with loaves and fishes. It sits on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. The modern church rests on the site of two earlier churches.

Note: rock under altar that held the loaves and fishes to feed the multitude

        mosaic from original church

The earliest recording of a church commemorating Jesus' feeding of the five thousand is by the Spanish pilgrim Egeria circaAD 380.

"Not far away from there (Capernaum) are some stone steps where the Lord stood. And in the same place by the sea is a grassy field with plenty of hay and many palm trees. By them are seven springs, each flowing strongly. And this is the field where the Lord fed the people with the five loaves and two fishes. In fact the stone on which the Lord placed the bread has now been made into an altar. Past the walls of this church goes the public highway on which the Apostle Matthew had his place of custom. Near there on a mountain is a cave to which the Savior climbed and spoke the Beatitudes."

The church was significantly enlarged around the year 480 with floor mosaics also added at this time. These renovations are attributed to the patriarch Matryios. In AD 614 Persians destroyed the original Byzantine church, and the exact site of the shrine was lost for some 1,300 years. In 1888 the site was acquired by the German Catholic society (Deutsche Katholische Palaestinamission) which was associated with the Archdiocese of Cologne. An initial archeological survey was conducted in 1892, with full excavations beginning in 1932. These excavations resulted in the discovery of mosaic floors from the 5th-century church, which was also found to be built on the foundations of a much smaller 4th-century chapel. The current church was built to the same floor plan as the 5th-century Byzantine church. Since 1939 it has been administered by the Benedictine order as a daughter-house of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem.

On 17 June 2015, the church was significantly damaged by an arson attack committed by Jewish extremists. Hebrew graffiti, with the words “the false gods will be eliminated” (quoted from the  Aleinu prayer), was sprayed on the church walls and follows a history of right-wing Jewish extremist arson and graffiti attacks against Christian sites.  Israeli officials have labelled the attack as "terrorism". “Whatever repairs are not covered by insurance must be paid for by the Israeli government,” said Wadie Abunassar, media spokesman for the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land. “We believe this attack was tantamount to a terror attack, and when there is a terror attack the state is responsible for paying for compensation and prosecutes the perpetrators.”

             Arson by terrorists

               Damage from terrorists

In late July 2015, four Israeli Jews age 18 to 24 (plus an unnamed minor) were arrested by the Israel police and indicted for the arson. The suspects are reportedly associated with the Jewish extremist, ultra-nationalist "Hilltop Youth".

THE RIVER JORDAN mentioned so many times in the Bible particularly as the location of the Baptism of Jesus by JOHN THE BAPTIST. We visited Yardenit Baptismal Site. It was such a  beautiful, peaceful setting. Many royal families take water from the Jordan to use in the Baptism of their children.

NAZARETH-We viewed the Church of the Annunciation built over spot where Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her she would be the mother of the Savior. 

         Church of the Annunciation

We traveled the countryside where Jesus "increased in wisdom and years." We are nearing the time to end our two day tour of the Holy Land. Our ship, Splendour of the Seas, waits in the port of Haifa, Israel. This has been incredible with Jerusalem and Bethlehem yesterday and Galilee today. We fit a lot into these 18.5 hours  of touring. I feel satisfied and so happy we had this opportunity. 

It is a blessed land. Amen.

A final surprise as we near the ship...

The views are wonderful. Surprisingly there is a large garden and temple area of the Baha'i Faith. Surprised to find this in Israel.

Back on the ship in time for dinner. All aboard by 4:30 PM. We will sail away from the Holy Land shortly thereafter.

We exchange smiles and gestures with our Brazillian table mates. 

Tonight's showtime is Graffiti Classics. We have seen this before. Good but not as surprising the second time.

Early to bed.