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5/15/09
Today we were doing quite a bit of traveling. We left the Kibbutz in Upper Galilee and headed first to Tzfat (aka Safed). In Tzfat there is quite a bit of history to discover. In 1492, when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain gave the Jewish residents in Spain a choice. Convert of leave. The Jews who left came back to the holy land and found the town of Tzfat which was under Muslim rule (they came here because in Spain they lived peacefully with the Muslims, so they wanted the same thing in the holy land).
Tzfat has a staircase leading through the center of the town where there was originally a division between the Jews and Arabs. In one of the building we saw bullet holes left from when there was some conflict over the lines. While we were there I found a really cool depiction of the Battle of Jericho that I just had to buy! Less than $10(US)! We also visited a synagogue in Tzfat (where right outside Rabbi Guy Green and his wife were married).
After leaving Tzfat we travelled to Nazareth again (for the alumni's sake since they were in the Golan Heights when we had lunch with "Mom." In Nazareth we went to the Basilica of the Annunciation, where the pope had visited the day before. We could see "Mom's" house as we entered the Basilica's gate. The Basilica was rebuilt over the site of a Templar church and is this year celebrating 800 years of Christianity on that site. The church was very cool. The pictures will describe it better than I would.
After leaving the Basilica we walked by a bunch of Muslims gathering for noon-time prayer. That was a very interesting site to see. There were also many children on the street because in Israel the school weeks are typically Sun-Thurs.
We then traveled into the Jezreel Valley (no we did not get to stop by Meggido since the site is in Palestinian control… I know I was sad!). One of the central cities in the Jezreel Valley that is under Israeli control is a city called Afula. We stopped in Afula and had a great lunch of falafels with french fries in them! (Yum yum!!) I took a picture of the food if you want to see it!
We traveled south from there until we arrived in Jerusalem, the original city on the hill and the place we would be staying for the remainder of our stay. Because it was almost the Shabbat most places were closing for the evening so we spent much of our evening relaxing and playing games. Also because it was the Shabbat we knew that there would not be a hot breakfast for us in the morning. The cool thing about Shabbat is that in Jerusalem, they close off the roads in Ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods so that the families won't be disturbed. Also, the hotel created a Shabbat elevator that stops on every floor because pressing a button or turning on a light would be breaking the Shabbat. Also in our room we have a control panel that controls the TV, Air Conditioning, Lights, etc. and it has a Shabbat button that will cut electricity to the room.
Since we were traveling so much and had a free evening I had quite a but of time to reflect on where we are and about the changes and differences from here and the United States and I wanted to share those quickly. First is that there are so many religious people in this country who follow strictly to their laws. Like Shabbat for Jews and the 5 daily prayers of Islam. In Austria, when I traveled there a few years ago, on Sundays most places would close shop to observe the Sabbath. That was the closest I had ever been to something like this. But the Shabbat here is much more different. People don't go out, use cars, or even use electricity. A quarter of the city shuts down for an entire day! That is something I would not have expected!
Also there was the differences of opinions between two very different groups. For example, Nazareth is mostly an Arab (Christian and Muslim) city with a small population of Jews in the outskirts. We were discussing that most of the Arabs would not recognize themselves as Israelites, even if they are official citizens because they were the original Palestinians that chose not to move to the Palestinian controlled areas. "Mom" was an example of this, she had a map of what we would call Israel but it was all in Arabic and it had the Palestinian flag on it, instead of the Israeli flag. There is still quite a bit of conflict that has not been resolved and I am not sure it ever will be.
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