From Bethlehem to Yad VaShem

May 21, 2012 By James F. McGrath 1 Comment

Today was much less hectic than previous days. Baligh our tour director moved the museum visits to today (although in the end we only had time for one) so that we can have time tomorrow to go early in the morning when the line forms for those non-Muslims who wish to visit the temple mount, access to which is restricted for non-Muslims to a few hours a day.

In Bethlehem, we visited the Church of Shepherds’ Field and the Church of the Nativity. We had lunch at The Bedouin Tent restaurant which is just what it sounds like – the “roof” is in fact a bedouin-style tent roof. The appetizers and salads, chicken, lamb, Arab pita bread and baklava were all delicious.

 

I was disappointed that we did not stop by the wall around Bethlehem, but I suppose it was probably the group’s fault for running late. We stopped at a souvenir shop and people bought all sorts of things…

 

Next we went to Yad VaShem, the Holocaust Museum. It is for Israelis not merely a testament to a tragic past event but an important rationale for many of Israel’s current policies, aimed at ensuring that Israel is a country with a Jewish majority and thus a place that can be a refuge for Jews who ever find themselves persecuted in other parts of the world.

Although I had been before, I did manage to get to a few places that I did not last time. The Children’s Memorial is incredible. And towards the end of the main part of the museum, there is a place where you can access the Yad VaShem database of Holocaust victims. My Jewish ancestors came to the United States well before the rise of the Nazis in Germany, but the database confirmed what I suspected about why I have encountered only one other person with one of the family names.

 

 

Filed Under: Israel 1 Comment

Masada, the Dead Sea, and a Jeep Adventure (Including the Mar Saba Monastery!)

May 20, 2012 By James F. McGrath 1 Comment

After the camel ride, our next stop was Masada, the mountaintop fortress near the Dead Sea which was created by the Hasmoneans, expanded and developed by Herod the Great, and occupied by Jewish fighters in the war against Rome.

 

 

From there, after having lunch, we traveled to the Dead Sea where the students enjoyed floating and covering themselves in the mud.

 

 

Finally, some of us went on a jeep adventure into the Judaean desert, which unknown to me until we set off would include a site that I have long wanted to visit: the Mar Saba Monastery.

 

 

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Jericho, Qumran and the Mount of Olives

May 19, 2012 By James F. McGrath 4 Comments

This morning we traveled from Haifa across Galilee to the Jordan Valley. We entered the West Bank traveling southward along the Jordan river valley. The students were surprised at how imperceptible it was to cross the checkpoint – since we were in a tour bus with Israeli plates, we were simply waved through. Across the valley was the country of Jordan.

Our first stop was the city of Jericho, where we visited the Tel or occupation mound where evidence of habitation going back some 10,000 years had been brought to light through excavation. The city is under the control of the Palestinian authority.

From there we traveled southward, getting to see the Dead Sea, which we will actually float in tomorrow. We visited Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. We also had lunch there.

After that, we headed for Jerusalem. We stopped on the Mount of Olives, visiting some churches and the Garden of Gethsemane.

 

From the Mount of Olives there is a phenomenal view of the old city of Jerusalem, which we will actually go to tomorrow.

 

Tomorrow we will visit Masada, float in the Dead Sea, some of us will take a jeep adventure into the Judaean Desert, and we will visit the Old City of Jerusalem.

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Readiness to Revise

May 18, 2012 By James F. McGrath Leave a Comment

There are two great cartoons that appeared on David Hayward’s blog recently which can be related to one another. Here is the first:

And this second one seems to be related to the same theme inasmuch as such experiences can and should motivate theological reflection and revision, as they did in Job’s case:

 

 

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Around Galilee

May 18, 2012 By James F. McGrath 1 Comment

Today we visited sites that have some connection to the story of Jesus. Contrary to what some fringe internet voices such as the Jesus mythicists have sometimes claimed, there is evidence for habitation in Nazareth in the first century, in the structures excavated beneath the Church of the Annunciation. Even rather later, in the 4th century, there was still a Christian leader named Colon who was from Nazareth and who claimed to be a member of Jesus’ family.

 

Other sites we visited include Cana, mentioned in the Gospel of John, Tabgha (supposedly the site of the multiplication of loaves and fishes), and the Mount of Beatitudes. Connections between specific churches in these locations and events in the life of the historical figure are much more tenuous.

 

We also visited Capernaum, a major Jewish city which features prominently in the Gospels.

 

Then we went on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee after lunch. It was suggested that it would be a good time for meditation – and then they had Israeli folk dancing with loud music on board! Different people “meditate” in different ways, I guess.

 

Our last stop before driving back to the hotel was the Jordan river. Several people filled bottles with water to take back home with them.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to drive the Jordan valley to Jericho and Qumran and then go to Jerusalem where we will spend several days. So from a day on the coast to a day on the lake to a day much of which will be spent in the desert. Such different climates!

Here is one last photo, or two, a treat for Romanian friends and relatives, taken in the church of St. Gabriel in Nazareth.

 

Filed Under: histor, historical Jesus, Israel, travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Two Nazarenes

May 17, 2012 By James F. McGrath 1 Comment

Our tour guide Baligh’s local tour organization which EF works with is called “Nazarene Tours” because Baligh himself is from Nazareth. He made an amusing comment on the first day about the fact that he is more of a Nazarene than Jesus for two reasons: Jesus was born in Bethlehem and lived in Nazareth for at most some 30 years, while Baligh himself was born there and has already lived there for longer.

Today we will visit Nazareth and also a number of locations around the Sea of Galilee which are mentioned in the Gospels. So I suppose one could say that we have a Jesus-oriented day ahead of us!

It will be interesting to see how much of the questions raised by historians and critical scholarship arise, and who ends up bringing them up.

Filed Under: historical Jesus, Israel, New Testament, travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Loquats, Olive Oil, and Tombs

May 17, 2012 By James F. McGrath Leave a Comment

What the three things mentioned in the title of this post have in common is my friend Eldad Keynan, who stopped by the hotel where I am staying in Haifa and spoke to my students as well as me. He brought me some fruit from his garden (sheseq, which a quick internet search informed me is loquat) and some fresh olive oil. He also shared news about his ongoing quest to find evidence of early Jewish Christian tombs. Whatever your view of the Talpiot tombs, which some consider to be such evidence, there is nothing inappropriate about thinking that there could be archaeological evidence of very early Jewish Christianity, and seeking to find it.

 

Filed Under: Christianity, Eldad Keynan, Israel, Jud, Judaism, tomb Tagged With: , , , , , , Leave a Comment
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