We were up early today, as usual, and headed first to the Wadi al-Hammam, “the Valley of the Doves,” near Magdala. We walked up it a bit, looking at the cliffs that are so famous from Josephus, encountering cows, and pondering the fact that this was the ancient path that Jesus and his disciples would have taken between the Sea of Galilee and the much higher towns of Nazareth and Sepphoris.
Next, we went to the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves — identified by its German Benedictine custodians on a sign at the entrance as the “Brotvermehrungskirche” — at Tabgha (an Arabic corruption of the Greek Heptapegon, or “Seven Springs”). It was gratifying to see that the damage done a couple of years ago by fanatical Jewish arsonists has been fully repaired. Still last year, considerable charring was visible.
We then spent quite a bit of time at the Mount of Beatitudes, a wonderful garden spot overlooking the lake, where I harangued my unfortunate group regarding the Sermon on the Mount.
From there, we drove to the north of the country, through Qiryat Shmona and past Tel Dan to the beautiful waterfalls at Banias, near which we had lunch, and then to the adjacent site of Caesarea Philippi. The latter is one of the greatest places we’ll visit on this tour. I should probably write a column about it.
Thereafter, we climbed up past the enormous Crusader castle of Nimrod, into Druze territory on the Golan Heights. From the United Nations observation post on Mount Bental, we looked back at the last remaining snow on Mount Hermon (which is on the part of the peak that’s in Lebanon) and down into Syria. The United Nations observers told us that there are now ISIS fighters living in the abandoned town of Quneitra, just below Bental. I gave a few remarks on Islam and the contemporary politics and political movements of the region.
In the evening, back at the hotel, Eric Huntsman, who is on the other bus, and I spoke to the combined groups at a relatively brief fireside.
Posted from Tiberias, Israel
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