Shalom everyone! Hope you are all doing fine. This is going to be the last article about touring in Israel, and there will be one article about the foods and other things, at least for the 2010 trip. Watch out for the articles about the 2008 trip, as there will be other places we visited not discussed in these articles.
For the last article though, I will be taking you to Hebron, Bethlehem and Haifa. For Hebron and Bethlehem, we visited those places on a Friday, before we visited the Western Wall. And then for Haifa, that was the place we went to on our last day, before going to the airport.
Hebron is located 32 kilometers south of Jerusalem and is one of the oldest continually occupied cities in the world. Hebron has a long and rich history and is the site of the oldest Jewish community in the world. The book of Genesis in the bible relates that the patriarch Abraham purchased the field where the Cave of Machpelah is located as a burial place for his wife Sarah. He purchased the land for 400 pieces of silver, thus, it is the oldest land purchase ever recorded as we know.
King David was anointed King of Israel in Hebron, and he reigned there for 7 years, before moving to Jerusalem.
This building that we see is believed to have been the site of the Cave of Machpelah, where the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as well as the Matriarchs Sarah and Leah were buried. Jacob's other wife Rachel, was buried in Bethlehem because she died on the way while giving birth.
When we visited Hebron and Bethlehem, we had to take a bullet proof bus as a security precaution as we were passing through Palestinian controlled territories. It sounds scary but we were very safe all throughout the trip. The news that we see on TV everyday paints Israel like a war zone, but never have I felt like I was in danger while we were there. This is the bullet proof bus that we took.
Here is our bus parked while we looked around the city. In Hebron, the number of soldiers outnumber civilians with a ratio of 4:1. Hebron today is home to some 250,000 Palestinians and approximately 700 Jews.
The Cave of Machpelah was built mainly under King Herod the Great, so we see that his building projects are all over Israel, with several additions by the Crusaders in 12th century AD. This is the second holiest site to Judaism, second to the Western Wall.
Here we were gathered to look at a young man, the one in front wearing a white shirt, as he was putting on his tefillin, sometimes called phylacteries, which is a cubic black box with leather straps that Orthodox Jewish men wear on their head and arm during morning prayer. He was kind enough to show it to us as Mendy, our guide, explained how it is used and put.
It is said that Hebron derived its name from the Hebrew word 'haver' meaning friend, and that of which describes Abraham as being a friend of God in the bible. Here we see some Jewish men praying on the side of the building.
Hebron is mentioned 87 times in the bible, and is the world's oldest Jewish community. Joshua assigned Hebron to Caleb as his inheritance after they have settled down. That story can be found in the book of Joshua chapter 14.
Here we have Mendy explaining to us the history of Hebron, how it has seen many wars, and how control of the city changed from one group to another.
Here we see more locals gathered together, perhaps discussing prayer points or just catching up with each other. One can tell they are religious Jews by their clothes.
The olive trees provide them shelter. Olive trees are a common sight in Israel and apparently olive trees can survive in any type of soil, be it fertile or barren.
When we went inside the Cave of the Patriarchs we were able to witness another special moment, that of the circumcision. It was going on while we were there, and we tried to observe, albeit furtively so as not to disturb the ceremony.
God instituted the covenant of circumcision with Abraham in Genesis chapter 17, and it was to be an everlasting covenant. In the covenant, God promised that He will make Abraham fruitful, and it was this time that God changed his name to Abraham, before he was called Abram.
Abraham's part of the covenant was to keep the covenant, the sign of which was the circumcision, and God promised that Sarai, whose name was changed to Sarah that day, that she would be blessed with a son after being barren for 90 years. Through that covenant Isaac was promised, and God said he would bless him exceedingly. So Abraham circumcised every male member of his family.
Notice that there are only males in the area, as men and women are segregated. When a boy is 8 days old in Israel, they perform the ceremony of circumcision as commanded in the book of Leviticus 12. Why 8 days old?
In the first days after the birth the liver is not yet developed enough to survive any surgical operations, which could cause massive bleeding and lead to the death of the newborn, whose body simply does not have the ability to stop the blood flow on its own. Physiologically, until the eighth day, the liver slowly develops, until on the eighth day itself, it is mature enough to fulfill its role to create the clots necessary to stop the bleeding. God sure knows every little detail of the human body and its functions!
The Cave of the Patriarchs is divided into the Muslim and Jewish sections, and we were only allowed of course to visit the Jewish section. Here we took a picture of a soldier who looks like Andy Garcia, and he graciously indulged us.
The following pictures are traditionally the doorways that lead down to the graves of the patriarchs, although I cannot remember whose is whose. I am trying to compare the Hebrew writings on images that I can find online but not the same so I am not going to hazard a guess.
One thing certain is that the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the matriarchs Sarah and Leah are buried in this cave. And Jews come and pray here to show their respect to their ancestors.
This is on top of the stairs, just before going into the Jewish section of the building. Overlooking Hebron communities.
The neighborhood looks old, which adds to the charm of the place, and somehow you just feel that this place has a very rich history indeed.
This is the information center and also a place to get souvenirs from. We got quite a few things from this place. A lot of tourists do not include Hebron in their itineraries because of the hassle of taking a bullet proof bus, or perhaps due to security concerns, but I wanted to let everyone see Hebron as I went there the first time I went to Israel.
From Hebron we traveled on to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. The story is told in the gospels, and here in the picture we visited the Church of the Nativity. In this church is where traditionally to have been the birthplace of the Lord Jesus, although of course, again, nobody knows for sure.
The church was originally commissioned by Constantine the Great and his mother Helena. The original church was destroyed by fire during the Samaritan revolts of the 6th century, and a new basilica was built in 565 by then Byzantine Emperor Justinian.
Over time the surrounding compound has been expanded and today it covers approximately 12,000 square meters, comprising three monasteries: Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and one Roman Catholic.
They had this sign on one of the doors. The church was quite crowded as there were a lot of tourists. We were there during the off peak season of November but it was still so crowded.
The main entrance of the church is called the door of humility. It is called as such because one has to stoop down in order to get in as the door was made low. Its lowness was meant to prevent anyone from entering on horseback, to protect the holy site.
The famed bible commentator William Barclay once noted of the door: "There is something beautiful in the symbolism that the church has a door so low that all must stoop to enter. It is fitting that every man should approach the infant Jesus upon his knees." We all entered through this door to take a look inside.
When you get inside, you see the elaborate decorations inside, from the massive chandeliers to the painted ceilings. What I don't understand is that why is there a need to have three separate monasteries and each one having control of one area specifically when they are all in the same building.
This is the Greek Orthodox controlled side. There were so many things hanging from the ceiling I can't fully describe it.
If I remember correctly, this is the Armenian side of the church. The ornate decorations don't differ much, as long as I can remember.
When we were there some restoration works were being conducted that's why we see tapes cordoning off some areas to tourists. We see though that the pillars are quite old.
In one part the mosaic floor underneath was shown from a removed tile or something and we see the intricate details. Looks like I did not focus the camera properly though. Since there were too many people queueing to see the 'exact place' where Jesus was born, we were taken through a shortcut where we could just take a peek of it, to save some time.
This is the restaurant in Bethlehem where we had lunch. Today Bethlehem is under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
We also visited the traditional site where supposedly the shepherds in the field saw the angels singing joy to the world and telling them that the Messiah was born. It is called the Shepherd's field. What is amazing is that all the important places of the bible have been 'marked' and churches have been built on the site or near them. This is due to the conversion of the emperor Constantine and his mother Helena.
These buildings are Palestinian housing projects in the Bethlehem area. In the fields below is apparently where the shepherds and their flock were when the angels appeared.
Can you see the sheep or the shepherds? Just kidding. :-) After Bethlehem, we went back to Jerusalem to visit the Western Wall which I posted in another article.
On our last day, we traveled up north to the Carmel region and visited the site where the prophet Elijah had a showdown with the prophets of Baal. This story is found in the book of 1 Kings chapter 18. This was a time in Israel when the people were worshiping other gods, mainly Baal, when they were asked to worship just one God, the God of Israel. This monastery therefore is located on top of Mt. Carmel.
Here I am imitating the statue of the prophet Elijah down below, as he was wielding his knife. So to continue the story, Elijah, being very zealous for God, asked for a showdown with 450 prophets of Baal. The challenge was to slaughter a bull for a sacrifice, one for Baal, and one for the God of Israel. Elijah challenged the people of Israel to make up their minds on who they will serve, the false gods or the One true God. So how do they determine who the real god is?
No one was allowed to set the sacrifices on fire. Elijah had this to say: the one who answers by fire, He is God! And the people of Israel thought this was a good idea. Overlooking this picture is the Jezreel Valley, and somewhere down there is the Kishon River.
Elijah asked the prophets of Baal to ask their god to consume the sacrifice supernaturally by sending fire from heaven, and they did, but there was no answer. You can go ahead and read the story in the bible for more details. They danced, they cut themselves, but there was no answer.
Then it was time for the evening sacrifice. Elijah then repaired the broken altar, and slaughtered the bull and arranged it on the altar. He also dug a trench around the altar, and asked the people to fill 4 waterpots with water and pour it on the sacrifice and on the altar. Now, we should remember that there was a severe drought at the time, and the only source of water they had was from the Kishon river down in the valley.
It must have been hard for the people to transport the water up to the mountain, but he asks them to pour it on the sacrifice and on the altar? Why was Elijah seemingly wasting the precious water? Was he crazy or something?
After they filled the pots, and poured the water out, he asked them to do it a second time, and then a third, until the water soaked the entire sacrifice, the wood on the altar, and it flowed onto the trench that he dug. There was no way a soaking altar would catch fire naturally. But that was exactly the point Elijah was letting the people see. He then prayed to God, asking that He show the people of Israel who the real god is, so that the people may return to serving the one true God.
Verses 38 and 39 of that chapter then says "Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, 'The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God' "
So there was a great revival that day, the people of Israel turned back to God and then God sent rain to end the drought shortly afterwards. Yes, that dramatic showdown happened in this place, and again, it was so amazing to be able to visit these places that are mentioned in the bible.
Now, whenever I read my bible, and I read about places, I remember that I have already been to some of those places, and the bible comes alive!
This is a group picture we took on Mt Carmel, making it another unforgettable memory.
After Mt Carmel, we traveled on to visit the famous Bahai Gardens which was nearby, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Looks so pretty, isn't it?
The Hanging Gardens of Haifa, as it also known, are garden terraces around the Shrine of the Bab, who is the founder of the Bahai faith.
When you're on top, you can see the whole garden and the Port of Haifa below. The gardens are indeed a sight to behold, especially from the top.
We were only allowed up to a certain points, we could not go down past the big gate. Perhaps it is to preserve the sanctity of the place, not sure of the reason.
Nine concentric circles provide the main geometry of the 18 terraces. And the symbolism of the 18 terraces apparently represent the first 18 disciples of the Bab.
We just took pictures everywhere we can take pictures of and enjoyed the beautiful view.
The gardens was so opened to the public in June of 2001, so it was fairly new when we went there, and already, like I wrote earlier, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I have definitely made more friends during this trip, and we became closer by the experiences we had.
After the gardens, we also visited a local church, where we spent time to fellowship and then we headed back to Ben Gurion airport for the journey back home.
Nobody wanted to leave, if only it was possible to stay there forever, but reality must be faced, we had to go back to our lives, but we brought home with us the memories of a lifetime, and a desire to one day go back and visit more places, and to bring more people with us as well.
I cannot remember where I took this picture, but I include it as it shows the sun setting. I bid you shalom then, and I also say, lehit raot, which means see you again. Lehit Raot Israel! I pray I will be able to visit you again one of these days.
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