(Tiberias, Cana, Nazareth, Megiddo, Jerusalem)
We ‘enjoyed’ another interesting breakfast in the Sheraton Moriah in Tiberias – which has a totally kosher kitchen. I really don’t know the impact of how food is prepared in a kosher kitchen. I do know that the food choices are odd. There are so many selections of raw fish you would think that you are is a sushi bar. We had never been so thankful for dry cereal.
Cana
The first stop today was Cana (modern name Kafr Kanna) - a Galilean town five miles northeast of Nazareth. Its population of 8,500 includes both Muslims and Christians. The principal reason that we traveled to Cana was to give those married people in the group the opportunity to exchange wedding vows again. The religious reason that we went to Cana was because this is where Jesus, at age 12, performed His first miracle.
For those of you wondering what miracle Jesus performed at age 12, wonder no more. Cana is best known as the place where, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus performed his first miracle, the turning of a large quantity of water into wine at a wedding feast (John 2:1-11) when the wine provided by the bridegroom had run out. In the Gospel of John, this is the first of the seven miraculous "signs" by which Jesus's divine status is attested, and around which the gospel is structured.
To visit the church, the bus dropped us off on the side of the highway and we walked down the narrow village street (maybe an alley) to the Franciscan church. The locals realized a tour group was coming and started to peddle their trinkets. We arrived at the Franciscan Wedding Church and noted that it is small and fronted by a courtyard. The facade has angel figures and is flanked by two bell towers. Inside, the church has two levels. The upper church has a chapel topped by a simple dome. In the nave just before the stairs is a fragment of a Byzantine mosaic dating from the 5th or 6th century and preserves the name of the donor in Aramaic. The lower church has a chapel and a small museum with artifacts from the site, including a winepress, a plastered cistern and vessels of various dates. One old jar is said to be one of the six jars used for the miracle.
The renewal of wedding vows took place in the upper church. Pastor Rick had all those who wanted to renew their wedding vows gather at the front of the church. As Pastor Rick led, wedding vows were renewed in a lovely ceremony. Guess what? Cathy cried – what a tender heart. There was time for a few photographs to be taken and then it was out the door and back to the alley going in the opposite direction from which we came. Our tour bus was waiting for us at the opposite end of the alley from where we were dropped off. It wasn’t a long walk to the bus and once boarded, we were headed to Nazareth
Nazareth
Modern Nazareth is situated among the southern ridges of the Lebanon Mountains, on the steep slope of a hill, about 14 miles from the Sea of Galilee and about 6 miles west of Mount Tabor. The modern city lies lower down upon the hill than the ancient one and has a population of 70,000. The majority of Nazarenes are Israeli Arabs, about 35-40% of which are Christians and the rest are Muslims.
In Jesus' time, Nazareth would have had a population of about 500. In the New Testament, Nazareth is depicted as a town from the ‘other side of the tracks.’ In the Gospel of John, people who hear of Jesus of Nazareth ask themselves, "What good could come from Nazareth?" (John 1:46) Nevertheless, the New Testament reports that Nazareth was the home of Mary and Joseph (Luke 1:26), the site of the Annunciation (announcement to Mary that she would give birth to the Savior) and the town in which Jesus grew up (Matthew 2:23, 13:54; Luke 2:4, 2:51, 4:16). Nazareth is mentioned 17 times in the New Testament. Jesus eventually left the village for a wider ministry although he was always known to some as a “prophet from Nazareth in Galilee” (Matt 21:11).
The purpose of our trip to Nazareth was to see the Basilica of the Annunciation, which stands over the traditional site of Gabriel's announcement to Mary that she would give birth to the savior of the world. Rarely are the tour buses able to get close to the sites we see. Typically, we are dropped off in an area where the buses can maneuver and then we walked to the site. It was no different here. We didn’t walk a long way, but it was uphill and it was sunny and warm.
The Basilica of the Annunciation was completed in 1969. This Catholic Church was built over the remains of Byzantine and Crusader churches. The modern Church of the Annunciation is topped with a uniquely-shaped concrete dome 55 meters high. Its shape is based on the Madonna lily, a symbol of the Virgin Mary. Inside, the basilica consists of an upper church and a lower church. The vast upper church is decorated with mosaics of the Virgin donated by communities from around the world. The lower church centers on the Grotto or Cave of the Annunciation, where the angelic announcement to Mary is believed to have occurred. Also visible down here are remains of the Byzantine and Crusader churches that preceded the present one.
As we gathered near the Grotto or Cave of the Annunciation, Pastor Rick led us in devotions by reading from Luke 1:26-38:
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Hail, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
We were given a few minutes to take photographs and then we headed for the bus. The walk back to the bus was downhill. Since it was so warm, many people in the group stopped by the local vendors for bottled water or ice cream. Our lone single young man, Chad Hardcastle, stopped at a vendor stand, opened the cooler to get a drink, and the stand tipped over spilling the drinks and ice down the hill. Chad looked a little pathetic, standing there with his hands up in the air as if he were saying, “I only lifted the lid up.” Chad quickly paid for the bottle of water he was holding and took off down the hill. I believe that some members of our tour group were able to take photographs of the aftermath. It really wasn’t funny but we all laughed – in a good way. At the bottom of the hill, we boarded our bus and headed for Megiddo. To get there we would cross the Jezreel Valley from the North, at 1,200 feet above sea level, to the South and back up to Megiddo – which looks out over the Valley of Armageddon.
Megiddo
Megiddo has been identified as one of the most important cities of biblical times. Located on a hill overlooking the fertile Jezreel Valley, Megiddo was of great strategic importance, as it commanded the eastern approaches of Nahal Iron, part of the international highway which led from
Egypt, along the coastal plain to the Jezreel Valley, and onto Damascus and Mesopotamia (the highway became known later as Via Maris. Numerous battles fought for control of the city are recorded in ancient sources; in the New Testament (Revelations 16:16), is named as the site of the "Battle of the End of Days".
One of the largest city mounds in Israel (covering an area of about 15 acres) and rich in archeological finds, Tel Megiddo is an important site for the study of the material culture of biblical times. A total of 20 cities were built at Megiddo, one above the other, over the course of 5,000 years of continuous occupation; from the time of the first settlement at the end of the 6th millennium BCE to its abandonment in the 5th century BCE
To get to the excavation site at Megiddo, we walked up a hill – not terribly steep but with the sun shining and temperatures in the 90s, it took some effort. Our guide, Rimon, suggested that those of the group who didn’t think that they could make the hike should get back on the bus. Those not making the hike would stay on the bus and meet us on the opposite side and bottom of the hill we were about to climb. There were probably 10 people who chose to stay on the bus but it was never a question for us. After regretting our decision to not walk (or ride donkeys) up the mountain and tour the acropolis in Lindos, Greece, we decided then that we would always participate in all the tour had to offer. So, we walked up the hill to tour the excavations at the top.
Megiddo reached its peak under King Solomon in the 10th century BCE. He rebuilt it as a royal city, administering the northern part of the kingdom. In the Megiddo excavations, discoveries included palaces, buildings, fortifications, administrative buildings, storehouses, stables and the water system.
To safeguard the city's water supply in times of siege, a subterranean water system was carved out of the rock in the western part of the city, which made it possible to reach the spring at the foot of the hill outside the walls without being seen by the enemy. This project required considerable engineering ingenuity and an enormous amount of hard labor. The water system consists of a square, 80 foot deep vertical shaft and a 250 foot long horizontal tunnel. In order to hide the source of water from the enemy and to protect the users of the water system, a particularly thick wall, camouflaged by a covering of earth, was constructed at the entrance to the cave from which the spring emanates, blocking access from the outside.
We walked down the circular stairway of the vertical shaft and along the catwalk of the horizontal tunnel. I can hardly imagine the amount of laborers and time required to complete this shaft and tunnel. After we exited the tunnel, we walked another ¼ mile along a fenced in path, thru a 1-way gate at the end to a parking lot where we boarded our bus. We are on our way to Jerusalem where we will stay for the remainder of the trip. Before we checked into our hotel, we drove through Bethlehem on our way to Jerusalem for an opportunity to purchase some nice souvenirs.
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city on the west bank of the River Jordan, 5 miles south of Jerusalem; with a population approximately 140,000. It was occupied by Israel in 1967 and came under control of the Palestine National Authority in December 1995. In the Bible it is mentioned as the birthplace of King David and Jesus, and in 326 the Church of the Nativity was built over the grotto said to be the birthplace of Jesus. We will tour the Church of the Nativity in a day or two. For now, we will shop.
Getting into Bethlehem is not a simple matter. Because the city is under Palestinian control, Israel has erected a 20 foot high concrete wall around the city. Access to and from the city is controlled by the Israeli army at fortified gates. We were waiting in a relatively long line to enter into Bethlehem. I got the impression that the Israeli soldiers at the check point were not concerned with how long it may take a Palestinian to enter or leave the city. Our tour guide Rimon, is apparently well connected, because he used his cell phone to call the Head of the Israeli Department of Defense, and politely asked if our tour bus could get quicker access into Bethlehem. The next thing we knew, we went to the head of the line of vehicles, showed our passports to the guard, and were allowed to pass into the city.
We stopped for shopping at the Kando store. The family has owned the store for many years. Grandfather Kando was the first to receive the jars containing the Dead Sea Scrolls from Bedouin shepherds. In his store is an original clay pot in which portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. It has an estimated value of 15 million dollars. The importance of finding the Dead Sea Scrolls cannot be overestimated – the scrolls confirm the accuracy of the Bible we read today\. The following few paragraphs tell the basic story of Grandfather Kando’s part in bringing the Dead Sea Scrolls to the world:
Aside from being a part-time dealer in antiquities, Kando runs a small general store and cobbler shop. In other words, he's a Middle Eastern Jack-of-all-trades. But unfortunately, Kando's native tongue is Arabic, and he can't read the chicken-scratch letters - which are in fact Hebrew - any better than his Bedouin friends. For a while, as he ponders to himself, he wonders whether the leather might at least be cut into strips and put to use in making sandal straps. Imagine the Dead Sea Scrolls being worn on the feet of the citizens of Bethlehem! But on examining the letters again, he decides that they just might be worth something. So, he launches a plan. Kando and an accomplice now return to the cave where Muhammed had found the scroll and start searching through other caves in the vicinity. Sure enough, they discover several other jumbled wads of leather, which they now recognize as scrolls. Next, Kando makes the fateful decision to take four of his scrolls to the Old City of Jerusalem, to show them to the Christian elders of the Syrian Orthodox Church, to which he belongs. His destination is St. Mark's Monastery, in the Armenian Quarter of the city, just south of King David Street.
The head of the monastery, the venerable Archbishop Samuel, is a proud Syrian Orthodox cleric who looks almost regal. He is fully bearded and attired in floor-length robes of intricate design, bearing a long row of embroidered crosses down the center. Samuel the cleric and Kando the shopkeeper make an odd couple, but the Archbishop is clearly intrigued by the strange documents. However, he is equally unable to read the Hebrew chicken scratch, and his hunch is that the writing might be an ancient language called Syriac. In any case, he eagerly buys them for the grand sum of twenty-four Jordanian pounds - or about one hundred dollars. It is, in hindsight, the deal of the century. But in this way Kando quickly becomes the middleman in an incredible intrigue.
In the meantime, Kando visits a certain antiquities dealer of Turkish-Armenian ancestry, whose shop is located in the crooked streets of Jerusalem's Old City. Ever eager to make a profit, Kando sells him a few more of his parchment fragments. On the very next day, November 23, 1947, the Armenian phones the famed archaeologist of the Hebrew University, E. L. Sukenik, and arranges a secret meeting on the following morning, at the barbed wire which divides Arab East Jerusalem from Jewish West Jerusalem. It is an ugly no-man's land, a scar that courses through the holy city and turns it into a Middle Eastern version of Belfast - disjointed and alienated by a protracted internal conflict. Sukenik is the very epitome of an erudite scholar, with his necktie, his studious look, receding hairline, and thick, black-rimmed spectacles. Incredibly, this Hebrew-speaking modern Israeli can actually read and understand the ancient Hebrew writing with little difficulty. Gazing for the first time at a single scrap of parchment, he is stunned and amazed. He writes in his journal
Today I met the antiquities dealer. A Hebrew book has been discovered in a jar. He showed me a fragment written on parchment. The script seems very ancient to me. Is it possible?
Sukenik decides that he needs to see more of these parchments, and he wants to go right to the source - Kando's shop in Bethlehem. There is only one problem. Bethlehem is located in Arab territory, in what will later become part of the Kingdom of Jordan, while Sukenik lives in Jewish Jerusalem, in what is in a matter of months to be reborn, amid war and bloodshed, as the new capital of the State of Israel. Needless to say, travel between the two areas is risky business, but Sukenik finds it necessary to make the clandestine journey - risking his own life - to what is in effect hostile, enemy territory. His sole purpose: to see the scrolls for himself. What Sukenik discovers there in Kando's shop far exceeds his expectations. His journal entry that day declares that he feels "... privileged by destiny to gaze upon a Hebrew scroll that had not been read for more than two thousand years."
Although we didn’t buy anything from the Kando store, many of our tour mates did. Some bought antique jewelry, others bought beautiful Nativity scenes made of olive wood and still others bought less expensive ornaments and other trinkets. The stop at the store was longer than expected as many people were ready to leave long before we actually left. It almost got to be a battle of wills. I got the feeling that the longer we were held ‘captive’ in the store, the more the store owners thought we might buy something. The bus was parked within 15 feet of the exit door. As we left the store to board the bus, a few local, Palestinians realizing a tour group was around, tried to sell necklaces and carrying bags. They were very persistent, didn’t want to take no for an answer, and all but came on the bus to sell their wares. The zeal in which they attempted to sell their stuff was partly funny and partly sad. Bethlehem is such an economically depressed city.
Incidentally, the Kando store is just feet from the 20 foot high security wall that has been built around Bethlehem. Without tourists, business is barely survivable.
Jerusalem
We had to go through the security gate as we left Bethlehem. Once again we had to show our passports to the guard before we were allowed to leave. Our next stop was the Grand Court Hotel in Jerusalem for dinner and overnight. We arrived at the Grand Court Hotel Jerusalem, located on St. George Street between the Novotel and Olive Tree Royal Plaza Hotels, in the late afternoon. We received room keys from Pastor Rick, grabbed our luggage and went up to our rooms to get settled. Cathy and I were in room 835 and Shannon and Michelle were in room 820. We unpacked, cleaned up, and met in the dining room for our group dinner around 6:30. We enjoyed another buffet dinner in which the quality of the food met our lowered expectations. Clearly, the fellowship with other group members was the highlight of dinner time with the food coming in a distant second.
After dinner, Shannon found the internet connection in the lobby and e-mailed friends from work and her college days. After that, we went into the gift shops and Cathy and Shannon began the quest for jewelry. Although nothing was purchased on this 1st night in Jerusalem, the girls tried on many rings and necklaces. It would just be a matter of time.
After a day of touring, we were ready to head up to the rooms around 9:30 – 10:00. Before bedtime, I did as much washing as I could do. Since our portable clothes line could only hold so much – I had clothes hanging on hangars, over chairs and anywhere I could hang them. Most of what was washed was made of lightweight material and would be dry by morning – tomorrow evening at the latest. Sometime around 11:00 it was lights out.
We ‘enjoyed’ another interesting breakfast in the Sheraton Moriah in Tiberias – which has a totally kosher kitchen. I really don’t know the impact of how food is prepared in a kosher kitchen. I do know that the food choices are odd. There are so many selections of raw fish you would think that you are is a sushi bar. We had never been so thankful for dry cereal.
Cana
The first stop today was Cana (modern name Kafr Kanna) - a Galilean town five miles northeast of Nazareth. Its population of 8,500 includes both Muslims and Christians. The principal reason that we traveled to Cana was to give those married people in the group the opportunity to exchange wedding vows again. The religious reason that we went to Cana was because this is where Jesus, at age 12, performed His first miracle.
For those of you wondering what miracle Jesus performed at age 12, wonder no more. Cana is best known as the place where, according to the Gospel of John, Jesus performed his first miracle, the turning of a large quantity of water into wine at a wedding feast (John 2:1-11) when the wine provided by the bridegroom had run out. In the Gospel of John, this is the first of the seven miraculous "signs" by which Jesus's divine status is attested, and around which the gospel is structured.To visit the church, the bus dropped us off on the side of the highway and we walked down the narrow village street (maybe an alley) to the Franciscan church. The locals realized a tour group was coming and started to peddle their trinkets. We arrived at the Franciscan Wedding Church and noted that it is small and fronted by a courtyard. The facade has angel figures and is flanked by two bell towers. Inside, the church has two levels. The upper church has a chapel topped by a simple dome. In the nave just before the stairs is a fragment of a Byzantine mosaic dating from the 5th or 6th century and preserves the name of the donor in Aramaic. The lower church has a chapel and a small museum with artifacts from the site, including a winepress, a plastered cistern and vessels of various dates. One old jar is said to be one of the six jars used for the miracle.
The renewal of wedding vows took place in the upper church. Pastor Rick had all those who wanted to renew their wedding vows gather at the front of the church. As Pastor Rick led, wedding vows were renewed in a lovely ceremony. Guess what? Cathy cried – what a tender heart. There was time for a few photographs to be taken and then it was out the door and back to the alley going in the opposite direction from which we came. Our tour bus was waiting for us at the opposite end of the alley from where we were dropped off. It wasn’t a long walk to the bus and once boarded, we were headed to NazarethNazareth
Modern Nazareth is situated among the southern ridges of the Lebanon Mountains, on the steep slope of a hill, about 14 miles from the Sea of Galilee and about 6 miles west of Mount Tabor. The modern city lies lower down upon the hill than the ancient one and has a population of 70,000. The majority of Nazarenes are Israeli Arabs, about 35-40% of which are Christians and the rest are Muslims.
In Jesus' time, Nazareth would have had a population of about 500. In the New Testament, Nazareth is depicted as a town from the ‘other side of the tracks.’ In the Gospel of John, people who hear of Jesus of Nazareth ask themselves, "What good could come from Nazareth?" (John 1:46) Nevertheless, the New Testament reports that Nazareth was the home of Mary and Joseph (Luke 1:26), the site of the Annunciation (announcement to Mary that she would give birth to the Savior) and the town in which Jesus grew up (Matthew 2:23, 13:54; Luke 2:4, 2:51, 4:16). Nazareth is mentioned 17 times in the New Testament. Jesus eventually left the village for a wider ministry although he was always known to some as a “prophet from Nazareth in Galilee” (Matt 21:11).
The purpose of our trip to Nazareth was to see the Basilica of the Annunciation, which stands over the traditional site of Gabriel's announcement to Mary that she would give birth to the savior of the world. Rarely are the tour buses able to get close to the sites we see. Typically, we are dropped off in an area where the buses can maneuver and then we walked to the site. It was no different here. We didn’t walk a long way, but it was uphill and it was sunny and warm.
The Basilica of the Annunciation was completed in 1969. This Catholic Church was built over the remains of Byzantine and Crusader churches. The modern Church of the Annunciation is topped with a uniquely-shaped concrete dome 55 meters high. Its shape is based on the Madonna lily, a symbol of the Virgin Mary. Inside, the basilica consists of an upper church and a lower church. The vast upper church is decorated with mosaics of the Virgin donated by communities from around the world. The lower church centers on the Grotto or Cave of the Annunciation, where the angelic announcement to Mary is believed to have occurred. Also visible down here are remains of the Byzantine and Crusader churches that preceded the present one.
As we gathered near the Grotto or Cave of the Annunciation, Pastor Rick led us in devotions by reading from Luke 1:26-38:
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Hail, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
We were given a few minutes to take photographs and then we headed for the bus. The walk back to the bus was downhill. Since it was so warm, many people in the group stopped by the local vendors for bottled water or ice cream. Our lone single young man, Chad Hardcastle, stopped at a vendor stand, opened the cooler to get a drink, and the stand tipped over spilling the drinks and ice down the hill. Chad looked a little pathetic, standing there with his hands up in the air as if he were saying, “I only lifted the lid up.” Chad quickly paid for the bottle of water he was holding and took off down the hill. I believe that some members of our tour group were able to take photographs of the aftermath. It really wasn’t funny but we all laughed – in a good way. At the bottom of the hill, we boarded our bus and headed for Megiddo. To get there we would cross the Jezreel Valley from the North, at 1,200 feet above sea level, to the South and back up to Megiddo – which looks out over the Valley of Armageddon.
Megiddo
Megiddo has been identified as one of the most important cities of biblical times. Located on a hill overlooking the fertile Jezreel Valley, Megiddo was of great strategic importance, as it commanded the eastern approaches of Nahal Iron, part of the international highway which led from
Egypt, along the coastal plain to the Jezreel Valley, and onto Damascus and Mesopotamia (the highway became known later as Via Maris. Numerous battles fought for control of the city are recorded in ancient sources; in the New Testament (Revelations 16:16), is named as the site of the "Battle of the End of Days".One of the largest city mounds in Israel (covering an area of about 15 acres) and rich in archeological finds, Tel Megiddo is an important site for the study of the material culture of biblical times. A total of 20 cities were built at Megiddo, one above the other, over the course of 5,000 years of continuous occupation; from the time of the first settlement at the end of the 6th millennium BCE to its abandonment in the 5th century BCE
To get to the excavation site at Megiddo, we walked up a hill – not terribly steep but with the sun shining and temperatures in the 90s, it took some effort. Our guide, Rimon, suggested that those of the group who didn’t think that they could make the hike should get back on the bus. Those not making the hike would stay on the bus and meet us on the opposite side and bottom of the hill we were about to climb. There were probably 10 people who chose to stay on the bus but it was never a question for us. After regretting our decision to not walk (or ride donkeys) up the mountain and tour the acropolis in Lindos, Greece, we decided then that we would always participate in all the tour had to offer. So, we walked up the hill to tour the excavations at the top.
Megiddo reached its peak under King Solomon in the 10th century BCE. He rebuilt it as a royal city, administering the northern part of the kingdom. In the Megiddo excavations, discoveries included palaces, buildings, fortifications, administrative buildings, storehouses, stables and the water system.
To safeguard the city's water supply in times of siege, a subterranean water system was carved out of the rock in the western part of the city, which made it possible to reach the spring at the foot of the hill outside the walls without being seen by the enemy. This project required considerable engineering ingenuity and an enormous amount of hard labor. The water system consists of a square, 80 foot deep vertical shaft and a 250 foot long horizontal tunnel. In order to hide the source of water from the enemy and to protect the users of the water system, a particularly thick wall, camouflaged by a covering of earth, was constructed at the entrance to the cave from which the spring emanates, blocking access from the outside.
We walked down the circular stairway of the vertical shaft and along the catwalk of the horizontal tunnel. I can hardly imagine the amount of laborers and time required to complete this shaft and tunnel. After we exited the tunnel, we walked another ¼ mile along a fenced in path, thru a 1-way gate at the end to a parking lot where we boarded our bus. We are on our way to Jerusalem where we will stay for the remainder of the trip. Before we checked into our hotel, we drove through Bethlehem on our way to Jerusalem for an opportunity to purchase some nice souvenirs.
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city on the west bank of the River Jordan, 5 miles south of Jerusalem; with a population approximately 140,000. It was occupied by Israel in 1967 and came under control of the Palestine National Authority in December 1995. In the Bible it is mentioned as the birthplace of King David and Jesus, and in 326 the Church of the Nativity was built over the grotto said to be the birthplace of Jesus. We will tour the Church of the Nativity in a day or two. For now, we will shop.
Getting into Bethlehem is not a simple matter. Because the city is under Palestinian control, Israel has erected a 20 foot high concrete wall around the city. Access to and from the city is controlled by the Israeli army at fortified gates. We were waiting in a relatively long line to enter into Bethlehem. I got the impression that the Israeli soldiers at the check point were not concerned with how long it may take a Palestinian to enter or leave the city. Our tour guide Rimon, is apparently well connected, because he used his cell phone to call the Head of the Israeli Department of Defense, and politely asked if our tour bus could get quicker access into Bethlehem. The next thing we knew, we went to the head of the line of vehicles, showed our passports to the guard, and were allowed to pass into the city.We stopped for shopping at the Kando store. The family has owned the store for many years. Grandfather Kando was the first to receive the jars containing the Dead Sea Scrolls from Bedouin shepherds. In his store is an original clay pot in which portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. It has an estimated value of 15 million dollars. The importance of finding the Dead Sea Scrolls cannot be overestimated – the scrolls confirm the accuracy of the Bible we read today\. The following few paragraphs tell the basic story of Grandfather Kando’s part in bringing the Dead Sea Scrolls to the world:
Aside from being a part-time dealer in antiquities, Kando runs a small general store and cobbler shop. In other words, he's a Middle Eastern Jack-of-all-trades. But unfortunately, Kando's native tongue is Arabic, and he can't read the chicken-scratch letters - which are in fact Hebrew - any better than his Bedouin friends. For a while, as he ponders to himself, he wonders whether the leather might at least be cut into strips and put to use in making sandal straps. Imagine the Dead Sea Scrolls being worn on the feet of the citizens of Bethlehem! But on examining the letters again, he decides that they just might be worth something. So, he launches a plan. Kando and an accomplice now return to the cave where Muhammed had found the scroll and start searching through other caves in the vicinity. Sure enough, they discover several other jumbled wads of leather, which they now recognize as scrolls. Next, Kando makes the fateful decision to take four of his scrolls to the Old City of Jerusalem, to show them to the Christian elders of the Syrian Orthodox Church, to which he belongs. His destination is St. Mark's Monastery, in the Armenian Quarter of the city, just south of King David Street.
The head of the monastery, the venerable Archbishop Samuel, is a proud Syrian Orthodox cleric who looks almost regal. He is fully bearded and attired in floor-length robes of intricate design, bearing a long row of embroidered crosses down the center. Samuel the cleric and Kando the shopkeeper make an odd couple, but the Archbishop is clearly intrigued by the strange documents. However, he is equally unable to read the Hebrew chicken scratch, and his hunch is that the writing might be an ancient language called Syriac. In any case, he eagerly buys them for the grand sum of twenty-four Jordanian pounds - or about one hundred dollars. It is, in hindsight, the deal of the century. But in this way Kando quickly becomes the middleman in an incredible intrigue.
In the meantime, Kando visits a certain antiquities dealer of Turkish-Armenian ancestry, whose shop is located in the crooked streets of Jerusalem's Old City. Ever eager to make a profit, Kando sells him a few more of his parchment fragments. On the very next day, November 23, 1947, the Armenian phones the famed archaeologist of the Hebrew University, E. L. Sukenik, and arranges a secret meeting on the following morning, at the barbed wire which divides Arab East Jerusalem from Jewish West Jerusalem. It is an ugly no-man's land, a scar that courses through the holy city and turns it into a Middle Eastern version of Belfast - disjointed and alienated by a protracted internal conflict. Sukenik is the very epitome of an erudite scholar, with his necktie, his studious look, receding hairline, and thick, black-rimmed spectacles. Incredibly, this Hebrew-speaking modern Israeli can actually read and understand the ancient Hebrew writing with little difficulty. Gazing for the first time at a single scrap of parchment, he is stunned and amazed. He writes in his journal
Today I met the antiquities dealer. A Hebrew book has been discovered in a jar. He showed me a fragment written on parchment. The script seems very ancient to me. Is it possible?
Sukenik decides that he needs to see more of these parchments, and he wants to go right to the source - Kando's shop in Bethlehem. There is only one problem. Bethlehem is located in Arab territory, in what will later become part of the Kingdom of Jordan, while Sukenik lives in Jewish Jerusalem, in what is in a matter of months to be reborn, amid war and bloodshed, as the new capital of the State of Israel. Needless to say, travel between the two areas is risky business, but Sukenik finds it necessary to make the clandestine journey - risking his own life - to what is in effect hostile, enemy territory. His sole purpose: to see the scrolls for himself. What Sukenik discovers there in Kando's shop far exceeds his expectations. His journal entry that day declares that he feels "... privileged by destiny to gaze upon a Hebrew scroll that had not been read for more than two thousand years."
Although we didn’t buy anything from the Kando store, many of our tour mates did. Some bought antique jewelry, others bought beautiful Nativity scenes made of olive wood and still others bought less expensive ornaments and other trinkets. The stop at the store was longer than expected as many people were ready to leave long before we actually left. It almost got to be a battle of wills. I got the feeling that the longer we were held ‘captive’ in the store, the more the store owners thought we might buy something. The bus was parked within 15 feet of the exit door. As we left the store to board the bus, a few local, Palestinians realizing a tour group was around, tried to sell necklaces and carrying bags. They were very persistent, didn’t want to take no for an answer, and all but came on the bus to sell their wares. The zeal in which they attempted to sell their stuff was partly funny and partly sad. Bethlehem is such an economically depressed city.
Incidentally, the Kando store is just feet from the 20 foot high security wall that has been built around Bethlehem. Without tourists, business is barely survivable.
Jerusalem
We had to go through the security gate as we left Bethlehem. Once again we had to show our passports to the guard before we were allowed to leave. Our next stop was the Grand Court Hotel in Jerusalem for dinner and overnight. We arrived at the Grand Court Hotel Jerusalem, located on St. George Street between the Novotel and Olive Tree Royal Plaza Hotels, in the late afternoon. We received room keys from Pastor Rick, grabbed our luggage and went up to our rooms to get settled. Cathy and I were in room 835 and Shannon and Michelle were in room 820. We unpacked, cleaned up, and met in the dining room for our group dinner around 6:30. We enjoyed another buffet dinner in which the quality of the food met our lowered expectations. Clearly, the fellowship with other group members was the highlight of dinner time with the food coming in a distant second.
After dinner, Shannon found the internet connection in the lobby and e-mailed friends from work and her college days. After that, we went into the gift shops and Cathy and Shannon began the quest for jewelry. Although nothing was purchased on this 1st night in Jerusalem, the girls tried on many rings and necklaces. It would just be a matter of time.
After a day of touring, we were ready to head up to the rooms around 9:30 – 10:00. Before bedtime, I did as much washing as I could do. Since our portable clothes line could only hold so much – I had clothes hanging on hangars, over chairs and anywhere I could hang them. Most of what was washed was made of lightweight material and would be dry by morning – tomorrow evening at the latest. Sometime around 11:00 it was lights out.
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