Jesus Trail- Nazareth-> Galilee

This weekend was long for Purim Break- meaning I got to go on a 65 km, 4-day hike from Nazareth to Galilee.

Something I didn’t realize before coming to Israel is that any site that is special to Christians is fought over by all the different sects of Christianity.  Also, for every holy site there is a church built on top of it. An example would be that there are three or more different churches who claim to have the spot where Christ went through the atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane. There are also multiple spots claimed to be where Christ was Resurrected, etc. etc. It is all dependent on what sect of Christianity decided to build a church where. I honestly don’t know if anyone really knows where any of these things definitely happened. It is still cool to walk and be around where it is supposed to be.

We started by taking a bus to Nazareth and got in late Wednesday night. The next morning we took a tour of Nazareth-which really just ended up being a taste-test of the tour guide’s friend’s shops. Delicious, yet not very historic. Afterwards we went to the church of the Annunciation- supposedly built where Mary was visited by an Angel who told her she would be the mother of Christ (Luke 1:26). This church is also the largest church in the Middle East. Nazareth was also where Jesus grew up.  The city is beautiful.

Sipping on Cinnamon-Walnut drink. Yummah.

Outside the Church of Annunciation

Inside the Church of Annunciation

Nazareth

 After our tour of Nazareth we started our hike. We hiked to Cana and stayed the night. Cana is the city of the wedding feast found in John 2: 1-11. The little church that is there now is famous for having couple renew their vows there. There is also a nearby shop that provides tourists with free cake. It was cute.

Hike Hike Hike

Church in Cana

Our next stop was the Yarok Az Goat farm. Where we decided to sleep in a tent in a goat farm in the middle of nowhere. We spent most of the night reading and cooking food we picked from the garden. I so want to have my own garden when I have my own house. A majority of the trek is through kibbutzim (kibbutz plural- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibbutz) and farms. We saw everything from grapefruit to banana plants. It was really green and the air was really humid- I imagined how it was to like the weather in Hawaii. It was beautiful.

On our final day we reached Tabgha- the site where Jesus multiplied the bread and the fish in multiple accounts: in Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6: 31-44, Luke 9: 10-17, and John 6:5-15.

Soon after Tabgha is where it is believed to be where Jesus gave Peter the keys to the Priesthood in Matthew 16:16-19. There is a church built where it is thought to be and it is right on the Sea of Galilee.

One of our finals stops was at the Mount of the Beatitudes (Sermon on The Mount-Matthew 5-7). The spot was a lot higher up on the mount that I expected. We were pretty winded to get to the top.

The Trail ended in Capernaum, which was thought to be where Jesus did a lot of things. From healing people to preaching.

After all of the walking, scripture reading, and bonding I still realize that it is cool to be able to do things like this while I am in Israel, but it doesn’t affect my testimony at all. Faith is belief in things that aren’t seen. In the end, coming to these places doesn’t necessarily prove any faith I have, but it does bring a more physical connection to the stories in the bible.

Want to learn some Hebrew slang? This is my favorite, if I only remember one thing in Hebrew  it will be this. The Phrase is מה אני עז? (Mah Ani Ez?) Which literally means. What am I? A goat? You would use this in a situation where you feel left out- like the phrase you would say to your mom if she gave everyone but you ice cream.

Gotta Love Goats.

Coming up: Celebration of Purim and a visit to the Dome of the Rock.

Make Hummus, Not Walls

Well Friends, Ulpan (Hebrew class) is almost over and it is almost time for Purim break. I just have a final Wednesday and then I am off the hook for a bit.

Back to about a week ago: I went to Bethlehem to go to church (Mormon services) last Sunday. It was one of the coolest church experiences I think I have had yet. Most people don’t realize that Bethlehem is in the West Bank, is in Palestinian Territory, and everything is in Arabic. The meeting was in Arabic with translation into English (for me- I felt bad), and all of the other church-goers were Palestinian. It was so interesting to hear stories and experiences of others in a Sunday school lesson. The lesson was on honesty and one member talked about a lot of really interesting life experience pertaining to living in the West Bank. I had never seen that kind of perspective before. It was really enlightening.

Graffiti on the inside of the wall that separates Israel from the West Bank.

This last weekend I went on a school trip to Masada and the Dead Sea. Surprisingly, only an hour away from Jerusalem is the Negev Desert, a UNESCO world heritage site, and the Dead Sea.

Masada is a fort that housed Kind Herod (the same king who made the decree to kill all the babies under the age of two when Christ was born). It was when that land was under Roman rule. It’s a big deal in Judaism because in 73 A.D. The romans came to siege the fort and instead of allowing a mass slaughter of the hundreds of Jews, everyone decided to commit suicide before the romans came. They also burned a lot of local resources, food storage, etc. There were 15,000 soldiers that were going to attack only about 900 inhabitants who were living in the fort. Masada has turned into a symbol of Jewish/Israeli heroism, as it was the last place to be conquered by the Romans. A tour guide told me that every Israeli soldier takes an oath at Masada, to not let Israel fall again. It was really interesting to learn about.

In an Ancient Synagogue in Masada

Dead Sea from Masada

Masada has a lot of really old ruins and is actually near the location where a little Bedouin boy found The Dead Sea scrolls some decades ago. From Masada there is beautiful view of the Dead Sea, which we got to float in after our trip to Masada. It was really warm for it only being February. I floated, got a sunburn, and had really soft skin afterwards. No wonder people use water softener (salt) in indoor plumbing. Sooooooo nice. I’m going to go back and take a mud bath at some point during the semester.

Dead Sea float!

I find it really funny that the climates in Utah and around the Dead Sea are very similar. The Great Salt Lake In SLC is also a dead body of water (in that no rivers exit from it), is surrounded by a desert, and that both The Dead Sea and The Great Salt Lake are fed by Jordan Rivers. Moab is a city in Southern Utah and is also an area on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. I never realized how Biblical everything is where I grew up.

Mud fight!

After my Hebrew final we have a 5-day weekend. I’m going hiking from Nazareth -> Galilee. I’m so excited!

Besalos mucho

View of Mount Zion from a Jewish Cemetery

Remember my blog post about people kissing cheeks in Spain? Well people here people are the same, except it is all about kissing objects that are holy. Everywhere I go, no matter what religion current inhabits a holy site, people kiss everything. From the Western Wall, Mary’s Tomb, to Holy books. The nurse inside of me wants everyone to sterilize his/her lips before and after every kiss. Seriously, how many people have kissed that?!? It is like when you take CPR classes and you use alcohol wipes on the dummy’s mouth afterwards so that the next person who uses the dummy doesn’t get contaminated? Anyways, it is definitely interesting to watch.

I’m trying to make this blog completely neutral. Religiously, politically, etc. so if it even seems like I am taking sides or saying anything bad about any religion, my intent is not to.  My purpose to come to Israel was not to solidify my previous opinions (or I guess, more the opinions of others that I have heard), it was to come learn and understand.

I have come to realize that in Israel, no one is neutral. Everyone has an opinion and a history lesson to teach you. It is wonderfully educating, yet I still don’t know what really happened. I mean, I wasn’t here and I guess neither were they (about most historic things in the past). You can ask two people to explain the history of a certain holy site and you will get completely opposite stories.

The next few paragraphs are about my religion: if you don’t want to read it skip down 3 paragraphs J

Today I went to a couple of Christian sites with a church friend after church. We saw Gethsemane and Mary’s Tomb. It was extremely interesting.  First off, Gethsemane (literally meaning oil press- it sits at the bottom of the mount of olives) is where Christians believe that Christ came the night before he was crucified and took on all of our sins individually. It is an integral part of the atonement, because we believe that through Christ’s payment for our sins we can repent, become better, and become closer to God. We believe that we can overcome spiritual death (sin) and physical death (by being given eternal life after death) through Christ’s sacrifice and payment for our sins.

“I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

“But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

“Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

“Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men” - D & C 19: 16-19

It was really interesting to be there. A lot of different sects of Christianity say that the actual garden is in a different place. I think there are more than three spots proclaimed to be where it happened.

An olive tree in one of the supposed spots of Gethsemane

I have been thinking about it a lot and in order to become closer to God, you don’t necessarily have to be at a “holy site”. It is cool to be able to go visit those places, but I think that the real factor in coming closer to God is the genuine time and effort you put into it. Now that I have been to Gethsemane I am not magically a better Mormon or Christian. To get closer to God I think it is best to have straight communication through Prayer, read the scriptures, etc. etc.

We also went to the Jewish cemetery that sits on the Mount of Olives. It is extremely beautiful and holds graves of a lot of really important Jewish people. You can see a wonderful view of the old city, the city of David, and mount Zion from it.

Jewish Cemetery

Fun fact: Gethsemane means "oil press" in Aramaic. There are loads of olive trees there -> olive oil.

 Tuesday I am going to the Israel Museum- where the Dead Sea Scrolls are! So many things to see!