Zippori/Haifa/Tel Aviv

---

Oy, are we behind!
Tuesday was busy and stunning. We left Nof Ginosar, a hotel/resort at Kibbutz Ginosar on the Kinneret or Sea of Galilee. It was somewhat painful to leave that area, because it was BEAUTIFUL! Lots of flora and fauna, stunning views, etc. The big tourist attraction for the kibbutz is an ancient boat (I think from the time of Jesus) which was uncovered as the water level of the Kinneret decreased. They spent 12 years preserving the wood of this boat, and now it is on display in a tourist center. I did not see it, but Jim went. There is a picture at http://www.biblenetworknews.com/europe_middleeast/042005_israel.html.
So, after a huge breakfast spread (I should have taken pictures of the hotel breakfasts here--it is always an ENORMOUS buffet including everything from fresh veggies and cheese to rich desserts, and everything in between), we got on the bus and went to Zippori, an Israeli Park Service site. The word zippori means "bird" and the place is high atop a hill, with a birds-eye view of the surrounding area. In ancient history, it was the site of the Sanhedrin, or high Jewish court, from 170-220 AD/CE. There were extensive excavations, including a synogogue and homes with elaborate mosaic floors, a Roman-style street system, multi-family homes, baths, etcetera. In the synogogue, there were mosaic pictures of bible scenes (notably the sacrifice of Isaac) as well as a big design of the Zodiac! There were no "stars of David" because that was not a big Jewish symbol at that time. The tiles in these mosaics were squares half a centimeter or less on a side, and the images were several feet in height and width, which made for a lot of detail. The largest floor was in a public building on the main drag, and it depicts a celebration of the Nile river. It takes forever for me to download photos, so please look at http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~bazlov/israel/picpages/114sepph_hors.html to see images. There was a centaur in that floor--it is so interesting to see images like that and the Zodiac here, demonstrating how cultures naturally integrate enormously, and no matter how firm or unique we think our "identity" is, it is affected by where and when we live. To me, this is an argument for the trueness of Relativism.
But, sorry for the philosophical digression. We went from there to the city of Haifa, a lively, progressive, wealthy port city, which has traditionally been very integrated as far as Jews & Arabs. We stopped there only briefly, at the Baha'i Gardens, which must be one of the most stunning sites ever. The gardens cover an entire hillside overlooking the city, with a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea. The hardscape consists of paired staircases with 19 terraces. The central terrace contains a domed building which houses the writings of the Baha'i prophet, Bha'u'llah; the landscape is luch and meticulously kept--not a blade of grass out of place! These pictures are better than mine: http://www.bahaipictures.com/. Here is more about the religion: http://www.aseeko.com/bahai/teachings/teachings_home.html.
Next, we went on to Atlit, which was a British detention camp from the pre-state era. The British limited immigration to Palestine in the first half of the 20th century, but in the 30's and 40's many European Jews were fleeing Nazis (as well as Jews from Syria and other middle eastern countries) and many came here without papers. If they were caught, they were put in these detention camps until they could get permission to enter, or until they were deported (all this should sound very familiar to modern Americans). The freaky thing for the Europeans who had experienced Naziism was that they were brought to a camp surrounded by barbed wire, with armed guards, and were made to undress and go through a "disinfection" process (including spraydown with DDT and a hot shower, while their clothing was steamed). THAT must have been terrifying!
From there, we went to Caesarea, which had been a HUGE port that Herod had built, which has been through several iterations as a vibrant port city (romans, muslims, christian crusaders, all had their turns razing and bulding there). Now, there is not much of a port, but it is a big archaeological site and tourist center. It was mighty impressive, both the ruins themselves, and because the archaeology geeks have developed cool computer generated mock-ups of how it looked in each time period, with awesome detail, including little people wandering around...it brought the history to life, even to me, a non-history-buff.
After that, we went to Kikar Rabin, the site of the Yitzhak Rabin assassination in 1994. That was very moving. He was the peace promoter (remember photo of him with Pres Clinton and Yasser Arafat?). It was very sad for the peace-loving folk.
Finally, we went out to dinner with Moshe and Pamela, whom we knew through Melanie & Warren in Maryland. Moshe is Israeli, and had wanted to return to Israel. They made aliya on the same flight Jim and I took here last spring. They are happy to be close to Moshe's parents and family, but they were very honest as to how difficult life is here. It was pretty sobering. Nonetheless, we had a lovely fish dinner and enjoyed their company and their adorable 2 year old, Avishai.
Sorry no pictures--more tomorrow!

---

Comments

[Debbie, Stu & Julian]

Hi Leigh Jim Sam and Dan, Sounds like you're having a great trip. We've really enjoyed reading about it and seeing the pictures! Julian too. We took the Prius out for a ride today so it's all charged up, no worries. Stu, Debbie, and Julian From Julian: We'll call you and we'll leave you a message and make a note on your door. The car was working well. ['"];[p-ol