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Israel is one of the few
places on Earth where geography is history, whether it be the land
where Jesus Christ and King David lived, or the modern battlefields
which have made it the focus of more attention than any country in
the world. Here the ground seems charged, from the epic sagas
chronicled in the Bible more than 2,000 years ago, to the dramatic
headline-making events of the present day. Come and join
us in remembering those places,
the culture shock, the people and the adventure.
Other Travels:
Israel Texas
Sea World
Oregon 1
Oregon 2
Seattle |
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Dome of the Rock and
Jerusalem's Old City
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The Western Wall
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The Land of the Living Bible: While walking
inside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, you suddenly hear the bells
tolling in the church which marks the site where Christ was
crucified. And at virtually the same time, the loudspeakers of
the Moslem mosques begin broadcasting in Arabic the beautiful, often
chilling call to prayer. All this while you are gazing at the
holiest site in Judaism - the surviving Western Wall of the Temple,
destroyed some 2,000 years ago. It's simply a great thrill to be
a Christian, a Moslem, or a Jew in the country which is the focus of
these three major religions, and it is a feeling powerful enough to be
felt by the rest of the world's remaining religionists.
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The Dome of the Rock - A closer look
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The Garden Tomb
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Practicing your faith in Israel is an experience
never to be forgotten. The Dome of the Rock is a mosque so
beautiful that one can almost imagine Mohammed on his white stallion
ascending to heaven from it, and on some days the Sea of Galilee
shimmers so smooth and blue that you yourself might be tempted to try
a walk on the water. It is a cliche to call Israel
the land of the Living Bible, but when you drive your car
through the lower Galilee on the road from Mount Tabor to the Sea of
Galilee, you will actually wonder a the long distance Jesus walked - a
feeling you might have missed out on when originally reading that
particular verse in the Bible. |
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Ruins & an Arc in Jerusalem's
Old City
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Golgotha, The Place of the Skull
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Water Baptism in Jordan River |
Contrary to what you might have thought, the majority
of Israel's citizens are not religious. Only about 20 percent of
the population are what Israelis themselves define as "observant
Jews". In Israel the definition is made very simple indeed:
a male who wears a skullcap (kipa) -- a small, round, usually
knitted head covering which is worn to obey the Old Testament
injunction "to cover thy head in the sight of God" -- is
considered to be a religious Jew. For women, the story is
different and far more complicated, which makes the job of discerning
whether they are observant or not much more difficult.
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Church in Mt. of Beatitudes, site
of the Sermon on the Mount |
A church at the Mount of Olives |
Chapel of The Ascension |
But aside from the head covering, there are of course many other
customs which mark the religious Israeli. The Old Testament
injunction "to observe the Sabbath" means, among other
things, that from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday you can forget
about phoning that friend or crucial business contact who happens to
be religious, because it is forbidden for them to answer the
phone. The prohibition on working or "violating the
Sabbath" in any other way means no cooking, no radio, no TV, no
cleaning, bathing, or showering. The theaters, restaurants and
shopping malls are closed, and there is no public transportation if
you don't have a car. Aside from some few and far in-between
exceptions, there is nothing open; Saturday is the day of rest.
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Another one of the major Sabbath injunctions is the prohibition
against travel. Wherever a religious Israeli wants to spend the
weekend, he or she must get there before Friday sundown.
However, the kosher laws, in contrast to the prohibitions which affect
the religious Israeli alone, will influence you directly. If for
example, your favorite food is lobster tail, then your stay in Israel
will involve a considerable sacrifice, at least on the part of your
salivary glands. In brief, the kosher laws forbid pork (as do
Moslem laws), seafood, and the mixing of meat and dairy
products. On the Yom Kippur holiday, not only can you take your
kids on a morning walk right down the biggest highway in the city with
no risk whatsoever of being run over, but thousands of people do it.
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Ruins of an ancient synagogue, Capernaum
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Caesarea
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Some Tips on Religion:
One of the most delightful customs in Judaism is to go to the
Western Wall and place a small note in one of its many ancient
crevices. Your wish is supposed to come true.
In a synagogue, or at the Western Wall men and boys are expected to wear a kipa.
When visiting a mosque, remove your shoes before entering. See
the most fantastic Dome of the Rock. Visits are only allowed in
the morning.
Don't be offended when a religious Jew in Israel will respond to the
commonplace query "How are you?" with the Hebrew phrase
"Baruch HaShem" which means "God be blessed."
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One of the most striking aspects of life in Israel, at
least to the uninitiated, is the army. It's unfortunate but
predictable that your first memorable encounter with the Israeli Army
has been with a middle-aged reservist, though it could just as well
have been with a beautiful girl with an Uzi submachine gun casually
slung over her shoulder like a purse; or perhaps more favorably with a
clean-shaven young man with paratrooper wings on his chest and
officer's bars on his shoulders. It's not just these singularly
martial scene on the bus or street which take some getting used to.
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Snowboarding in Israel |
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Parasailing in Eilat, Southern part of Israel
| The most important
characteristic of the Israeli Army is its compulsory draft
system. At the age of
18, almost all Israeli men and women must enter the armed forces;
the men serving for three years and the women two.
Tips on the Army:
It's against the law to photograph military bases.
Take care about photographing soldiers in the street, especially officers, who can be recognized by the various assorted insignias on their shoulders.
It's encouraged, even considered patriotic, to pick up soldiers
hitchhiking, which is one of their major forms of transportation
while on leave.
Don't forget, public transportation between cities is jammed with soldiers on Fridays, Sundays and on the day before and after holidays.
Swearing-in of new IDF soldiers are usually held at the Western Wall
in Jerusalem. |
| Other Travels:
Israel Texas
Sea World
Oregon 1
Oregon 2
Seattle
|
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See the Acknowledgement and Links page
for the references.
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