Israel - Finishing Up

Okay, what did I promise you last time, I forget. I think it was Bethlehem, the Sea (Lake) of Galilee and the Jordan River. Let’s go with that.

Even though it was early-February by the time I got to Bethlehem, it still was Christmas time. Right outside of the Church of the Nativity was a tree still decorated for Christmas, with other Christmas decorations still hanging here and there. Of course, we weren’t in Bethlehem for the Christmas decorations, we were there for the Church of the Nativity. (Fortunately, we weren’t there for the coffee. I don’t think I’ve ever seen intellectual property infringement anywhere close to the Stars & Bucks Cafe shop with the green roof and logo. I guess it must be difficult to get/enforce injunctions in the Palestinian-controlled part of the West Bank.)

Of the various old churches that I visited during my time in the holy land, I think it was the Church of the Nativity that I liked the most. Like other churches in Israel, it was unassuming from the outside. Also, like other biblical sites in the area, the location was selected centuries after the fact and the accuracy of the selection is debatable, at best. Still, once you enter the church, you realize that it has an aura that the other churches didn’t, at least for me. The two most famous places in the church are downstairs through a narrow corridor. There, you will find a silver star in the floor designating the spot in which Jesus was born and across and to the side, a little shrine in a carved out section of the church designating where the manger was located. Even for somebody of limited faith, I was honored to walk through these celebrated halls.

We also visited the Sea (Lake) of Galilee. Call it what you want people, but it’s a lake, not a sea. Anyway, there wasn’t anything spectacular about it but I could see how somebody might walk across it with all of the pollution. (Just kidding. I did see an old tire by the shore, but compared with the Nile in certain parts, the Sea (Lake) of Galilee is pristine.) We stopped by an old town in which one or more of the apostles lived. I’m not completely up to date with all of my apostles, but there was a house there in which an apostle with two names (was Paul Simon an apostle?) lived and it is claimed that Jesus lived there as well, at least for a while. The house has a few remains left that are surrounded by the remains of an old Byzantine church, all of which are surrounded by a twentieth century church. I’m sure someday, it’ll be surrounded by something else. One can only hope.

Okay, now we get to the baptismal site at the Jordan River. Which one you ask? Good question. From signs that I’ve seen, there is a spot on the Jordan side of the Jordan River that claims to be the spot where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. We didn’t go to that one. There’s also a spot on the Israel side of the Jordan River where we were told was the “traditional” (there’s that word again) spot of John the Baptist’s baptism of Jesus. That spot, however, is under control of the Israeli army and access is denied except for certain days to certain people or something like that. Anyway, we didn’t go there. We went, instead, to an “alternate” site designated as a Jordan River baptismal site. Thanks, but big f’in’ whoop. I could go to the Tar River and call it an “alternate” site for lots of things. That shouldn’t make it a pilgrimage site. But we went, so there you are.

That’s pretty much it for the highlights of Israel (along with my other posts on the topic). I have to say that of the three countries I visited on this trip, I liked Israel the least, though to be fair, I only spent five days there, as opposed to the ten days I spent in Egypt, and Jordan is probably the most beautiful country that I’ve ever seen.

While I’m on the plane from Warsaw to New York, I’ll start writing an article on the trip home and I will hope to finish it soon after I arrive at RDU. Then the blog will go back on hiatus until I return to Paris in late-February.