Galilee and the Golan Heights

The next morning we left Haifa, exiting the city from the base of Mt. Carmel.  We got another view of the Baha'i Gardens as we left the city.

Our day would involve sightseeing in the area of the Galilee.  On our way to our first stop, we got our first glimpse of the Sea of Galilee and were able to stop for pictures.  Of course the Sea of Galilee is where Jesus walked on water.

The area surrounding the Galilee is very mountainous, and our first stop was Safed, popular with the Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah (think Madonna), but also home to Orthodox communities and some ancient synagogues.

Safed is the highest city in the Galilee, located almost 3000 feet above sea level and is considered one of the four holiest cities in Israel.  According to the Book of Judges, the area of Safed was given to the tribe of Nephtali. Because of it's elevation, the city was used as a location to light fires announcing the New Moon and festivals during the Second Temple Period.

Safed grew in fame as a center for Jewish study and Kabbalah mysticism in the 1500's.  At that time, Spain began expelling the Jews and many sought out what was then Palestine as their new home.

We visited some very old synagogues, including one with a copy of Torah that was several hundred years old.  Our tour guide pointed out a man who was a Yemeni Jew turned drug dealer, turned pizza/falafal shop owner.

After lunch and some shopping, we started for the Golan Heights.  We got our first glimpse of the Jordan River on the way.  At one point, the river was the border between Syria and Israel prior to the taking of the Golan by the Israelis during the Six Day War in 1967.

We also passed a group of Israeli soldiers doing some sort of maneuvers and we all got out and took pictures of them while they waved to us.

The Golan remains a contentious area, as would see on our visit, with a memorial to soldiers killed during the conflict, abandoned Syrian bunkers and signs warning of unexploded land mines.  The heat in the Golan was intense.  It was very windy, but it was a hot wind.... the equivalent of walking around in a hair dryer.

We made our way to a scenic area overlooking a valley with a UN peacekeeping community and Syria and Lebanon in the distance.  While we were there, we saw and heard a bomb explode way way (way)off in the distance and saw lots of white smoke, to which Kirsten replied that we had a new Pope.

While the border is relatively peaceful given the UN presence, the area of the Golan is still quite controversial.  Syria still wants it back and the Israelis need it for domestic security.  

We made our way out of the Golan and down towards the town of Tiberias.  We crossed the Jordan again and our guide told us we could do it on foot, so we got all excited, but then we realized we could cross the bridge on foot, so that wasn't too exciting.  Oh well.

Our tour guide wanted us to visit a Diamond shop, which I guess was required shopping, but we all sat thru the video and then blew that off and went down to the Sea of Galilee to look around before meeting back at the bus.  Tiberias was also very hot.... It was in Tiberias, while seeking relief that I began to develop the strong love for Israeli popsicles that would sustain me throughout the trip.

We spent the night in Lavi at a kibbutz.  It was more of a hotel than a kibbutz, but they did have free wi-fi in the rooms which was wonderful.  They served tongue for dinner though.  That wasn't so wonderful.  Shrimp isn't kosher, but tongue is?  Need to talk to Moses about that one.....