gregoryjenks

Tag: Tabgha

  • Palestine of Jesus 2014 – Day Thirteen

    This morning the participants in our Palestine of Jesus course had an extended opportunity to soak up the special places along the NW shore of the Sea of Galilee. We had a late checkout from our rooms at the Pilgerhaus, and people were able to visit the nearby Benedictine monastery or walk along the shore to Capernaum. Apart from the ubiquitous gum trees, this is about as close to ‘walking in the footsteps of Jesus’ as anyone could hope to experience.

    After a light lunch at Tabgha, the course went to Mt Tabor for an extended visit to reflect on the Transfiguration traditions. They then returned to Jerusalem by bus, arriving around 5.30pm.

    While this was happening, I left early so that I could pick up Clare from Ginosar and drop her to some friends at Tel Aviv University for a few days, before returning my rental car to the Avis service centre in King David Street. On the way we detoured via Ramat Hasharon, so that we could enjoy a coffee with Hanan Shafir, the dig photographer at Bethsaida.

    As I walked back to the College via the Mamilla Center and the Old City, everything seemed pretty calm and there were no unusual security measures. On the way I treated myself to an ancient coin, using some funds given to me for that purpose by Clare and Lizzie at Christmas time. My wee treasure is a prutah (small bronze coin) issued by the rebel Jewish government in the second year of the Great War with Rome (66/73 CE).

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    Since then the security situation seems to have deteriorated somewhat. There are reports of rockets fired from Gaza towards towns in central Israel, and there are helicopters circling over the Old City and the Arab neighbourhoods. It is yet to be seen if this is simply a precautionary measure, or whether we are going to see a repeat of the civil unrest experienced in Arab towns throughout Israel since the murder of a 16 year old Arab by Jewish nationalists last week.

  • Palestine of Jesus 2014 – Day Eleven

    The SGC Palestine of Jesus course relocated from Jerusalem to the Galilee today. This was always planned at this point in the schedule, but the move was also a good opportunity to move away from the tensions and security concerns in Jerusalem and the south of the country.

    After travelling from Jerusalem, the morning was spent at Capernaum and some nearby lakeside holy places such as the Church of the Primacy at Tagbha. Around 1.00pm the bus arrived in Tiberias so that we could have lunch at the ‘Hermitage’ restaurant in the Russian Orthodox centre. I rejoined the group at this stage after an absence of three days.

    140705 Tiberias Restaurant

    After lunch we had planned to visit Kursi and Bethsaida, but it was far too hot for such visits to outdoor sites this afternoon. Insytead, we made some minor changes to the schedule, leaving Bethsaida for tomorrow morning (on our way north to Banias) and going to the nearby Church of the Beatitudes after lunch.

    Following their visit to Mt Beautitdes the group checked into the very comfortable facilities of the Pilgerhaus at Tabgha, although a few hardy souls decided to walk down the hill in the blazing sun. The remainder of the afternoon was occupied with sleeping and swimming, and offered a very pleasant respite after the tensions of the past few days in Jerusalem.

    140705 Pilgerhaus Tabgha

  • Bethsaida 2014 – Day One

    After a mostly—and happily—uneventful flight from various Australian cities via Dubai and Amman, the 12 people in this year’s Bethsaida team from Australia arrived safely at Hakuk Balev (also spelt Huqoq) late Saturday afternoon. We checked into our rooms, enjoyed the opportunity for a shower, and gathered for dinner at 7.00pm. It was an early night all round, with the blessing of a real bed deeply appreciated after the 18 hours or so of air travel, plus varying amounts of land travel before and after the flights.

    Hakuk is located in the hills to the west of the Sea of Galilee. It is about 5km inland from the main north-south road along the western side of the lake, and about 10 minutes north of our usual location at Ginosar. It offers wonderful views of the lake, as well as Tiberias and the Horns of Hattim.

    Sunday was spent touring some selected sites in the northern area of Israel. Our driver (Fahim) and guide (Ghattas Zaher ) are both Christians from Nazareth, and we soon identified many common friends with both of these gentlemen. Fahim was also the person who picked us up from the Jordan Valley Border Crossing when we came through to Israel from Jordan, and they will both be with us for our program in Nazareth next Saturday and in Haifa the following day. Ghattas is the father of Linda, who works at the Sabeel office in Nazareth, so another special connection there.

    After a visit to Chorazin, we headed north to Banias where we explored the site for a couple of hours. After doing the usual visit to the Cave of Pan, we walked down Banias Stream (one of the four sources of the Jordan) to Banias Falls. The walk took about 90 minutes as detoured via the palace of Agrippa II, bought cherries and pita from the Druze man near the old flour mill, and made our way across the grassy hilltops in the far north of Israel.

    After a picnic lunch at Banias Falls we headed back to the Sea of Galilee where we visited the quiet prayer gardens at Mt Beatitudes, the Church of the Primacy at Tabgha, and the beautiful Greek Orthodox Church at Capernaum. Sadly, the Benedictine monastery at Tabhga was closed so we did not get to see the Byzantine mosaic of the loaves and fishes. We also missed the Franciscan area at Capernaum as we arrived just a few minutes after their shiny new gate was locked for the day. We shall go back there on our way to Haifa next Sunday.

    By the end of dinner all of the volunteers for this middle session of the 2014 season at Bethsaida had arrived, so our new community is beginning to take place. It was another fairly early night for people, but already we are beginning to feel very much at home in the quiet setting of Hakuk and in this beautiful corner of a very special place.

    A few photos relating to each day’s program, including today, will be posted on my Facebook page.