The last article finished with the 35 Pilgrims enjoying a happy reunion with the 36th who got the passport problem solved and arrived at Haifa in time for supper. Hectic conversation with many of the group brought her up to date with all that she had missed from Tel Aviv to Joppa to Caesarea, to Haifa and finally to bed.
The band of Pilgrims started off the next morning from Haifa with a new guide from the “Patra Tour” people in Tel Aviv. The “Patra” people had worked with Marguerite Higham on the customizing of the itinerary to include many points of special interest to us. The new guide was Ezekiel Jerusi, a native of Jerusalem who pronounced his name quite differently from the anglosized sound of Ezekiel. He called himself Ezz-Zeckee-El or “Zeek” for short. He was a Sabra, which means a native born Israeli, the word actually is the word for the native cactus growing in the land. Ezzzeck-Ee-El proved to be quite the opposite from “thorny” and “invasive” as is the native cactus plant. He was not only very helpful, cooperative, informative and knowledgeable but a real credit to the Israeli cause. The cause as expressed by him would be one of peaceful coexistence with the world at large awaiting the Messiah who will come, and will correct any injustices and make all things right. This was somewhat of a pleasant surprise for many of us. Much of his conversation indicated a great faith in the God of Abrams and the wonders He could and had performed and in particular was performing in the miraculous development of the State of Israel.
After a fairly good start for our second morning together we drove through the streets of Haifa towards Accho, also known as Acre & Akko. This is a coastal town further north than Haifa and from here we turned inland to Galilee towards the extreme northern parts of Israel. In Haifa there was a noticeable British influence left over, no doubt, from the conquest by Allenby in the first world war and the 30 year British mandate, although they did drive on the “right” side of the road rather than the left as in England. Akko is an Arab town and dominated by a Mosque called the Mosque of El Jazzar. Though in Israeli territory and under definite Israeli domination there is always a feeling of inhospitality in Arab towns, possibly caused either by the glum suspicious looks given us by the Arabs or a sense of inner foreboding brought about by our knowledge of matters past, present and future concerning the offspring of Ishmael. Furthermore, their dress is quite different and there is no mistaking an Arab.
The builder of the Mosque in the 18th Century was an Islamic Turkish ruler, Ahmed Jazzar Pecha called “Pecha” the Butcher. Human bodies being those which got the butcher treatment. There was the usual arch or doorway with no door, but a simulated location of one to indicate which direction was south, for it must be toward the south that all Moslem prayer is directed because due south a thousand miles is Mecca. There was an interesting side light to this Mosque for it had recently been re-carpeted with many new beautiful Persian rugs and the old ones had been rolled up and piled on top of one another in a corner of the Mosque. Protruding from one of the rolls near the bottom of the pile were a pair of extended feet. We were informed that inside the roll of carpet attached to the feet was a tired Arab. No further inquiries were made in case he was a modern day victim of the policies of the 18th century “Pecha”.
Traveling from Akko northeast we skirted the beginnings of the Valley of Esdraelon as we climbed through hills to the north and headed thru Galilee north of Nazareth to the Israeli vacation resort town of Safed. Here again on spelling you take your choice Safad, Safed, Zefat, Tsefat like many other names there seem to be many different ways of writing it. The only explanation we could get was the resulting influence of the occupiers of the land, Turk, Britain, Jew, Arab and Roman. The town of Safad is thought to be the city to which Jesus referred when he said “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden” Matt. 5 v 14. This is certainly true of this delightful spot where the air is clean and pure and in the snows of winter is quite a ski resort. Lunch was eaten cafeteria style which became somewhat of a guessing game knowing just what you had chosen to eat, but if mistakes were made in food selection the disappointments were overcome by the enjoyment of the beautiful view. The whole land seemed to be stretched out before us.
After lunch we started down hill a long way down to the Jordan which even so far north as this it is still several hundred feet below sea level. We crossed the river at Jacob’s Ford, now called the Gesher Benot Ya’Aqoy Bridge and proceeded up the Golan heights on the east side. Much of the area still contained active land mines as no maps showing their location had been captured and the Syrians refused to inform the Israeli’s of the land mine positions. Israel has too many more important things to do, so for the time being only cattle are allowed in the areas where land mines are active. It is hazardous for the cattle and many get blown up, but better a sheep or goat than an Israeli or a tourist. From the old Syrian fortifications looking west toward the hills of Galilee we got a splendid view of the fertile upper Jordan valley where the Israeli farmer had been shot at as he worked in the fields, the same fields he had worked for about 20 years, prior to 1967. Part of this valley shows a small lake on your Bible maps called Lake Huleh. This has now been drained and the swamp land converted to very productive agricultural plain.
Descending into this plain we continued north to the headwaters of the Jordan at Banias Springs in the vicinity of Caesarea Phillipi. Here the waters were crystal clear, delightful to drink from the natural openings which filled a shallow lake before pouring over a low spillway and then on southward to the Sea of Galilee and finally to the Dead Sea some hundred miles or so away. The sun was now disappearing over the hills of Galilee and setting in the Mediterranean, so we hastily drove south to Tiberias on the western side of the Sea of Galilee. It was getting dark when we looked from our hotel window over the water on which Jesus and Peter walked. It was a fitting climax to a busy day and brought exciting anticipation for what would follow the next morning. Later on in the evening, we realized the Sabbath had begun and we were made aware of it when walking to the shore of Galilee, all places for refreshment were closed except those operated by Arabs and we wondered what effect that would have on tomorrow’s tour and in the next article you will find oat.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One