On to Tiberias
29 December 2012
N.B.: You might notice in looking at the Archive list to the right that these updates are being published in July 2013, even though the trip ended in January. For reasons discussed in a different blog, that is indeed the case, but I will assure that these reflections were recorded at the time of the trip, and that the dates indicated in the blog itself are accurate; I simply did not have time to clean them up until recently. That's a different story for a different day!
N.B.: You might notice in looking at the Archive list to the right that these updates are being published in July 2013, even though the trip ended in January. For reasons discussed in a different blog, that is indeed the case, but I will assure that these reflections were recorded at the time of the trip, and that the dates indicated in the blog itself are accurate; I simply did not have time to clean them up until recently. That's a different story for a different day!
For some reason, it did not register with me that the
Sabbath had extended into Saturday morning, so I was briefly surprised with the
breakfast buffet this morning to see how sparse it was…no omelets, no hot meat, nothing that
required preparation. I eventually
settled for a salad and some potatoes, though I can hardly wait for the mid-day when "normalcy" returns.
I’ll reiterate what I discussed in the previous post, then
elaborate a bit more: A relatively small
fraction of ultra orthodox Jews take the Shabbat to the point that they will not
turn on or off electricity between Friday night and Saturday night as it could
be considered to be igniting or extinguishing a flame, something that is
forbidden by Jewish law during this time. There are, however, a
number of ways the get around this: In
large buildings, one elevator is set to run automatically stopping on each
floor up and down so that they don’t need to push the button. The Orthodox won’t turn lights on or off, so they
use timers instead, previously set for the desired on and off times. The number of Jews who
adhere stringently to these laws is small, perhaps 20% of the Jewish
population, but even though they are a minority, they have the political power
to impose a great deal of these restrictions on others, albeit it
inconsistently. In a large hotel, for
example, only one elevator operates on the Shabbat schedule, and the rest can be
operated manually. In your hotel room,
you still have a coffee maker and can use it "manually; obviously, in the privacy of my own room I may turn the lights on or
off. That all seems to make sense, in
that those who do not observe the Shabbat do not have it imposed upon them, but
there are other areas where it is forced on everybody, Orthodox or not: In the public areas such as the breakfast
room, as intimated above they will not put out the toaster, and they turn off the self-service
coffee machines. In other words, even
devices that are operated by a non-adherent are banned in public areas. The Orthodox really do have the power!!
Our first stop of the morning was at Caesarea about half an hour
out of Tel Aviv. Both ancient Roman and
Crusader buildings can be seen, with the Roman dating back to the time of
Herod. Unfortunately, many of the older
buildings such as the Roman Theater have been essentially completely rebuilt,
unlike Jordan which tried to minimize renovation. (There is a great deal of debate in terms of how old sites should be handled: Should they be left "as is" when discovered, even if in terrible decay, or should they be brought back to what we presumed to be the appearance centuries ago, using materials and the like which emulate the prior existence as best possible. Jordan generally goes with the former, and at least in this one site in Israel the latter was selected.)
Our next stop was Haifa, just 20 some odd miles from the Lebanon and
Syrian borders, and the scene of rocket attacks in 2006. It's sobering to be in this place, in an area which has seen, firsthand, recent rocket attacks, yet today it looks vibrant as people scurry about. There really is a unique mindset in Israel, in that the day-to-day threats are accepted as such, and life is not interrupted through fear.
Haifa also houses the headquarters of the Bahá'í Faith, a religion with which I am not familiar but which does, at a minimum, sound interesting. Rather than try to explain what this group represents, I'll simply point our their website should you wish to read about them.
I'm not sure why I found this so amazing, but I chuckled when I stumbled across a QR for Jews for Jesus! In spite of the name, the organization really is a conservative Christian evangelical group, but nonetheless finding it here seemed humorous.
Lunch consisted of a falafel….I have never had one before,
and I will not again! I am not a fan, and I really would rather not recollect on the taste, so I'll avoid a description other than to use the urbane term of "yuck."
After our rather (OK, very) disappointing lunch, the next stop was the Akko (Acre) old city site. This is a UNESCO world history site, dating back to the times of antiquity, and it also represents another example of what I discussed earlier in this post, namely what seems to be an Israeli predisposition towards rebuilding ancient sites rather than leaving them in situ. I'm getting a sense that Israel, as a relatively well-known tourist or vacation site, is going to continue with this theme of rebuilding, as opposed to Jordan's bias towards "leave as-is." Part of this may be philosophical, part of it may be pragmatic in that a very poor country such as Jordan may not have to funds to rebuild. In any case, this is becoming a very consistent, striking contrast between the countries.
Surprisingly, it started to rain rather heavily on our way to Nazareth in Galilee and the site of the Church of theAnnunciation, the site at which the angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary that she would become the mother of Jesus. Again, this site has been extensively refurbished, appearing very new, save for the old
grotto portion. In some regards I like the rather new
and contemporary design, but others in the group were not so sure.
I do have to say, with regrets, than I am not really pleased with our guide, as he has a tendency to blow off questions: There were many things I wanted to know about Judaism, and when I would ask him he gave a cursory answer which was even less complete than what I already knew. To make it even worse, he gave the most
meaningless explanation of Islam I have ever heard in my life:
- Mohammed wrote the Quran (which is odd, since Mohammed was illiterate and "Quran" means “recite"). He quickly mentioned the five pillars of Islamic faith with no elaboration other than to say these were "OK," but then he immediately went on to say that a Muslim can get on a bus, declare glory to God, declare a jihad and blow himself and everybody else up.
Beyond the condescending description of faith above, our tour guide declared that Bath was in Scotland (England is reality), and that the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is managed by the Israeli government (it’s really managed by an Islamic Waqf).
Tour guide disappointments notwithstanding, we spent our night in the Leonardo Plaza in Tiberias, where my suitcase
decided to self destruct! (Yes, the zipper on my clamshell gave way, and could not be resurrected.) Very, very
fortunately for me, the gift shop downstairs had one, it was about the right
size, and only cost me $75---a real bargain under the circumstances. (Though I will amend this post to point out that upon my return to the US, this "bargain" self destructed for me as well. Argh.)
At some point along the way, I did note the following about country revenues, and I'll throw the thoughts in here so they do not get lost, though I have forgotten the details.
Jordan
- Potash and Phosphorus
- Poor job of promoting tourism
Israel
- Fruits and vegetables
- Tourism
- Diamonds
- High Tech
- No heavy industry to speak, but light industry.
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