Wednesday, January 26th

Tsippori

Nazareth

Visit Basilica of the Annunciation

Attend prayer at the White Mosque

The Druze, Sheikh Jamil Khatib in Bet Jann (Druze)

Meeting with Ethiopian Israelis at community center

Today dawned with grey skies and drizzle – which is a blessing in this land of minimal rain.  We were happy on behalf of our hosts, but maybe just a little grumpy about walking around all day in the rain.  Our bus brought us first to Tsippori, which had been the capital of the region in Biblical times and is the subject of an ongoing archeological dig.  We dashed between the raindrops into the remains of the synagogue, which has been capped by a modern building for protection and for the comfort of visitors.  Tsippori was a huge town, famously mentioned in a number of contemporary works and home to a bustling population of Romans and others in addition to the small Jewish population.  The synagogue might have seemed a bit snug, but the artistry of the mosaic floor was top quality and beautifully preserved.

Tsippori is also home to an ancient theatre with cut-stone seats as well as a maze of shops and homes.  We discussed several Hebrew texts regarding the difficult role Jews would have had to play in the time of the Roman Empire while living in such a town.  The experience was enriched by watching a few scenes from Monty Python’s Life of Brian on the bus, for perspective.

Next, we visited Nazareth – a place completely ignored by writers and historians in Biblical times, except in the Bible itself.  It is now home to the White Mosque, the Church of the Annunciation, a bustling Arab market, and dozens of “SoGood” gas stations.  The church is a beautifully simple structure overall, featuring dozens of mosaics from around the world on its exterior walls and a reverently maintained grotto within the sanctuary itself.  On a Wednesday morning it is mainly occupied by tourists, but the materials are in place for a solemn worship service and signs indicate that the Pope has been by to visit in the recent past.

The White Mosque is unique in its welcome of strangers and other observers. Women must cover their heads (a baseball cap will do), and cell phones must be silenced, but otherwise visitors are welcome to sit along the benches just inside the door and observe the service.  Since we are behind the half-wall which marks the prayer space, we were not even asked to remove our shoes.  The men began streaming in even before the muezzin’s call, and continued for several minutes after the service had begun. (Unfortunately, the women worship separately and I was told it was “not possible” to observe or join them.)  The Imam moved to the center of the prayer space, joined the worshipers in the normal bows and litany of prayers, and then opened up what I presume to be the Quran and began to sing a passage.  The music was beautiful, peaceful, and enveloped me with a sense of prayer even though I didn’t understand the words.  It strongly recalled for me the way a Jewish cantor will sing passages of the Tanak, and led me to contemplate the many common roots of the various Abrahamic faiths.

We had been scheduled next to drive into the highest of the Golan heights to view a historic site of Jewish mysticism; but although the weather had cleared enough for us to scamper through Tsippori and later skip through the market to the church and mosque, thick mist still limited our visibility.  Our guide pulled a brilliant alternative out of his hat and directed our bus driver to Dalia’s Vegetarian Restaurant, a little eatery in the community of Amirim, perched on the side of the mountain.  The restaurant is reached by crawling up narrow switch-back roads and driving along slim highways bracketed by a rock wall on one side and a long drop on the other, and our bus driver really showed his skill in fitting our big comfortable bus down paths it was never designed to travel.  Once we arrived, I cannot begin to describe how wonderful, plentiful, and in what amazing variety that food was presented to us.  We simply sat in two long tables in Dalia’s back room, with huge windows on one side which would have shown a magnificent view (if there had been one) and a stream of food appearing from the kitchen doors on the other side.

Having thoroughly gorged ourselves (and participated in a discussion on Biblical teachings about eating as a spiritual act), we wove a bit further into the mountains to the home of a Druze sheik.  This gentleman was kind enough to invite us into his home, where his wife and daughters provided us with coffee, tea, cookies, and pastry while he gave a detailed explanation of the faith and practices of the Druze people.  Never heard of the Druze?  I had not either, and apparently there are only about 1.5 million in the world (mostly in the middle east).  Still, our host was gracious in helping us understand the political dilemma of the Druze who live in the areas captured by Israel from the Syrians, which we had visited the day before.  Those members of the Druze people consider themselves to be Syrians, and are careful not to assimilate Israeli culture because they expect their lands to be back in Syrian control at some future point.

Our last event for today was a chance to speak with some Ethiopian Jewish women who had immigrated to Israel with their families in the 1980’s.  These women told horror stories of walking for weeks through the desert from Ethiopia to Sudan, then trying to hold on in refugee camps where theft, kidnapping and assault was the norm before finally being air lifted to Israel.  It was a very moving story, and I can only imagine the strength required from what were then just young girls in order to survive the journey.

Perhaps “common ground” is the theme for today.  We have the Tsippori Jews, who found ways to live peacefully with their Roman overlords at a time when Jews in other cities revolted.  The congregation of the White Mosque is reaching out to strangers, especially foreigners, in an attempt to remove the mystery from their faith and emphasize the common threads of faith.  The church of the annunciation is covered with mosaics from Thailand, Croatia, and around the word, all in the same theme of Mary’s acceptance of God’s will.  The Druze, while open and hospitable, make no bones about their strong resistance to any assimilation or other social weakening of their ancient beliefs.  Our new Ethiopian friends faced perhaps the greatest challenge of all, adapting to the incredible physical, emotional and social strains while retaining a fierce determination to survive.

Earlier tonight, I was complaining to some of my fellow travelers about how uncomfortable I found it not to be able to read the street signs (which are, of course, in Hebrew script).  In retrospect, I feel a bit silly.