{"id":639,"date":"2016-12-12T22:01:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T22:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/12\/around-the-sea-of-galilee-capernaum-tabgha-mount-of-beatitudes-golan-heights-and-upper-hula-nature-reserve\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T04:59:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:59:47","slug":"around-the-sea-of-galilee-capernaum-tabgha-mount-of-beatitudes-golan-heights-and-upper-hula-nature-reserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/12\/around-the-sea-of-galilee-capernaum-tabgha-mount-of-beatitudes-golan-heights-and-upper-hula-nature-reserve\/","title":{"rendered":"Around the Sea of Galilee: Capernaum, Tabgha, Mount of Beatitudes, Golan Heights and Upper Hula Nature Reserve"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nNov 21, Mon: The Sea of Galilee:
\nCapernaum (St. Francis Church) Tabgha, Mount of Beatitudes, Golan Heights and
\nUpper Hula Nature Reserve.<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span><\/span><\/b>When
\nwe awoke, we were quite delighted to discover that our hotel was right on the
\nshores of the lake and that our rooms offered grand sweeping views of the city
\nof Tiberius on the one hand and of the Sea of Galilee on the other. After
\nwitnessing sunrise on the Sea of Galilee, we hurried down for breakfast and discovered
\nthat it was not quite as extensive as the one offered by Hotel Shalom<\/i>. But I found out that a chef was preparing eggs any
\nwhich way and I chose to try a local favorite called Shakshuka<\/i>\u2014which is eggs stewed in a spicy tomato sauce. They were
\nquite delicious indeed. In an attempt to eat local food, I filled my plate with
\nhummus, roasted eggplant and feta cheese that I ate with olives\u2014and, of course,
\ncoffee. Moti bundled us into his van when we had eaten our fill and drove us
\nalong the shores of the Sea of Galilee to the spot upon which visitors board
\nboats for a ride on the waters of the Biblical Lake.   <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nBoat Ride on the Sea of Galilee:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>In the case of most pilgrims to the
\nHoly Land, the boat ride on the Sea of Galilee is a very solemn affair\u2014part of
\na Christian pilgrimage undertaken in a serene, solemn spirit. Ours was nothing
\nlike the usual one. We were greeted by the boat owners who discovered that we
\nwere from the USA. They then called upon two of our members (Vasanti and Glen)
\nto hoist the American flag as a recording of The Star-Spangled Banner<\/i> played in the background. This was
\nfollowed by the hoisting of the Indian flag and the singing of the Indian
\nNational Anthem, the Jana Gana Mana<\/i>. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nBy
\nthe time the anthems were sung, the boat has reached the middle of the lake.
\nOur guide Moti produced his Bible and asked me to read a passage from it in
\nwhich the story of Jesus walking upon the water is reported. It was at this
\ntime that he offered us a little thought for the day. Most of us were still
\nseething at the thought of the injustice committed against him by the man in
\nthe church. He, however, asked us to remember where we were and to think about
\nthe lessons that we could take back from the Holy Land. In particular, he spoke
\nto us about forgiveness.  <\/span>He told us to
\nkeep in mind how hard it might have been for the British man to make the call
\nto us, to admit his fault and to offer to compensate for the damage caused. He
\ntold us to remember that he had probably spent a very bad night and probably
\nfelt deeply ashamed about what he had done in public. He told us to think about
\nforgiveness and to focus on the serenity of our surroundings.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>Moti\u2019s words had a deep impact on me
\nand I thought that it was ironic that two thousand years after Christ first
\ncame to deliver his message of love and forgiveness; we were receiving a lesson
\nfrom another Israeli Jew! Having received this message, it was time to trade!
\nWe were then shown a number of local handicrafts that the boat owners wished to
\nsell: pendants made from stones found at the bottom of the Lake, music
\nrecordings of the hymns being played, etc. A few of our members bought some
\nsouvenirs. Towards the end of our cruise, the boat owners played the Goan Konkani
\nsong, Mira Mira<\/i>, which they told us
\nwas popular among pilgrim groups from Goa. In a joyous mood, some of us danced
\non deck. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n <\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nStopping at the River Jordan:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n <\/span>   <\/span>        <\/span>With our boat ride on the Sea of Galilee
\ndone, Moti drove us off towards our next destination\u2014but first we stopped
\nbriefly on the banks of the River Jordan that crosses through this part of the
\nregion. Some of us gingerly made our way down to the river banks, trailed our
\nfingers in the waters of the Jordan and took a few pictures there. Everyone was
\nsurprised by how narrow the Jordan is\u2014Llew and I were not surprised as we have
\nseen the River Jordan from the country of Jordan (when Israel was on the other
\nbank being patrolled by Israeli soldiers).<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nOn to Capernaum (Capharnaum):<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>Out next port of call was Capernaum
\nknown as \u201cThe Town of Jesus\u201d. Being driven out of Nazareth by local Jews who
\nthought he was a crank, Jesus made his base in Capernaum. It was here that he
\nrecruited the twelve who would become his most faithful Apostles. This was also
\nwhere he began preaching as a rabbi or teacher and first came to the attention
\nof the Roman legions as well as the Jewish elders who questioned his authority.
\nThis area is also designated as a National Park.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>Because it was at Capernaum (and
\nprobably very close to the location at which we stopped) that Jesus chose Peter
\nto be his right hand man (\u201cThou art Peter and Upon this Rock shall I build my
\nChurch\u201d), there is a lovely sculpture of St. Peter overlooking the square with
\nthese words engraved at the base. However, the church at which most pilgrims
\npause is dedicated to St. Francis. It is built on the ruins of what was
\nsupposedly the home of Peter and allegedly a location at which Jesus would very
\noften have been. The Church is very modern indeed and is dominated by a mosaic
\nof Jesus in pink and green on the main altar. If you stand by the altar and
\npeer down through a section of glass floor, you can see the ruins of Peter\u2019s
\nHome.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>Right outside the church lie the
\nruins of a 4th<\/sup> or 5th<\/sup> century synagogue that was once a
\nthriving center of Jewish worship. Two massive columns at the end of the ruined
\nlocation contain engravings in Greek and Latin\u2014which would suggest that a
\npalace of sorts was built on top of the synagogue. The location also offered a
\nvery good view of the pink-domed Russian Orthodox Church on the water\u2019s edge.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nExploring Tabgha:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>The next stop on our exploration of
\nplaces of importance on the Sea of Galilee was Tabgha and we arrived there very
\nshortly. Tabgha is said to be the site of the Miracle of the Multiplication of
\nthe Loaves and Fishes. We could well imagine, as we gazed out at the sparkling
\nwaters of the Lake at mid-day, the vast throngs that had gathered to listen to
\nthe rabbi preach. When Jesus found five loaves and two fishes belonging to a
\nmember of the congregation, he blessed them and told his apostles to share them
\nwith the crowd. The Gospel tells us that every single one of them was fed and
\ntwelve baskets of leftovers were collected at the end of the meal. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>In commemoration of the miracle, a
\nmodern church was built at Tabgha in 1936. It is characterized by a gigantic
\ncandle chandelier that looks down upon a very simple altar composed of a marble
\nslab over simple marble legs. A small part of a rock is visible under the
\naltar. Jesus sat upon that rock and preached before performing his miracle. All
\naround the altar and flanking both sides of it are beautifully detailed mosaics
\nin subdued colors with motifs of local flora and fauna (especially cranes) well
\ndetailed on them. They formed beautiful stone carpets in tesserae<\/i>\u2014a form of decoration that I also saw in the excavated
\nruins of Pompeii. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nOff to the Mount of Beatitudes:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>From this venue, Moti drove our van
\nto the Mount of Beatitudes\u2014which, as the same suggests, was very close to the
\nspot at which Jesus preached his most famous sermon on the Eight Beatitudes.
\nOnce you alight from the van, you make your way on foot to the Roman Catholic
\nChurch, designed by the famous Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi and completed
\nin 1937. Punctuating the path to the church are eight stone \u2018stools\u2019, each of
\nwhich is engraved with one of the Beatitudes. The Church itself is a splendid Baroque
\ngrey and white building with a lovely dome that stands upon an arcaded base
\nwith well-defined white arches. The interior of the church is not characterized
\nby any memorable motif, but it made a peaceful place in which to pray.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nOff to the Golan Heights:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>After a very long drive through what
\nwas practically desert, we arrived at our next port of call\u2014the famous (or
\ninfamous) Golan Heights\u2014also known as the Valley of Tears. Moti gave us a long
\nlecture to inform us about the significance of the venue. He talked about the
\n1967 War that was suddenly waged against Israel by six of its Arab neighbors.
\nSince Israel was taken completely by surprise, its forces suffered an
\nastounding loss of life. Much of the fighting occurred on the Golan Heights\u2014a
\nstretch of mountainous desert from where one can glimpse Syria. Given that
\nSyria has been the target of so much disturbance in the past couple of years,
\nthe thought of being so close to the epicenter of so much violent dissension
\nwas rather disquieting. In fact, even as I type this, Aleppo has fallen to the
\nforces of Assad\u2019s regime and the brave rebels who fought so hard to defend it,
\nhave been annihilated. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nMoti
\npointed out the presence of a UN Building and an Israeli military building as
\nwell as the remains of bunkers that had been used during the war and rather
\nrusted tanks that have been retained in their original state to denote the
\nextent of the loss and the sacrifice made by Israel\u2019s soldiers. Since it was
\nthe closest we would probably come to Syria, I was keen to have a group picture
\ntaken at this venue and Moti obliged us by permitting us to get out of the
\nvehicle and pose. He assured us that although we could not see any human
\npresence, we could be assured that we were being closely watched and that the
\nentire area is continually under Israeli military surveillance. He also pointed
\nout a \u2018virtual fence\u2019 in the distance upon which some settlements were easily
\nevident. It was hard to believe that this seeming wasteland has been the focus
\nof so much political discord over the decades.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nLunch at Mas\u2019ede:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>Once again, we found our appetites fully
\nwhetted by the amount of sightseeing we had undertaken and we were well and
\ntruly ready for lunch when Moti stopped off at a small village called Mas\u2019ede.
\nHe explained that the area was inhabited by members of an ancient sect of
\nJudaism called the Druze and that its practitioners were obvious by the flowing
\nblack garments they wore.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>The lunch served by the Druze in an
\nestablishment owned by them was, in my opinion, one of the best meals we ate on
\nthe trip. It contained all of the staples of the Mediterranean diet starting
\nwith an astounding lentil soup that was very filling and leading to salads known
\nas mezze<\/i> such as hummus, babaganoush, lebnez<\/i> and greens made of lettuce, tomato and
\ncucumber. In addition, there was falafel<\/i>
\n(deep fried chick pea dough balls–some of the best we ate), dolmas <\/i>(rice-stuffed vine leaves), pickled
\nmushrooms, pickled olives and pickled cucumbers. For dessert, the owner
\nproduced baklava<\/i> that was the perfect
\nend to the meal.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nOff to Witness the Bird Migration:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>Another longish drive after our
\nheavy lunch led to a mandatory snooze for almost all of us as we made our way
\nto the next venue\u2014the Upper Hula Valley to see the Nature Reserve associated
\nwith the seasonal migration of thousands of birds that fly down from Siberia to
\nspend winter on the Israeli mud flats. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>We had a little while to ourselves
\nbefore we boarded the specially designed vehicles\u2014sort of like safari
\ncampers\u2014that took us out into the wetlands to see the birds. None of us knew
\nwhat to expect. Although Moti had explained that local farmers actually feed
\nthe birds tons of food grains to prevent them from eating their precious crops,
\nit was hard for me to fathom the amount of birds we were likely to see, their
\nsize or their nearness. Hence, it was quite an astonishing experience to drive
\ndeeper and deeper into the Reserve to see an abundance of large birds that
\nseemed to be a species of common crane. They were huge and grey in color and
\nthey made a deafening din as they congregated together in the process of
\nforaging for food. To our immense delight, we were fortunate enough to spy a
\nlarge flock of pink and white pelicans that were only specks in the sky at
\nfirst but grew larger in size and volume as they approached our vehicle. The
\nlarge wing span of the birds made their flight very graceful. As we drove along
\nthe river, we also saw a great deal of mallard life\u2014from colorful ducks to
\nblack cormorants. Indeed, I had never dreamed that a trip to the Holy Land
\nwould include a spot of natural history\u2014so it was quite refreshing to find that
\nour itinerary included such a variety of unexpected activities. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>Another very long drive around the
\nshores of Galilee brought us back to our hotel in Tiberius where we freshened
\nup and met in the lobby for drinks before deciding to dine in Pagoda<\/i>, the Chinese counterpart of Decks<\/i> where we had dined last night. We
\nhad very good Chinese soup and Pad Thai noodles for dinner which was punctuated
\nby much laughter and camaraderie as we reviewed the many fascinating aspects of
\nour day.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>When we got back to our hotel, we
\nfound that a live entertainer was present in the lobby and that the music being
\nplayed was right up our alley. Ken took the lead on the dance floor and led us
\nall in a rendition of The Electric Slide<\/i>
\nwhich had Moti and the many guests sprinkled around in the lobby quite amazed
\nat the sight they saw\u2014a group of middle-aged Indians bogeying with such
\nabandon! About a half hour later, having made our mark on the hotel and its
\nstaff, we made our way to our rooms for the night.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nov 21, Mon: The Sea of Galilee: Capernaum (St. Francis Church) Tabgha, Mount of Beatitudes, Golan Heights and Upper Hula Nature Reserve.             When we awoke, we were quite delighted to discover that our hotel was right on the shores of the lake and that our rooms offered grand sweeping views of the city of… <\/p>\n

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