Israel, here I come!

Bob’s Sabbatical

Day 1, August 31, 2009

 

            Rose
from bed some 26 hours ago in Franklin, and am now some 9000 miles east in
Tabgha, Israel, on the Sea of Galilee, Lake Tiberius, or the Lake of Gennesaret, as it is variously called.
 It was hard to leave home.  Susan, Bishop and I have been traumatized
since the suitcase came out.  Air travel
is air travel.  There were many Orthodox
Jews on the flight, and at any given time you would see one or more of them donning
their prayer shawls and Tefillin (phylacteries) - boxes containing Biblical verses
that are placed on their forehead, and leather straps that are wound around their
left hand and up their arm, that observant Jews wear during morning prayer
services. This trip was blessedly uneventful, due to strong tail-wind, shorter
than scheduled.  My major complaint was
that it was an older plane, no TV’s in the seat backs, so you had to watch
whatever was on the main screen.  I
prefer to watch the map of the plane as it progresses.   There are probably many people who are happy
I am not in charge of what is shown!

            Tried to
call Susan when we landed, kept getting taped message that I could not
understand.  Since my driver was delayed,
I asked someone close by who was using a cell phone, “how do you make a call
the USA?”  He was not sure, but called
his wife, and we finally figured out the correct prefix, and I was able to
check in and let her know I had arrived safely.

            Tabgha
is about an hour and a half from Tel Aviv. 
It turns out that my driver, Issa Jaderky, is a Deacon in the Aramaic
Orthodox (Syrian) Church.  He reminded me
that his was the language Jesus spoke. 
He is at St. Mark Convent Church in Jerusalem, “where was done the real
Last Supper and washing of the feet,” he said. 
I think this is the equivalent of our “George Washington slept here” or,
“this place was used as a hospital during the Civil War” syndromes, with
reference to biblical sites here. 

            Beautiful
drive up the coast from Tel Aviv (except for the sections of the infamous wall,
part of which is barbed wire fence with video cameras spaced every 10
meters.  Issa was not happy with the
expense, much less the symbolism of  this
project. Went past exits to Bethlehem, Nazareth, Kanna (Cana) along the
way.  These are places I am sure Susan
and I will see in November.  All these
places are within the distance from Franklin to Sewanee.

            Pilgrimhaus
at Tabgha is lovely.  German Benedictines
have a monastery here (will attend services with them tomorrow).  Very modern, it has simple rooms with single
beds, private bath, no TV, radio or alarm clock.  Also very “green.”  When you enter the room, you put your card
key into a slot just inside the door, and that activates the lights and A/C
system (and you have to manually turn on the A/C).  When you leave the room, you take the card
with you, and the lights go out and the A/C turns off.  The toilet has two flush buttons. One that
only uses a little water, and the other somewhat more – you can figure out why
on your own.

            I took
some pictures, which I will try to upload, if it does not work, I’ll have time
tomorrow.  Time now for sleep.

Peace,

            Bob