Sefat, Tiberias, and into Jerusalem

On Tuesday morning, December 6, we left Haifa for a long day of sightseeing in Sefat, Tiberias, and along the West Bank, finishing with an after-dark entry into Jerusalem from the east. 

On November 29, 1947, the UN voted to partition Palestine to allow for contiguous states of Israel and Palestine.  Jerusalem would be international.  The new state of Israel would be Tel Aviv, the Negev Desert, and some areas along the coast. There was no connection between the new state of Israel and Jerusalem.   Religious Jews rejected the proposal because Jerusalem was not included.   Arabs rejected it because they wanted the whole country for themselves. When the British moved out, the War of Independence began immediately.   After the Israeli victory, Israel unified the city of Jerusalem.   Palestinian Arabs are citizens of Jerusalem, but not citizens of Israel.

There are three groups of Arabs:

1. Israeli Arabs with full citizenship, right to vote, right to run for Parliament
2. Jerusalem Arabs
3. West Bank Arabs

All these Arabs speak the same language, dialect, accent.   There are many differences in political, social, and educational benefits.   Arabs in Category 2 and 3 can become 1 by marrying an Israeli Arab, and thereby get health insurance, a free funeral, social security, and education in Israeli public schools.

Kibbutzim are undergoing a capitalist revolution.   Now outsiders can buy a house and live on the kibbutz without being a member of the collective.  In some kibbutzim, residents work outside, contribute their salary to the kibbutz, but receive an allotment from the group commensurate with their contribution.

Lower Galilee 1000 feet on the left, Upper Galilee 2500 feet on the right towards Sefat.   The best olive oil in the region comes from here.  Mount Hermon at 9000 feet is covered with snow.

Who wrote the Zohar?  Rabbi Moshe Sierra Leon of the 13th century wrote it, but it is attributed to Simon ben Barkai.  Why?

Mysticism is more important in bad times. In 1492 Jews went to Turkey, among other locations, after the expulsion from Spain and Portugal.  A mystic community developed in Zefat led by Joseph Caro, author of the Shulkhan Aruch.  Rabbi Yitzhak Luria took Zohar to the next level.  Torah study, prayer, gemilut chasidim (deeds of lovingkindness) make tikkun olam (repair of the world).

The teachings of the Zohar explain that our task in life is what is hardest to do.  Selfishness, gluttony, violence, shyness might be the focus of your life’s mission, depending on what is hardest for each one to do.  We are all a part of God.  Just as a tiny virus can make your body sick, you as a tiny individual can have an effect on God, for good or for ill.  Your job is to improve yourself and thereby improve the whole of mankind.

250,000,000 trees have been planted since Mark Twain travelled in the region and reported that it was the ugliest place on earth.  Water is pumped up 300 feet from Lake Tiberias before it is distributed to the rest of the country.  Desalination of water from the Mediterranean accounts for 25% of use.  75% of household water is recycled.   Another country with the next highest rate of recycled household water is 35%.

Our first stop was in Sefat.  We had some time for sighseeing of Sefat synagogues and shopping in the beautiful galleries full of Jewish art, textiles, jewelry, and other delights.  I stopped for fresh pomegranate juice.  My friend Leslie from Chicago wandered out of a shop alone, made a wrong turn, and was lost.  The good news was that she had a cell phone and called me.  With the help of Rabbi Weiner and several kind bystanders, we were able to find each other again.  During that interval, we missed a presentation about kabbalistic art from a local artist which the rest of our group saw.

Our next stop was in Tiberias, at the Dona Gracia Hotel.  Beatrice de Luna’s family were new Christians in Portugal.  Hanasi was the king.  A Portuguese princess wanted to marry the prince of Spain. During this time Hannah Nasi (living from 1510-1569) found out she was a Jew.

The story was told to us by a guide at the hotel who spoke English in such a charming way.  An older successful Jewish merchant Francesco Mendes said  to Hannah Nasi, “Do you marry me?”  She said, “Who are you?”  He knew about Hannah Nasi because the Marranos found information among themselves.   They married and soon Dona Gracia Mendes found herself a wealthy widow.  Her sister Reina asked for help in marrying.  Hannah arranged a marriage with her brother-in-law Diego Mendes.  At his death, Diego left all his holdings to Dona Gracia because of her proven ability to handle finances.  Her sister got nothing, wanted revenge.

Don Joseph Nasi was a nephew, married the daughter of Dona Nasi.  The sisters were in prison because of sister Reina’s actions.  They asked Don Joseph Nasi to meet with Suleiman the Magnificent of Turkey, to ask him to release the sisters.   He did.  Now Hannah Nasi was willing to help the Jewish community, paid to print the Shulkhan Aruch.   She also supported the work to translate the Bible into Spanish.

She moved to Istanbul, asked for an audience with Suleiman the Magnificent. She came to his palace with 40 horses. She asked for a peaceful place for the Jewish people, Tiberias.  Tiberias was a place of earthquake, heat, disease, criminals.  The valley, second lowest place in the world, was 209 meters under sea level.  She obtained a 99 year lease. She sent people to build walls, plant mulberry trees for silkworms.  No one came. She died at the age of 59.

She was forgotten for 400 years. The Ghost of Hannah Mendes, memorialized in Naomi Ragen’s 2001 novel, was the hero of songs and poems. Two streets were named after her, one in Tiberias, one in Haifa.  Herzl has 120 streets.

Many rabbis chose to be buried in Tiberias. Dona Gracia was the first righteous one to come alive again, to go from anonymous to famous.  Terminal Palace Hotel in Tiberias, named because people came to Palestine to die, changed its name to Dona Gracia because they copied the name of the street it was on.  Now people come from far and wide to view tableaux of the story of Dona Gracia complete with authentic costumes of the period.  Our group was treated to an experiential learning activity of dressing up in costumes of the period of Dona Gracia.

News in Israel is the water missing from the sea of Galilee, now down 12 feet from normal levels, because of water pumped out for agriculture and domestic use throughout the country.

Our next stop was at the Jewish center of learning created by Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, a leading scholar of the period who was the first to write down the Mishnah.  His center at Tzipori was an important center of study in the first century after the destruction of the second temple by the Romans in the year 70 CE.  Notice the mosaic floor of the learning center which features a depiction of the zodiac, and a mural depicting dyadic study in the center.

From there we drove along the banks of the Jordan River, through the vast and abundant agricultural fields of the West Bank, around the city of Jericho and into Jerusalem.  We stopped at a lookout before entering the city in order to see the layout of the Old City and surrounding areas.  Each time I have been to Jerusalem, this first glance of the city is a stunning site, so full of myth and meaning, of memory and of hope.

After arriving in our comfortable rooms in the Leonardo Plaza in Jerusalem where we were going to stay for 5 days, we felt already so much at home in the city.  Several of us made the short walk up King George Street to Ben Yehuda Street where we found a dairy meal, good conversation, and an Internet connection for touching base with home.