January 15 - Part 2 Beit She'an

From Mt. Gilboa, we drove down into the Jezreel Valley on to nearby Beit She’an, the largest archaeological dig in Israel. This city was included in the Decopolis, a special league of enormous cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire.

Beit She’an is one of the most ancient cities in Israel.  The ruins at Beit She’an are in excellent condition and are extensive. Archaeological activity has been dormant in Beit She’an for the past decade. The city extended over an area of some 370 acres, and you can still see the remains of the wall that surrounded it. In addition, several impressive buildings have been uncovered, including a theater (still used for events and shows), a public bath-house (the largest found to date in Israel), public toilets, two magnificent colonnaded streets, a Roman temple, a decorative fountain building (nymphaeum), a large basilica marking the center of the city, and the reconstructed mosaic on which you can see Tyche, the Roman Goddess of Good Fortune, holding the Horn of Plenty.  On to lunch and our last tour site for the day!  
Burt

Jan 15 - Friday by Burt - (Part 1 - Bible Lands Trail)

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Day 5 - Fri, 15 Jan 2016: Today, we started with a short bus tour of Tiberias, after which we drove to the Jezreel Valley, along the western shore of the Kinneret and then south along the west bank of the Jordan River. Along the way we passed Moshav Gesher , numerous green fields with their winter crops, sections of the old Haifa-Aman railroad bed and its old railroad stations, sections of the new Haifa-Aman railroad (scheduled for completion next

year) and its new railroad stations.

Mount Gilboa rises about 2,000 ft. above the Jezreel Valley. To the east, one could see into Jordan. 

Some 3,000 years ago, the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines on Mount Gilboa. Israel’s first King, Saul, was mortally wounded and took his own life there. In a eulogy for King Saul and his son,

Jonathon, the soon-to-be king, David, cursed the Mount Gilboa battlefield with the words, “let there be no dew or rain upon you.” In spite of the curse, JNF has caused the battlefield to sprout new greenery.

The weather today was much better than yesterday and the view Mt Gilboa was spectacular.

Enjoy the group's pictures from their visit including the spring flowers which are just beginning to bloom.

Next post - visit to Beit She'an.

Burt and CAARI

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Jan 14 - Agmon Hula - Bird Migration

Continuation of Jan. 14 

The visit to Agmon Ha Hula KKL Restored Wetlands, at dusk, was visually stunning. To be so very close to 20,000 elegant cranes and hear the music of their conversations with one another was very special. 

'We took a bird hide pulled by a tractor to see thousands of cranes feeding and to see vast numbers of cranes, a sea of many thousands of cranes getting ready for a night’s rest. We needed rest by then, so it was back to the hotel for dinner and sleep for us too!' (by Howard)

Continuing Jan 14 in Safed

CAARI's Experience in Safad 

CAARI has the knack for showcasing the uniquely talented artists in Israel.

I am in awe of the magnificent artistry shown to us.  Noah Greenberg has made a simple piece of furniture - a Lectern into something so practical and useful and unique. He has designed practical pieces used daily, weekly and for holidays to fit into compartments in the Lectern.  Each beautifully crafted wooden piece is embossed with one of the 7 species of Israel.   He visits schools and removes each piece from the compartment in the lectern and talks about its relevance to a daily/weekly/holiday event. What a wonderful way to teach children about Judaic traditions.  Thanks Susan and Neal for taking us to one of a kind stops.

Howard's Experience; We then drove to Safed , where we visited the original Sephardic Shul of Joseph Caro, who had written the Shulchan Aruch, that codified Jewish law.  Then, after shopping for candles at the famous candle factory, it was time for lunch. Esther,  and I tried to follow our guide Neil’s instructions to the street of restaurants.  (Some stayed below and ate at a traditional Yemenite sandwich place) This involved climbing steps that never seemed to end. Finally reaching the top, we collapsed into the first Falafel restaurant and had some really food to hold us. Luckily we ran into our guide at a nearby coffee shop, and found we could take an elevator down. 

After another walk, with more steps, we arrived at the shops of Noah Greenberg, an artist in wood, who showed us his 25-year project, a lectern, holding a vast collection of most of the Jewish objects needed for all the holidays. I hope the pictures will show the fine carvings of these items. 

Galilee Tour - Canada Center

Thursday.  January 14th - Canada Center, by Howard from NY.
This turned out to be a long, but a good day says, Howard   After breakfast, we left our 'home base' in Tiberias under cloudy skies,Canada Center, a very large sports facility, serving the whole north part of the Galilee.
and drove north to Kfar Shomona, to visit
This Center was built around 25+ years ago, with the support of the Canadian Jewish Canadian Community.   Over the years, it has been the training center for many of Israel’s Olympic participants, including ice skating and weightlifting.    We saw a huge pool, basketball court, and were able to bowl a few tries. I rolled two gutter balls, as did most others.  At the rifle range we saw some of the rifles from their collection.  Those that held the weapons were quite surprised that the rifles were so heavy!

Our next stop, Saded – see next post, but enjoy the pictures of CAARI’s Sports Team!

Cheers! CAARI 2016