"This morning, depart Tiberias for a refreshing boat ride on the Sea of Galilee.
Come ashore to visit Capernaum, site of a
second century village and synagogue on the Sea's northern shore. Continue to Tabgha,
the traditional site of Jesus'
"Miracle of the Loaves and Fish." Drive around the Sea of Galilee to Yardenit,
continuing to Beit Shean in the Jordan Valley to visit the
excavations and Roman amphitheater. Afterwards, proceed to Beit Alpha and visit the zodiac mosaic floor in the ancient synagogue. Continue by
coach through the Jordan Valley to reach your hotel on the Dead Sea."
Tabgha
Traditional site of Jesus' "Miracle of the Loaves and Fish"
Gospel according to Saint Matthew-
"14:13 When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they
followed him on foot out of the cities.
14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
14:15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away,
that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
14:16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
14:17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
14:18 He said, Bring them hither to me.
14:19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven,
he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
14:20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
14:21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children."
"Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.
Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied,
and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. (Mark 6:40-44)"
"After being rejected in His hometown of Nazareth, Jesus moved with his mother and brothers to Capernaum, making it the base of His ministry (Matt 4:12-16).
A fourth century synagogue of white limestone stands in Capernaum. The foundation of this synagogue is constructed of black basaltic stone, probably dating to
the first century synagogue built by the Roman centurion who was stationed in Capernaum (Luke 7:5). At the request of this centurion, and encouraged by the synagogue elders, Jesus healed the centurion’s servant.
Although Peter was born in Bethsaida (John 1:44), he lived in Capernaum. Apparently his move there was related to his marrying a woman of Capernaum (Mark 1:29-30).
Capernaum forms the southwestern corner of the "evangelical triangle" on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. It was in this region, in Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida, that Jesus performed most of His Galilean miracles.
In spite of the miracles Jesus had performed there, Jesus rebuked Capernaum for its lack of repentance (Matt 11:23-24).
In Capernaum, Jesus healed the paralytic who had been lowered through the roof of the house in which Jesus had been teaching (Mark 2:1-12).
It was in Capernaum that the "Beelzebub confrontation" occurred, an event that changed the focus of Jesus’ subsequent ministry."
"Yardenit is a popular Baptism site. Here, the water flows into the Jordan river,
eventually flowing into the Dead Sea located more than 100KM to the south. This site is believed by some traditions to be the actual site where Jesus
was baptized by John the Baptist (Matthew 3: 13 : "Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John")." More Info
You can see the Jordanian border, and the site of an Israeli school children massacre
We would then have lunch at a kosher McDonalds- no cheese on my Big Mac, and twice as expensive as the States Jack would discover.
Beit She'an in the Jordan Valley to visit the
excavations and Roman amphitheater
Tutorial on how to use a Roman bath house
Security check point
We drive by Jericho,
the oldest continually inhabited city in history
It is in the West Bank and our guide referred to it as not safe.
We arrive at the Daniel Dead Sea Hotel around 6pm
This was a big, almost Vegas style hotel Reviews I was in a hurry to get ot the pool and jacuzzi before it closed at 7pm, and as luck would have it the door key
wouldn't work and I would lose 15 minutes with them trying to fix it.
I liked the decor of the room, a modern blue/brown theme like how I did my condo.
This pool was filled with heated Dead Sea water, I actually didn't realize it until I got in
and was already floating, awesome! My grin was ear to ear, and in my excitement got some of the water in my mouth- super nasty! Our guide gave
us specific instruction on how to enter the Dead Sea, and says a few people a year swallow the water and have to go to the hospital. I believe
it. Got a little in my eye too that really stung.
Lesson for tomorrow- no matter how much fun, keep your mouth shut.
Waterfall in the jacuzzi
Jack was the only other from the group to join me. In the Dead Sea one you could float outside.
A variety show done in Hebrew at the hotel
Jack, Erlinda and I would go for a walk around the area, some shops were open and it was good to be out and about, but not a whole lot to do.
Love this pic
You actually have to buy the mud. Here we also see Jack buying Erlinda and myself ice cream- he was probably trying
to stop my bitching about how I overpaid for my mud...
This flower is orange and the rocks are blue- surely a sign that God is with the Gators...
