We arrived with passports to a small commercial aviation facility north of Tel Aviv to the town of Herzliya. Again, passports were produced, the questions were asked, the computers whirred to check us out and we entered past armed (not .38's, only Uzi's) guards. We walked to a room and met the two helicopter pilots who were to take us out for a day of touring Israel by air. One of the pilots was younger and handled the meeting. He flew 747-400's for El Al in his real job. The other pilot flew crop dusters for his day job and had been flying helicopters for 40 years through various wars in Israel. I knew we were in good hands. My wife and I had made the decision to ride in separate choppers in case something happened, at least our sons back home in America would have one parent to help them get into adulthood if something went wrong. In my feeble way of thinking, helicopters don't look like they are that good at "gliding" to a landing spot if something should go wrong. The chopper I was in had 3 blades, 2 jet engines and a pilot who I would trust now, to helicopter me to any place on earth. We lifted off under cloudy skies and headed north up the coast.
Israel has nice beaches, plenty of sunshine and a good climate for the legions of Romans who lived here a couple thousand years ago. By chopper it was still easy to see the Crusader arches, aqueducts, crumbling walls and Roman pillars at Caesarea. The handsome aqueducts once conducted fresh water from inland to the coast and just looking at the Roman Amphitheater from the air made me think of the mass executions for entertainment that took place there. We pushed north over the city of Netanya and headed toward Nazareth.
Nazareth is the sacred town where Jesus spent most of his life. The town has over 20 churches and as we choppered in to land, the largest church, the monumental Basilica of the Annunciation, the largest church in the Middle East stood out like the monstrosity that it is. The church marks the spot where the Angel Gabriel is said to have informed the Virgin Mary that God had chosen her to bear His son. Tensions run deep between Muslims and Christians in Nazareth and are never far beneath the surface. Resentment runs deep over a piece of property near the Basilica on which a mosque has been built. Just another reminder that the smoldering cauldron of contempt is alive and well in the hometown of Jesus. I wonder what he would have to say about it all today?
We lit the candle on the jet engines of the limocopters and headed to the Sea of Galilee. Wow, one of the more beautiful lakes I have seen around the world. Breathtaking. It was standing on a hilltop overlooking the Sea of Galilee that Jesus proclaimed to the masses that had gathered near him and said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." A far cry from the phrase I once had on my license plate holder on my Saab in LaJolla that said, "the meek don't want it." In retrospect they do, but seldom are they audacious to get it.
After landing near where the Jordan River runs out of the lake (Sea of Galilee) we hopped into a bus and headed to lunch but first stopped at the Yardenit Baptismal Site. This is where, as tradition says, Jesus met John the Baptist preaching near the waters of the Jordan and was baptized. After his baptism he set out on his missions. The river is very narrow and this site seems to be very commercialized. There were plenty of pilgrims there from all over the world and I saw several people being baptized prior to landing. After a nice lunch watching jet-ski's and water-ski boats on the lake we lifted off again and headed up the east side of the lake towards Capernaum and Ein Tabgha. It was in Capernaum that Jesus found his first followers and here He is said to have preached more sermons and performed more miracles than anywhere else. Tradition also says that at least five of his disciples came from here. Like many famous religious sites in Israel, if not all, you will find a mosque almost on top of a church or many churches. Always it seems, religions fighting for the "right" to worship at the spot, that tradition says, is where something exactly happened. As we flew over Ein Tabgha, the nasty wind blowing so hard had the chopper going up and down to the point I felt a little uneasy, I could see the hilltop below where, as tradition says, Jesus is said to have multiplied five loaves and two fishes into enough food to feed the 5,000 hungry people who come to hear him speak. I don't know how that many could hear a single voice preaching aloud but the solitude of the area I am sure enabled His voice to travel up into the hill.
Heading back to the air field we passed over so much agricultural ground. Deer farms, irrigation systems, hay fields, cherry tomato farms, it was such bounty. Indeed the land of milk and honey. After a great meal in an Arab restaurant we retired early, ready to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem the following morning.
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