Gardens and excavations

The day started (after a remarkably varied and satisfying breakfast in our hotel) with a tour of the Bahai Gardens in Haifa. This is an extraordinary series of 18 terraces coming down from the high on Mount Carmel down to the lower city -- think of the hanging gardens in Babylon. We visited the shrine which is a mausoleum containing thee bodies of two of the founders of the Bahai faith just halfway down the mount - all very striking!

The highlight of the day was our trip to the archeological excavation of Tel Megiddo, which is also a national park. The site has been excavated by a number of archeological teams over the past 100 years. Archeologists have uncovered evidence of human habitation from over 4,000 years ago until about 400 BCE. The site was built, destroyed & rebuilt over 20 times. The most remarkable piece was the well accesses by means of a tunnel at the bottom of pit dug almost 3,000 years ago. For those of us who read "The Source" in preparation for our trip, the story came alive before our eyes -- here, truly, was the source of life for the town - water!

We had a change of plans after our lunch in a Druze village because our bus overheated, so we got to the kibbutz earlier than expected and had a little time to talk about our journey so far. Then, we were able to participate in the celebration of Yom Hazikaron - Israeli Memorial Day - with the kibbutzniks. The celebration was very moving. In this small community of about 200 alone, twelve have died defending Israel in the years since 1939. No family has been untouched by the losses of soldiers and civilians who died in qthe defense of Israel. A sobering end to a remarkable day!




Rev. Paul Sprecher

Location:Haifa, Megiddo & Kibbutz Nof Ginisar