Day 4th: Jericho, Monastery of St. Gerasimos, Monastery of the Sycamore Tree, Monastery of the Mount of Temptation, Bethany House of Mary and Martha, Tomb of Lazarus, Mount of Olives

Friday

Today we left Tiberias after breakfast and drove from Galilee to Jerusalem. It is about 120 miles distance, and in the time of Christ it was about 5 to 7 day trip by foot. Joseph told us about a lot of things on that drive.  I finally understand what Kosher means. It is dietary rule based on just one verse in the Old Testament, which basically says that you cannot mix "lamb with its mother's milk". Which means that Jews who follow this teaching cannot mix meat and dairy in the same meal (fish and eggs are neutral, and of course grains,
fruits, vegetables, etc are fine).  So this is why at breakfast we had all sorts of cheeses, yogurts, sour cream, while there were non at dinner when meat was served instead. The dessert table at dinner is filled with cakes and torts though, and we are still trying to figure out how they are made with no dairy products in them.....

First stop was Jericho. Jericho is the considered to be the oldest city in the world. Its name means City of the Moon. It was a resting town on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem. Jewish people had to make a trip to Jerusalem to the Temple twice a year, once in April and once in October. Jericho is mentioned a few times in the Gospels: as a destination where Jesus went to the desert/wilderness; Zacchaeus the tax collector met Jesus here and also the two blind men shouted at Jesus at the gates of the city.

Before the actual town, we visited the Monastery of St. Gerasimos. Tradition says that the Theotokos rested here on th way to Egypt.  The site of the Lords baptism was also near here, and from here He went after his baptism to pray in the desert for 40 days.

The monastery of St Gerasimos is ran by Fr. Chrisostomos and is famous for its mosaics. There are two churches at this monastery, with many beautiful icons in both. After visiting the churches we sat in the courtyard and were served juice, coffee and soup.

Next was the Monastery of the Sycamore Tree. The trunk of original tree is there behind the
glass enclosure, with a newer tree next to it.

The tree of Zacchaeus

 Piece of old tree in the glass enclosure, and a real big one in the back.

Next stop was the Monastery of Temptation (one of my favorite places on this trip I think).
We took a cable car to get half way up the mountain and then walked a bit more (which was
plenty walk, I am so glad we did not try to walk that first part).  There are two monks at
this monastery. We sat in church and sang Paschal hymns for a few minutes, which was
one of my most favorite moments that day.

Lunch was at an outdoor restaurant, sheeshkebabs with french fries.

From Jericho we drove up to Jerusalem throught the Judean Desert/Wilderness. There is a
4000 ft elevation difference between Dead Sea and Jerusalem, so this is why everybody always
goes "up to Jerusalem".  That road was the place of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

road, settelments

Next stop was Bethany. Here Jesus stayed often at Mary, Martha and Lazarus's house. There is now an Orthodox Monastery over the house of Martha and Mary. The iconostas in this church contains the icon of St. Meletios and St. Spiridon.

Next was the Tomb of Lazarus, a cave deep in the ground, accessed throught a door in the wall just off the street. We climbed down into the rock cave to see the actual site. This site is owned by the Muslims these days.

1453

One more stop, Mount of Olives......

And finally we arrive in Jerusalem. Our hotel is called Grand Court Jerusalem. We settle into our rooms only to find out that the internet is super expensive, and not at all available after-all, since the Sabbath is just about to start (at sunset) and all non-essential services are stopped. So this is why our emails, blogs, all internet access stopped that evening.........