Kibbutz Lotan

Kibbutz Lotan





To the east Jordan





To the west desert hills of southern Israel




Adapted to the desert environment: Mineral elements--rocks and gravel dominate; use of local materials from the southern Arava; plants that are water thrifty and saline resistant; emphasis on shade trees.

At Lotan, Center for Creative Ecology

Entrance to the Eco-Kef (Eco-Fun) Park











Information about the date palm



Playground










Demonstrations




















Organic garden










Tikun Olam Repairing the World





















The "Green" Bustan neighborhood













Neighborhood center



Desert path




Guest housing

Location:lotan,Lotan,Israel

Elijah and the Carmelites

1 Kings 19:1-13

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer–sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.”

He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”





Here it is, just on the edge of Haifa, Elijah's cave. It is a holy site for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Elijah is mentioned as a prophet in the Qur'an). This picture was taken on the women's side ( on left) and the visit was the only time I was asked to cover my head. The person in charge was an ultra Orthodox Jew.






The geography is a little off: the traditional sight of Elijah's battle with Jezebel's priests isn't too far from this cave. Beer-Sheba is in the south. Anyway, one more traditional site...

Except for the church and monastery built high on the hill above the cave.






The Stella Maris Monastery or Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Haifa is located on the slopes of Mount Carmel.

Carmelite tradition traces the origin of the order to a community of hermits on Mount Carmel that succeeded the schools of the prophets in ancient Israel, although there are no certain records of hermits on this mountain before the 1190s. By this date a group of men had gathered at the well of Elijah on Mount Carmel. These men, who had gone to Palestine from Europe either as pilgrims or as crusaders, chose Mount Carmel in part because it was the traditional home of Elijah.

The monastery's main church resembles the shape of a cross. The ceiling of the hall is roofed and decorated by colorful paintings based on motifs from Old and New Testaments: Elijah rising to the heavens, David strings his harp, the prophet Isaiah, the holy family and the four evangelists. Above the altar stands the statue of the Virgin Mary carrying Jesus on her knees. The statue is called "our mistress the Carmel". The platform stairs lead to a quarried cave in which a stone altar was built on top of the statue of Elijah.




The Monastery serves as a center of Carmelite spirituality throughout the world. The charism, or spiritual focus, of the Carmelite Order is contemplative prayer, and embossments dedicated to Carmelite figures on the walls are a reminder of these contemplatives










Teresa of Ávila (Doctor of the Church), whose feast day is today, John of the Cros(Doctor of the Church), Thérèse of Lisieux (Doctor of the Church), Brother Lawrence, who wrote one of my favorites, The Practice of the Presence of God.

Not just one more traditional site, after all.

Location:Bialik,Tzfat,Israel

Caesarea

Barb and I are sitting at a table under the trees in the garden of the Safed Inn, catching up on our notes and journals. Here's a picture I took this afternoon after we arrived.





We have been in cities for the last 12 days: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. Now, we are on the outskirts of a town of fewer than 30,000. Even with an Army base just across the road, it is very quiet, light jazz on the stereo and voices of other guests sitting outside instead of horns blowing and buses rumbling.

It is much cooler here. At 800 meters, Tsfat is the highest town in Israel. After walking in crowds, drenched in sweat from the heat and humidity, I am glad for the rest and the peace.

I have had a couple of more encounters with the Biblical story.

We visited Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast. In Palestine of the New Testament, Caesarea was the headquarters of the Roman government. Pilate actually lived here in Caesarea, I think, and went down to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration, in case there was trouble.



According to Acts, Paul came to Caesarea at the end of his second missionary trip:

When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch...(18:22)




At the end of his third missionary trip:

When we had finishe the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais; and we greeted the believers and stayed with them for one day. The next day we left and came to Caesarea; and we went into the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy....After these days we got ready and started to go up to Jerusalem. Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came along and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay. (21:7-10,15-16)



And Paul stood in the imperial court in Caesarea before Felix and Agrippa before sailing for Rome:

After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to welcome Festus. Since they were staying there several days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king....(25:13 but the story begins in Chapter 23)





I appreciate Ralph Nelson asking, when I posted that we were at the Caesarea Golf Course, if we're were playing a round of golf with Festus and Agrippa.




There is no traditional Christian site here marking Paul's visits to both Imperial Rome and Christians here in Caesarea. I do think he and they saw this same blue sky and blue sea. That's enough for me.

Next encounter: Elijah....

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Location:Safed Inn, Tsfat

Jerusalem

First of all, for those of you who have visited Jerusalem: I did not visit or even come close to visiting all the Biblical sites, Christian or Hebrew, traditional or not. I would have liked to have visited the Garden Tomb and David's tomb, both outside the walls of the Old City. I could not see everything nor did I want to see everything. I wanted an overview, impressions to add to what I had imagined about the Biblical story.

Jerusalem old and new. Second Temple model at the Israel Museum.





Looking at the Western Wall of the Second Temple Model Israel Museum


The Kotel, the actual Western Wall


The Dome of the Rock on the site of the Second Temple taken from Mount Scopus



The Dome of the Rock looking across the Kidron Valley from the Mount of Olives.




“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you, desolate.For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ” Matthew 23: 37-39




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Jericho and Galilee

It's my second Sabbath here, and today I am taking a rest from tours and sightseeing. I just posted about Joppa and Nazareth and Bethlehem. In these posts, I reflect on visits to traditional Christian sites in and around Jerusalem and up north in Galilee. "Traditional Christian sites" means mostly that Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, chose them in her tour in the 4th century using either archeological evidence and/or her imagination.

From the birth stories, the Gospels move to the story of Jesus' baptism in the Jordan by John. The Jordan is long enough that there are many possible places. We visited on near Tiberius. I cannot get the picture I took to post. It was not the traditional site because there was no church. There were white robes available for purchase and baptism available.

On another tour on another day, we visited Jericho, west of Jerusalem, site of the Tel Al Sultan, the oldest and lowest city in the world. Although in the desert, the area around Jericho is fed by a spring, whose appearance is attributed to Elijah, so it is quite fertile.

The Tel itself, a UNESCO world heritage site, attests to the layers of history in Israel. From the Tel, I saw up the hill, the traditional site of the Temptation of Jesus, according to Matthew and Luke.


The buildings were built by Helen in the 4th century. The one on the left is the sight of the wilderness itself. High above is a wall where according to Matthew 4:8-11

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,‘Worship the Lord your God,and serve only him.’ ”Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Opposite the hill, one can catch a glimpse of the Jordan and the traditional site of the baptism.




Because Jericho is below sea level and in the desert, it is very hot and dry, a perfect deserted place for all kinds of temptations.

Also in Jericho is the sycamore tree Zacchaeus climbed to see Jesus, making Jericho a book end for Jesus' ministry which begins with the Temptation. And according to Luke, Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem when he met Zacchaeus

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. Aman was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (19:1-10)







On the shores of the Sea of Galilee, really a lake surrounded by steep hills (for Casper people, much like Alcova), Jesus taught, healed, fed 5000 people with two loaves of bread and five fish.




Here I am putting my hand in the lake. The water seemed quite warm. The day was warm and humid.





Here at the traditional site of the miracle of loaves and fishes,




our guide asked me to read the story from Matthew 14:13-19


Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. hen he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said,“Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.




We saw from a distance both the sites of the sermon on the mount and the sermon on the plain, which Helen conveniently located together and the Mountain of Transfiguration.

Out of all the sites in Galilee, the one with the most meaning for me was Capernaum.





Here is a portion of Mark 1: 14-34 illustrated

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Me with the Sea of Galilee behind, having figuratively left my net.




They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He[m] commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

The synagogue at Capernaum




Now Simon’s mother–in–law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Traditional site of Peter's house





And in a parking lot, a tree with stones for sitting.




I do not have the imagination of Helen, but I can imagine Jesus telling stories here about the reign of God.

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