Jerusalem way - Page 14

Tel Aviv - Jerusalem

Already at the check-in they asked me in the airport Heraklion, if I would be safe to fly to Tel Aviv, there would be war. Yes, but isn't there always more or less going on? After a quiet flight with the Airbus to Tel Aviv to Ben Gurion Airport, I went to the immigration check. I had already been told that this takes a little longer here. So the humorless and expressionless lady there asked me permanently the same questions: "What do you want in Israel? "What do you know about the history of Israel?", "Where do you sleep?". Repeatedly and never satisfied with my answers, she brought in a second person who took me to a waiting room. Many people were already sitting there and were taken into a room one by one.

After an hour, it was also my turn, and I was questioned very thoroughly. Especially with the word "Pilgrim" they didn't really know what to make of it. I wanted to walk around and always spend the night somewhere else? No, no. They made it a condition for me to extend my hostel booking to 5 days. So I finally got my entry ticket. One should not get a stamp on their passport, because they couldn't enter any Arab country with it anymore. Now it went to the search for a connection into the city, after numerous inquiries I found also the correct train. A train attendant told me, from the Gaza Strip they had fired over 100 missiles the last days, also on the airport. But the Iron Dom would have intercepted all of them.

The destination station I had apparently wrongly chosen, in any case, I still had a few kilometers in the city ahead of me to the hostel Hayarkon48, the backpacker accommodation. The hostel is located 100 m from the beach, is top cared for, very cheap and only recommended for globetrotters. Only the clientele in there is a bit unusual. Most people want to party in Tel Aviv, so the people in my 6-bed room get up in the evening and come home in the morning. I could only sleep peacefully when they left early and came late in the morning. The floor was full of scattered clothes and every evening I first had to clean my bed from "garbage". What else happened the days in here, I would not know now to formulate discreetly 🙂.

Over good Israeli beer on the rooftop of the hostel, I faced the dilemma of how to continue the foot pilgrimage, from one place. The distance from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was still 70 km. I.e. I need every day only 15 km. So I found the even more optimal solution for me: If I go every day to the important places and discover them on foot, I walked my distance and could even see sights worth seeing in the holy land. Well, I did not feel completely comfortable with the decision, but I couldn't think of anything else. After studying schedules and prices, I decided to take tours with the app GetYourGuide. They were cheaper than if I would buy bus and entry tickets myself. So every morning there was a shuttle in front of the hostel.

Since I didn't quite make my kilometers with the tours, I walked the beautiful beach promenade in Tel Aviv in the late afternoon either to Tel Aviv Jaffa or in the other direction, where one beach follows the other. The next day I came to the lowest point, thank God only that of the earth, 419 meters below sea level. With 45°rees; air and 36°rees; water temperature it went there bathing, in the Dead Sea. Swimming is no longer possible there, because it always pulls the legs up 🙂. The lake is getting emptier, you can still see buildings that once stood on the shore, but now far from it. Before that I visited the historically significant fortress of Massada with the original ramp that the Romans built in the 1st century and broke into the fortress of Herod. What they wanted here in the heat is difficult to understand 🙂.

That evening over a beer, a Dutch journalist showed me an app for missile alerts: Red alert. It tells you exactly where missiles are headed. You gain 50 seconds until the missile hits. Crazy. But I felt protected by the Iron dom at all times, mostly they catch every missile here. Sometimes you could see flashes of light in the evening sky in the distance or hear muffled noises. Once the siren in our hostel went off, around 8 a.m., but I was already on tour. Technology at the highest level, but each destruction costs about 50000 euros. Therefore, only those that can cause damage are destroyed. This is calculated in the shortest possible time. It's crap when you have to use high-tech for such insanity.

Next morning we went first to Nazareth to what is now the Franciscan Church, where Mary was announced the birth of the Messiah. For those who don't remember the cultural background: Mary and Joseph lived there, but then had to go to Bethlehem due to the Roman census. Jesus was born there, but he grew up in Nazareth after returning. After that, Jesus set out on his wanderings to Jerusalem, heading for Galilee. Besides the first miracle of turning water into wine, many others were to follow around the Sea of Galilee. Churches of Catholic orders stand at the sites today. I visited the Benedictine Church of the Miracle of the Multiplication of the Bread and the Franciscan Church of Capernaum. Here Jesus lived with Peter, many excavations with ancient pieces can be seen.

Then we went to the place where Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River. Is marketed today properly. While many here are doing this baptism of the Jordan, I have had the corneas on my feet eaten off by the fish in the Jordan for free. Mostly this is offered here for cash. But when the big catfish came, I better pulled my feet in 🙂. Plantations of plump date trees stand here. The following day the tour went north to the border with Lebanon. First to the caves of Rosh Hanikra, where the Mediterranean had eaten caves and grottos into the white limestone rocks, then to the former crusader fortress of Caesarea Maritima and the ancient port city of Akko, which is also mentioned in the bible. We continued to the modern port city of Haifa, where the hanging gardens of the Bahai on the slopes of the Mount Carmel are well worth seeing. The Bahai is a widespread, but in our country rather unknown religion. Under the golden dome is the shrine of the Bab, where the founder of the religion is buried.

On the last day I first visited Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, in the walled Palestinian area. Separated by high concrete walls, one first had to pass through a security gate before proceeding to the Church of the Nativity. Over narrow stairs one reaches there the grotto with birth altar. The conclusion of my tour should be in Jerusalem. After visiting this architecturally and culturally complex city, visiting the Wailing Wall, walking the Via Dolorosa, we went to the Holy of Holies, the tomb of Jesus. Here I prayed for all my friends, my children, relatives and those who asked me. An interesting report about faith and peace at the Holy of Holies puts some things into perspective: The Holy Sepulcher of Jesus Christ - An Eternal Controversy. Unfortunately I can't find a link to it, it changes all the time.

Thus, even the conclusion of my pilgrimage did not have this air of inner contemplation and tranquility. All the holy places were noisy and full of people. In addition, the inner peace was missing the last days while walking. Things I could not change at that time, but accepted. And so I consider my way to here just as my way to here, it was the way it was. I am happy to have experienced all this and can look at many things in a more relaxed way. Tel Aviv is to play, Jerusalem is to pray the locals say, so let's go back to the capital. Not to party, but to come home 🙂.

At night I drove to the airport, the check-in was unproblematic this time and we took off on time towards Berlin Schönefeld. I found it very nice to be back in Germany and enjoyed in the evening the raindrops that dripped on the window sill of my small apartment.