10-16-2022: Nazareth

Today’s outing was to Nazareth. It’s right across the Jezreel Valley, about 30 minutes from the kibbutz. Carol has pointed it out to us as we leave from the front entrance of the kibbutz. As with many villages and cities in Israel, it rises up to the hilltops of the Nazareth Range in Israel’s Northern District. It is the largest Arab city in Israel with some 77,000 people, 70% Muslim and 30% Christian. Jews have settled in a section that was called Nazareth Illit, but now the area has become its own city called Nof Hagalil. Interestingly, after the fall of the U.S.S.R., many Russian Jews emigrated to Nof Hagalil making it a center for Russian Jewish culture in Israel. And while Nof Hagalil is a mixed city with about 30% Arabs, the Arabs rely mainly on Nazareth for goods and services.

Nazareth is an ancient city and, as is typical, was held by all the major powers. It turned hands from Arab, Jewish, or Christian many times over the centuries. Depending on who was in power, the religion out of favor did not fair well. When the British gained control during WWI, that’s when there was a large effort made to build churches and highlight the Christian history of the area.

Nazareth is a pilgrimage site for Christians. As Carol said, this was Jesus’s “hood.” The significance for Christians is also related to the annunciation and is supposedly the sight where the angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her she would conceive and bear a son through a virgin birth and become the mother of the son of God. So, in the middle of this Arab city is a large church called the Basilica of the Annunciation. It’s Catholic tradition holds that it is built over the site of Mary’s home. It is also near a well, named Mary’s Well, where some believe was the location of the annunciation.

The basilica was completed in 1969 and was constructed over the site of several former churches and supposedly Mary’s house. I wasn’t expecting a modern building. When you hear the word Nazareth, you think of the biblical Nazareth, so a major city and modern basilica seems out of character. It was quite modern and was comprised of 2 floors.

In the lower church is the Grotto of the Annunciation and is a very revered Catholic site. It is believed to be the remains of Mary’s home.

The upper church, located on the second floor had gorgeous mosaics on the walls that were made and donated by countries that have large Catholic populations. Each of the mosaics was either the Virgin Mary and child or depiction of the Annunciation.

Although I thought most of them were very beautiful, I didn’t care for the one from the USA. I thought it gaudy, and certainly not a traditional mosaic.

Near the basilica is another church, St. Joseph’s, which supposedly stands on the sight of Joseph’s carpentry workshop. St. Joseph’s was a much plainer church, but it had an underground crypt and a mosaic with a basin in front of it.

As we were walking from St. Joseph’s Church back out through the basilica courtyard, I noticed another mosaic near a staircase and I knew I had to get Christine’s photo by the mosaic.

We also looked at the underground site over which the basilica was built. There were ruins there dating back many thousands of years.

After visiting the basilica, we wandered around the area. Unfortunately, two things that I wanted to see were not open. We were visiting on a Sunday and I guess because this is a holy Christian area the market was closed, as was the Church Synagogue where Jesus did his studies as a boy. Oh well, can’t have everything.

Walking back to where we parked the car, I noticed this sign.

Carol then drove us over to the Jewish area Nof Hagalil which was not without some excitement. We missed a turn and ended up on an extremely steep back street through a less than nice neighborhood. The street was so narrow that only one car could go through, so of course, we met a car coming the other way. We had a bit of a stare-down with the driver of the other car, a much bigger, nicer car than our little Kia, so he won the stare-down and we had to back up with great difficulty to a bit of an opening allowing the guy to get through. I will say that I gave the guy a rude gesture after he passed.

The Nof Hagalil area is pretty new and certainly looks nicer than the older Arab neighborhoods of Nazareth. There were some pretty amazing houses hanging off the hilltop.

On the return trip back to Mishmar HaEmek, Carol took us through Afula, a city of about 55,000 referred to as the capital of the valley due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. After Israel was established in 1948, Muslims and Christians in the area were replaced by Jewish immigrants from Ethiopia and the USSR. Afula’s population has doubled since 1995 and from the building going on it looks like it may double again. We stopped to eat lunch at a falafel joint. It was so good and incredibly filling. I said I got full eating falafels in Afula.

As we were driving back across the Jezreel Valley, I saw lots of agricultural products being grown. However, the cotton fields were the neatest thing to see. And then I saw large bales of cotton wrapped in Tama netfilm. Even I felt proud seeing that.

It is a nice day touring around Nazareth and seeing some of the sights. Back at the kibbutz, we rested and then had dinner in the dining hall. Dana and Eron and girls were there and we met their Indian neighbors just back from a visit to India. The fun part of learning about their trip was a story about a carved coconut in the shape of a monkey that they brought back for Dana. She was a little freaked out by the thing’s beady black eyes and there was a lot of joking going on about where the thing would end up, like on the pillow next to a sleeping person. It was fun seeing Dana and Eron joke with one another. Dana has the most delightful laugh that makes me smile.

So, another wonderful day in Israel. Carol has been such a trooper driving us all over the place and telling us about the area. She could run her own touring business, for sure.