Day 11 - ''Tell'' me a Story

6/18 – Thursday:  Northern Coast

• 8:00 – Breakfast
• 8:30 – Shacharit – Luke 12
• 8:45 – Talmid Study: Jewish Faith #1
• 10:00 – Bet She’arim
• 11:30 – Tsippori
• 1:00 – Lunch
• 2:00 – Megiddo
• 6:00 – Dinner at the Simm's

We took a step back in time with our explorations, as is typical when visiting the ancient Eretz Israel.
The most memorable was Armageddon (Megiddo), which is a huge tel. A city that was destroyed 25+ times has many layers and stories. I am not a archaeological scholar, so if you'd like, you can read more about that here: http://archaeology.about.com/ 

and here: http://www.tau.ac.il/~archpubs/megiddo/

At Tsippori, we saw one of the most beautiful, in-tact ancient mosaics in the country. We visited an old temple, where I was surprised to find a Zodiac mosaic on the floor. This is an example of Jews assimilating a little too much! The thought of blending pagan elements into Judaism is shocking to us, but just the mark of "free thinkers" in the past. 

In Jewish History class, I had the chance to learn about the famous Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi - the man who edited the final Mishnah. The lessons all came to life when we visited his grave site (pun intended). It was an interesting say overall, but I have to admit - Israel is a workout! Our leader announced that he's giving us the day off tomorrow, because we all seem too tired.

Tsipoori

Tsippori

 

The Cave of Rabbi HaNassi

Armageddon 

Armageddon