What would jesus do.
I grew up Christian. My family went to church every Sunday (followed by Arbys, Pizza Hut or Chilis to reward us for attending), I went to youth group every Wednesday night, I have been on nine mission trips, I volunteer in the church nursery, I have two bible verses tattooed on my body (I know this is a bit of a double standard…), and I have multiple prayer journals that keep me grounded. So I guess you could say religion has played a pretty important role in my life, past and present. I will tell you my faith has had its ups and downs, but it will ALWAYS be a part of my journey in some way, shape or form. I have God to thank for so much in my life. Including this unbelievable experience to travel the world. I took a huge leap of faith doing this and I have comfort in knowing He is behind me and with me wherever I go. While I am a Christian, I do not judge those that are not, I do not push my values on anyone else, and I certainly am not here to preach to you. I am telling you this to set the stage for my trip to Israel, because it was very different from my previous experiences on this adventure. When my mother mentioned about six months ago that she was interested in going to Israel, the answer was YES. I mean isn’t that what Jesus would do 😉
Betty.
Tears are swelling in my eyes as I try to figure out where to start this section about my beautiful mother. I hit the parent jackpot when I was born (PSA for my dad – this section is about Mom, so you will need to meet me on my trip to be featured). Betty is the most loving, selfless and positive person that I know. Her middle name is JOY for pete’s sake! There are not enough adjectives to showcase her goodness. If you are lucky enough to know her, you know what I am talking about. And are a better person for having her in your life. One defining quality about Betty is that she LOVES JESUS. Her entire life has been focused on her relationship with the Lord from leading women’s ministries in the church, to disciplining women, to studying His word every day for hours. So of course, it would make sense that she would want to go to Israel. It is the holy land after all. There are tours that will take you around the entire country to different locations in order to walk where Jesus walked, and see the places talked about in the bible. Why wouldn’t a believer want to go? My mother planned the entire thing – researched, found a touring group and we booked flights. There is no one else I would want to experience Israel with. And we had a freaking blast.
The holy land.
The tour was a full seven days and a PACKED itinerary. I thought I was ready for it, but woah. I just came from South America where I would often book hostels two nights before, my only plan was to explore the city and read on the beach. A little different…The good news was, everything was planned for us, all we had to do was wake up early and eat a good breakfast. We stayed at really nice hotels with dinner and breakfast buffets that were lined with rows of food. Fruit, salad, hummus, cheeses, fresh cooked meats, rice, and so much more. The display was impressive, and the options were endless. I had a feeling I would gain some weight on this trip because I have very little self-control when it comes to buffets. I will just leave it at that. Back to the tour, there were 40 of us, I was the second youngest person there. The median age was likely around 60. Most people were Americans, and a large chunk was from one church in New Jersey. We started our days very early as we were on the giant coach bus and needed to try to beat the crowds at each destination. This blog could be 10 paragraphs in length talking about each of the places we visited, but I will stick to highlights and my favorite activities.
Day 1 we started at Ceserea and saw the old roman ruins and ports to get to other parts of the world. After we stopped at Megiddo National Park to see some additional Canaanite and Israelite ruins. The best part of the day was ending in Nazareth, the city where Jesus grew up. The tour guide talked to us about city life back during that time and there were actors showing us things like carpentry, weaving wool, making olive oil.
Day 2 we headed north to Dan National Reserve with beautiful rivers around an archeological site located on the northern most border of Israel near Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon with a beautiful view of Mount Hermon in the background. We boarded a boat on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus walked on water. This was such a cool experience; the captain got the boat to join in a traditional Israeli dance and tried to catch some fish the good old-fashioned way with a net. We stopped at Magdala, which is where Mary Magdalene was said to have lived.
Day 3 started in Tagbha, home of the beatitudes and near where Jesus was said to have multiplied the bread and fish to feed thousands. There were then 20 people that were baptized in the Jordan river. The afternoon was spent driving down to the south of Israel to stay at the near the Dead Sea. The views were incredible and the hotel was by far the nicest place we stayed yet – mostly because of the buffet selection.
Day 4 started with a sunrise swim in the Dead Sea. This is an experience I will NEVER forget. The feeling of your body floating with no effort (like you are laying on a raft) is so unique. We went to Masada, the most popular tourist destination in Israel, in the midafternoon which is a giant area of ruins where King Harrod’s Palace was built in 30 BC. We finished the day at the museum that houses the dead sea scrolls and checked into our Jerusalem hotel where we would stay for four nights.
Day 5 began at the temple mount, which is considered to be the holiest place in Israel for Judaism. We had to be very cautious about what we were wearing (no tight or revealing clothing) and could not have any crosses or bibles indicating Christianity. Right outside the mount is the wailing wall in the old walled city of Jerusalem. We headed to the mount of olives overlooking all of Jerusalem and walked down the palm Sunday path. We had lunch in the Jewish quarter of the walled city and spent the afternoon under the temple mount in the tunnel learning more history and seeing the oldest parts of the city.
Day 6 we visited the garden tomb where one of the two places that Jesus was thought to be buried. We then headed to the Holy Sepulchre (the other place considered to be his tomb and resurrection location but also potentially the place of crucifixion. It was crazy crowded. We had lunch in the desert and rode camels on the edge of a ravine. My mother was not going to and I very nicely encouraged her to do it because when else will you have a chance to ride a camel? While it was quite terrifying she was so glad she did it.
Our final day we visited Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. All this time I thought he was born in a manger as many of our nativity scenes show, but really it was more of a cave as the homes were built in the rock. the sight is now three different churches in one and packed with tourists. We then went to a fascinating holocaust museum that went into so much detail about the intense persecution of the jews.
Our tour guide Hila knew so much about the country, the history, and the bible. She did an excellent job of explaining things and connecting the dots. If I am being honest, I am not sure I would recommend this tour unless you are religious as it has significantly more meaning if you understand the backstory and believe the bible to the be the way, truth and the light. I met some AMAZING people on the tour that I hope are reading this blog (HELLO!) and enjoyed sharing these unforgettable moments with them. But mostly I enjoyed the dedicated time with my mother. We have photos for days (photo gallery here: https://thejenessentials.com/israel-pics/), but memories for a lifetime.
The old new city.
After the tour was over and I sent my mother on her way back home with a long hug, I HUGE I LOVE YOU, and tear-filled eyes (both of us). I wanted to check out Tel Aviv. Someone I met in Ecuador grew up in Tel Aviv and gave me a laundry list of things to see and do (thanks Omer!!) so I mapped out my next four days to try to get to everything. I stayed right in the center of the town so I could get to most things by walking. Tel Aviv is the second largest city to Jerusalem. It is a hub for startups, quite expensive, houses the largest population of LGBQTA+ in most of the middle east and welcoming of all nationalities, and VERY young and therefore has lots of hip spots and late night bars/clubs. Tel Aviv is right on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea with stretches of beach for miles with beach activities and restaurants. On Shabbat it is FULL of families and people spending the day soaking in the sun. I had the best falafel and shawarma of my life at Hakosem, toured the Israel Museum of Art for hours, got lost in the street markets full of fresh produce and spice, cheap souvenirs, wide eyed tourists, and tucked away bars and cafes, tried out a hip dinner spot called Port Si’ad (get the chicken salad sandwich and green beans) and sipped delicious coffee on the streets while people watching. A highlight of my time in Tel Aviv was buying some local beers and watching the sunset on the beach while listening to my favorite playlist. My hostel offered a free walking tour, which I obviously took, of Jaffa (the older part of the city) and learned about the history of the city. Ask me if I remember any of the information learned…because I don’t. On average, I walked 7-9 miles a day just to see the place by foot, but ALSO because the taxis are not cheap. One lesson I learned is the bus and train system are NOT easy and do not take cash. You need either a transit card already to load money to, or an app that you need an Israeli ID to fill out your information and use, or wifi to scan the QR code to pay, and the stops have about 20 buses come to each one so knowing which one to get to. Needless to say I missed multiple trains and busses trying to figure these things out. Despite this, I loved my time in Tel Aviv and would recommend visiting if you are in Israel!
The jen essentials for israel.
- Patience (Israel is FULL of tours and loads of people – along with lines and crowds. I guess the bible teaches the virtue of patience, it is much needed here!)
- A whisper headset (the ear piece used during the tour – you could not hear Hila without this unless you are next to her)
- Outgoing personality (Each night we ate dinner with a new people and Betty is a chatter, so this was crucial – some nights I asked her if we could eat alone because I didn’t want to talk to anyone)
- Appetite (Buffets and I do not get along, I don’t know what moderation means, so bring your appetite)
- Comfortable shoes (We walked A LOT!)
- Love for Jesus and other believers (if you are not religious, I would not recommend a messianic Jewish tour group – as mentioned above, many of our days started with prayers and had biblical teachings at each site)
- Alarm clock (Hila set up a wake up call each night for us and it was correct maybe three out of the seven days – so just be prepared to set your own)
- A to-go coffee mug (with the early starts, this is crucial)
- Allergy medicine (who knew that the dust from the heat would knock me out like it did)
- Willingness to try new things (this one is for Betty – she swam in the dead sea and rode a camel – two things she was not going to do until I convinced her and they were both a blast)
Wrap it up jen.
Israel has layers. It is a fascinating place and one that I am so glad to have experienced with my mother. There is no one on this earth I would rather see the holy land with. It was a lot of history, a lot of culture, and brought me so much JOY. Between the ruins, the sunsets, and the beautiful bodies of water, Israel has something for everyone.
Next up: Barcelona with some of my closest friends and to ring in a new year of life.
Signing off for now,
Jennifer