“Palestine 🇵🇸 ~Bethlehem and Jericho”

• April 23, 2021
• By Pen
• 0 Comment

During our time in the Middle East, we made sure to find a way to get to Palestine, too; which is next to Jerusalem in Israel.

In order to make this happen, we did leave our tour group (Israel touring) for one day, to swap out a Jewish center visit, and we found a driver who could get us in to Bethlehem, which is in Palestine for the afternoon. We wanted to see the spot where baby Jesus was born.

We also left our tour group one day early, at the end of our time in Israel, having to part with our friends we like to travel with, for us to get into Palestine again; this time to visit Jericho: “the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world.” Jericho is also the city where Jesus spoke to a large crowd that gathered. The Holy Tree in the city, is still supposedly the same tree where a person climbed up in, to be able to see Jesus in the crowd; where Jesus saw him and asked him to come down to be next to him.

From My Travel Notes 

Our Palestinian/Israeli taxi driver, Abdullah was right on time to pick us up at our hotel after checking out, and continued to be most hospitable; a gem of a man we now call our friend. We left Jerusalem, and made a stop in Jericho, on the way to the Jordan border. This would be a very long drive. What a treat that was!

Firstly, Jericho is the oldest city in the world, with an archeology dig that dates back to the first developed city in the world! 

Next, we stopped and admired a very large, old and beautiful tree in Jericho, which is revered, protected, and cared for in its garden area. This is “The Holy Tree,” and this is the same garden where Jesus spoke and huge crowds of people gathered to hear what this man from Galilee had to say. Because of the masses, a man who had traveled very far, climbed up this tree, as he wanted to get a full glimpse of the man they call Jesus, and hear his message. Jesus noticed the man in the tree, and as a result he asked the man to climb down so they could speak.

After that, we went in search of a synagogue in Jericho we wanted to visit, with a VERY interesting history. With some searching we found it; you see, it is very plain from the outside. It’s an abandoned house, really.
As The Story Goes:  A family purchased it as their home some years back. After living there awhile, they discovered the main level of their home was, in fact, the second story. Beneath their home was an Ancient Synagogue, which had been buried and forgotten about for hundreds of years. And, unlike the outside, the inside was bedazzled and blinged-out with ancient mosaic tiles and all that shines. It is a country treasure, now, and is used for regular Jewish prayer gatherings, but is guarded by 30 Palestinian Military/Police personnel; 24/7!
Now, in order for us to enter the grounds of the synagogue, our driver had to ask permission of the Palestinian Military guards to do so.

We were granted access to the property, but unfortunately not to see the synagogue, or to even take any pictures of the grounds. 😔However, we got an even bigger surprise! We started nibbling on some dates from a nearby Date Palm Tree, (soooo good) and this started a conversation with some guards. This led to a gracious invitation for us to join the guards for tea! WHAT?
Naturally, we accepted, and I could see everybody relax (including us) as their grips on the “Uzi’s” began to lessen, and as the conversation continued. (Abdullah did a fantastic job translating for all of us) Finally, the “Uzis” were set aside, completely!  More and more men appeared under the shade tree where we were drinking tea, and we were introduced to some of the Officers of the Palestinian Army!

We talked about family, work, children, theUSA, and California; even Trump/Hilary politics. It was a special moment in travels for me, and all too soon, the tea was gone, and we had to go.

Click on the links below to see all the photos of

Jericho:

https://picsbypen.smugmug.com/Places/Middle-EastLife/PalestineLife/Jericho/

Bethlehem: 

https://picsbypen.smugmug.com/Places/Middle-EastLife/Israel-and-Palestine/Bethlehem/

https://picsbypen.smugmug.com/Places/Middle-EastLife/Israel-and-Palestine/Bethlehem/