Today's tour began with a visit to the holy city of Safed, in the hills near the Golan Heights. Safed is one of Judaism's four holy cities; Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberias are the others. Safed, nestled among a group of high hills, was established in the 2nd century BCE. It was, like many cities around here, variously occupied by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Muslims, the Crusaders and the Ottoman Turks. Safed is known as the city of miracles. It is a place where Kabbalah, the ancient mystical approach to Judaism made famous in recent years by celebrity converts (like Madonna), flourished. Of course, the rabbis here remind us Madonna may not have a grasp of the real Kabbalah (you think?).

Safed was the place where rabbi Joseph ben Ephraim Caro fled in 1535. In 1492, after the Spanish defeated the Muslims, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (yes, of Columbus' fame) expelled the Jews from Spain (they had ruled Southeastern Spain for 600 years). The Jews had been welcome and protected under Muslim rule. Once the Christians conquered the Muslims, they expelled the Jews; those Jews who did not leave were murdered. Other Christian nations in Europe soon followed suit. Rabbi Joseph Caro fled first to Bulgaria, and then to Safed.

Today we slept in a bit; our bus left at 9 am. We road north on route 90 past Masada and then drove past Qumran, the site of the Essene community (50 BCE - 150 CE). It was here that the first Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

The most curious thing of this drive is that we drive from the Southern Dead Sea - under Israeli control - to the Palestinian Controlled lands, passing by the lush greens of Jericho - through small Palestinian towns, past kibbutzim (Israeli communal farms), past Jewish 'settlements,' and then back into Israeli controlled territory. Despite what you may see on television, we passed through only two checkpoints; only at one did we stop, where and a 19-year old guard and her sargeant at arms made a polite pass through the bus. Now we were all white Americans traveling with a well-known Israeli guide with a reputable tour company, but except for two soldiers driving along the border fence parallel to the Jordan River on routine patrol, the soldier and her machine-gunned assistant were the only soldiers we saw the entire time. People live side-by-side here, making their living in whatever ways they can, no matter what they feel about one another.

We then made it to the ancient synagogue at Bet Alfa, from 550 CE. Here we saw a beautiful temple uncovered during a dig at a kibbutz founded in 1929. Reflecting the multicultural influences this region has had for centuries, the synagogue's mosaic tile floor depicts a Zodiak wheel, biblical scenes, pagan goddesses of the seasons, and the ark of the covenant. This place could be an early UU church!