Sea of Galilee

Today we started our day with a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. Our guide gave us an orientation to the entire region as we floated in the middle of the lake. From there we hiked to the top of Mount Arbel. This mountain has an incredible view of the entire region where Jesus spent the majority of his life and ministry.

We then went to Tabgha, this area was significant to the people here because there are seven streams that feed into the Sea of Galilee. This causes warmer water which is better for fishing. Because of this it is thought to be where the disciples spent most of their time as fishermen. Later Jesus would call them to follow him near this area. From there we hiked up the hill to the site where it is believed Jesus gave the sermon on the mount.

The next site we visited was Chorazin this was a first century city. Here we learned about how the people lived and worked at the time of Jesus. We also learned about the synagogue and early school system that every boy would go through with hopes to become a rabbi.

The last site we visited was Capernaum. This was one of the most important cities in this region because it was one of the biggest crossroads for trade between Asia, Africa and Europe. This is the city that Peter, James, Matthew, and John were from. Jesus also performed the majority of his miracles there.

Finally, we experienced our first Shabbat led by our guide Ronen.