Day 02 - Galilee Boat Ride, Kefar Kedem

Today was like stepping into a time machine to visit the ancient world! First thing after breakfast, we sailed on the Sea of Galilee and a few of our participants got to try their luck hoisting up a dripping fishing net from the sea. From the middle of the sea we were blessed with a rare view: the rain from yesterday cleared the air enough that, looking north, we could see all the way to the snowy peaks of Mt. Hermon! Our voyage then took us to the other side of the sea, where we visited a museum and saw a boat that dates back to the time of Jesus. We imagined what it would be like to pull in a net full of large fish—a difficult feat on a tippy ancient boat without a keel. Even success comes with its share of difficulties.

At Kfar Kedem we travelled even further back into the ancient past, exploring what life would have been like in the time of Abraham. Participants and buddies helped each other put on robes and tie head wraps, so we would all look the part. Our guide for this site, Menachem, talked to us about life as an orthodox Jew and kept us all laughing with his hilarious one-liners. We watched as he showed us how to spin wool to thread that could be used to make clothing or the kind of sling-weapon used by shepherds (like what David would have used to defeat Goliath). He taught us how to milk a goat and to make fresh, creamy goat cheese, which some of us got try afterward. Menachem showed us how a shepherd’s staff was used and told us that the picture of God as a shepherd was one of learning to trust. Even if we (like sheep) don’t understand why we’re being prodded along in different directions, we can trust that our shepherd (God) is using the staff to protect us, move us toward shelter and safety, and keep us on the right path. God has much more in view than we are able to see. We finished our visit to Kfar Kedem with donkey rides and, to our participants’ great delight, were even awarded international donkey drivers licenses!

A particularly special moment of time travelling today was our final stop before heading back to the kibbutz for dinner. It was brought to our attention that one of our participants has movie acting experience! In the hit series The Chosen, Debra had the opportunity to be an extra in the scene where Jesus feeds the five thousand. She got to keep her costume from filming and brought it with her on the trip. It was her fervent hope to be able to get a picture in her costume in the place where that scene really happened. George used the opportunity to give a faith lesson to the group on this Bible story. We were all blessed to see Debra in costume as we added a new picture to our growing mental library of Biblical imagery.