Day 05 - Good Samaritan Inn, Kibbutz Almog, Lower Jordan, Jericho

After getting in late from Shabbat dinner last night, we were moving a little slowly this Shabbat morning. But after a little coffee awakened us, we left Jerusalem and headed south to the Judean desert. The scenery from the bus windows was the same thing on repeat – hill after hill of dry, brown dirt and rocks, with little to no vegetation anywhere. We did see some lines or ridges in the hills and an occasional shepherd with his flock. Ronen pointed out that those are the lines the sheep walk as the shepherd leads them, “paths of righteousness” or “the right path to go” according to Psalm 123.

Our first stop was around the site where a very well-known Bible story occurred, the Good Samaritan Inn. It is a national park, museum, and archaeological site in the desolate wilderness, halfway between Jerusalem and Jericho, at an elevation of just under 1000 feet above sea level. (Interestingly enough, when we left this site and went downhill, we passed the actual “Sea Level” marker, which had a real camel tied to the sign in front!)

The Inn would have been the only place for rest and refreshment on the ancient Jericho Road, the isolated but continually used path between Jericho and Jerusalem. Learning some details gives a whole new perspective to the biblical story: 

Jerusalem is 2500 feet ABOVE sea level; Jericho is 800 feet BELOW sea level. That creates a drastic elevation change of 330 feet in just the 18 miles between them! If you’re going downhill to Jericho, it can be done fairly easily in one day. On the other hand, the ascent to Jerusalem took several days and required a place to stay – this one!

The priest and Levite in the story were going downhill, headed home toward Jericho after serving at the Temple on their rotation. The road gets narrower as it goes downhill, narrow enough that there is NO WAY they could not have noticed the injured man. Another insight is that these two passersby were finished with their temple duty. Touching a Samaritan would’ve made them unclean, but it wouldn’t have been as crucial.

It all points back to the man who asked Jesus in Luke 10, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” and then, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus, as he often did, answers his question with another question, basically saying, “You tell me.” The story’s clear point is that EVERYONE is your neighbor. Not only that, but also that according to the man’s definition in Luke 10:27, the Samaritan qualifies for eternal life, not him!

While mulling over these thoughts, we looked at the collection of intricate mosaics housed there, then tried our hand at making our own! You will see in the photos that the tile was only 3” square but gave us a bit of the experience.

Down the hill we went to another unique location – Kibbutz Almog farm. Here we learned from the owner/operator about the biblical plant “balm of Gilead”. Guy Elrich is the only person in Israel to take this nearly extinct plant and now grow it in large quantities. We got to learn how it was used in the Temple incense, anointing oil, and the ancient perfume industry. Fascinating!

As the thermostat rose, we drove to our third site – Qasr al Yahud, which is the traditional site of the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist. Hundreds of tourists were there, most of them to get baptized. We could see the Israeli flag on our side and the Jordanian flag on the other, since the Jordan River is the border.

Our last site of the day was Jericho. The late afternoon heat was grueling, but we stepped out of the air-conditioned bus long enough to see the landscape and to hear Ronen explain the setting. Inside the cooler gift shop we sampled dried fruits, dates, and sesame nougat sweet treat. Dessert was also served which was “knafe”, a unique confection made of goat cheese, sweet syrup and pistachios.

We rested and recovered on the drive north to Nazareth where we checked into a new hotel and enjoyed a scrumptious dinner. Tomorrow, we explore the area where Mary was met by the angel Gabriel and all around the Galilee!

Shalom from Israel.