one of those cultural moments...or something (traveling pt 1)

Tiberias is on the coast of the Sea of Galilee [ים כנרת, yam kneret]. It is has a lot in common with every disgustingly ugly resort town I've ever been to: bad seventies architecture; run down shabby feel; hideous boardwalk; bizarre streetmall. You know the type. Tiberias is particularly strange though. The street mall is built next to an abandoned Mosque. The Muslim community fled Tiberias in 1948, under the protection of the British Army. The Mosque hasn't been touched since. Although it seemed to me that the strip mall brilliance of Tiberias was extending into the courtyard of the Mosque.

I stayed in the second seediest hostel I've ever seen. What it lacked in character and cleanliness, it made up for in people who were just slightly off. The only other person in the dorm for instance, was a man from VanCouver, originally from Mumbai. He was a Christain, who felt, wholeheartedly, that things have clearly gotten so bad in the world that Jesus should be coming back any day now. I can't say I disagree with him about the state of the world. But I'm as yet unconvinced that that leads to the return of Christ. He journeyed here so that he could experience the holy land before Christ came back. He tried to explain why buy I lost him a little. Something about how dramatically it's all going to change and wanting to see it first.

The manager of the hostel was a very nice guy, he even complimented my Hebrew (should have been my first clue). Everything seemed normal until I realized there was a parrot flying around the reception area. Then the manager sat down to watch TV. The TV in the lounge kept flickering on and off, broken, unwatchable (at least if you want to avoid having an embolism). He sat there, unconcerned with his impending brain hemorrhage, smoking cigarettes at an astounding rate. Eventually the parrot came over and stood on the back of his chair and squawked in his ear. I must be in the twilight zone I thought to myself.

One of the Rabbis at my Yeshiva told me that Tiberias is the home of the best Kosher Chinese restaurant in the country. I asked the manager (in Hebrew) if this was true and where it might be. He told me that it was indeed the best Chinese restaurant in the land and told me how to get there. Pagoda, spelled out in Hebrew characters is the restaurant in question (for the record Pagoda is the English corruption of the Dutch corruption of a Sanskrit word). As I walked out the door he threw a fifty shekel note at me and asked me if I could bring him back some food. Sure, why not.

Pagoda is on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where you know who walked on water and fed a lot of people with not a lot of bread or fish. Specifically, it is on the boardwalk. I sat with my water view and my view of tourists reveling in the run down resort town glory. The food was delicious. Certainly the best Kosher Chinese food I've ever had (but to be fair, it was also only the fourth time I've eaten at a Kosher Chinese restaurant). There is something about New York style chinese food that really does transcend the need for pork or the five boroughs. It hit the spot, and gave me some reason to think that a pilgrimage to Tiberias isn't completely bizarre, some people go for loaves and fishes, others for tombs of Jewish philosophers. I went for the dumplings.

There isn't much else about Tiberias worth reporting. The Sea of Galilee is stunningly beautiful , the towns surrounding it are not. There are a myriad pilgrimage sites for Jews and Christians. The Christian association with the place is obvious. The Jewish one is not quite as obvious. After the complete destruction of Jerusalem (c. 160 CE) Jewish life in the land of Israel centered on Tiberias. It is one of the locations that saw the transition from nationalist sacrificial cult to a prayer and law and prayer focused community (an important step in the direction of our understanding of religion today). It is the home of many graves (some of them are likely to be apocryphal). Maimonides, the Spanish born philosopher and doctor was re-interred in Tiberias. I have a hard time relating to pilgrimage sites that are so touristy. Capitalism and the selling of souvenirs and cultural artifacts doesn't really relate to my sense of spirituality. Then again, fried dumplings do, maybe I'm the crazy one.



More to come on my trip to Tsfat, and the Golan and Tel Aviv.