This was a really special afternoon. We were invited over to an Israeli-Arab family’s home for lunch. They enjoy entertaining and hosting and do it well. They let the two youngest members of our group dress up in their exotic dress. They made mountains of food for us and forced us to eat in quantities of much more than was healthy! This particular pot of rice was about 7 inches tall and a foot wide. Their son displayed his karate skills for the small crowd. But the family has

This slideshow requires JavaScript. Dan! The high place of Jeroboam, Canaanite city gates that Abraham and Lot would have walked through, Lebanon border, Beit She’an National Park (where the Philistines brought the bodies of Saul and his sons), and Gideon’s spring where the soldiers would have bent down or lapped the water. #Israel #travel

This slideshow requires JavaScript. Wow, as you can see, this was a PACKED trip and it takes awhile to even report on all that we saw and did. Gamla in the Golan Heights is the “Masada of the North” (which, unfortunately, didn’t mean much to me before this trip), but it was another place where the inhabitants were under such attack and felt there were truly no other options than to commit mass suicide, jumping to their deaths rather than surrender to the nasty Romans. Of cour

This slideshow requires JavaScript. This was another fascinating day — We didn’t have to travel far from our Ein Gev lodging on the Sea of Galilee to see the place where the demoniac “Legion” met Jesus. It’s amazing because the Bible is so specific about many locations. It was “on the other side of the sea,” “in the country of Gerasenes,” in the place of the tombs (which are still there). When Jesus cast the demons out, they begged to go to the pigs, which the Bible says, ran

This slideshow requires JavaScript. We started out the morning at the Mount of Precipice, or the Leaping Mountain. The name is taken from Luke 4:29-30 where the crowds press in on Jesus and it says he “went away.” Somehow tradition has made that into leaping off the mountain (which is what the crowd wanted to do with Him) and now it’s the Leaping Mountain. Nevertheless, it was a stunning view. And, since it was the place to jump, Joel decided to give it a go. Thankfully, that

Mt. Carmel (Discalced Carmelite Order. Sanctuary and Monastery) view of Jezreel Valley/Meggido from the top of the monastery (Mt. Carmel) Joel was really excited to see this site of where Elijah had the show down with the prophets of Baal because he told this story in a competition in elementary school, so after we finished shooting, we ran over and got a quick shot of him in front of the landscape. The bus pulled over for a quick stop on the side of the road to see a tomb wi

We were staying at a hostel at the foot of Masada, the supposedly impenetrable fortress that Herod the Great built to protect himself in case of a revolt (you know, for things like killing babies, so he had good reason to be scared). The fortress was used by the Jewish extremist “daggermen” called the Sicarii. The Romans camped out around the mountain, which had a stockpile of food and water to last for years, and constructed a giant ramp and finally seized the city, only to

This slideshow requires JavaScript. This was a fun day. It started out with snorkeling in the Red Sea (yes, it was our job to snorkel in the Red Sea), then a really HOTsegment back in the wilderness of the Timna Valley. (Without sounding like I’m complaining, I guess I can’t really explain how hot it was except that I now have a clear visual to go with “wilderness” when I read it. This is when the camera started giving us “overheating” errors and we wondered if we should just

This slideshow requires JavaScript. We woke up to soldiers outside our door. Ok, they were just having breakfast in the parking lot. Not sure where all we went that day because I was busy doing video, not taking photos (again, you’ll have to wait for the video release for the full story). Then, there was a pretty incredible hike through Ein Avdat National Park. #Israel #travel

This slideshow requires JavaScript. Off to Gezer, the city that Joshua conquered (and then didn’t destroy and decided instead to marry the women) where we found Solomon’s chambered gate and the stones that the Israelites were supposed to tear down, but didn’t and found syncretism to be more to their liking. Also in the slideshow, an expensive McDonald’s episode, the Kidron Valley, picking up 5 smooth stones from the brook, an olive press, the Bell Caves (where I wish I could

This slideshow requires JavaScript. Sorry, I guess this one didn’t make the line up for publishing! Out of order, but here it is. Day 4 was spent in Jerusalem, again full of many on-site lectures to record, including Oscar Schindler’s grave, the solid gold menorah that awaits the 3rd temple to be built, the Western Wall, Via Dolorosa and the stations of the cross, the Pool of Bethesda in the Muslim Quarter, the Garden Tomb, and a guy hawking goods out of the trunk of his car

To see them was a fascinating experience — we started out on the Jewish side to get the general history of the place and better overall shots of the location. I had dropped the still camera earlier (because I think I had been getting a little dehydrated, forgetting to drink water in the sun), so I started covering up when I was outside. It worked great to keep sun off the viewfinder, as well, so I stayed under my improvised umbrella. I suppose a highly charged political relig

“We’re standing here at the Temple Mount and what’s significant about……wait, let’s wait for him to pass……..Hi, we’re standing here at the Temple Mount and ….. I’m sorry, can I help you? ….. Yes, all the women’s arms are covered, thank you……Ok, we’re standing here at the ….. I’m sorry, it’s just that tensions are always a little high here…….We’re here at the Temple…..no, we do not have any Bibles…..” That was pretty much how the morning started for us. They wouldn’t allow trip

This slideshow requires JavaScript. King Hussein’s abandoned royal palace. Rachel’s grave (we realized this wasn’t your normal tour bus ride through Israel when the bus stopped on the highway, and we were told to get out, climb over the guard rail and start hiking). Jericho. Ski lifts over the old city walls (which fell out, not in, by the way…hmmm….and a little house on the wall that was not destroyed, thought to be of a certain harlot). The area of the Good Samaritan’s stor

The third day started out with a climb through Hezekiah’s Tunnel, a manmade cave underground that runs over 500 meters. There was water the whole way through, up to thigh-high in parts, and then it opened up into the Pool of Siloam. Although, now they are uncovering an even larger pool area within a few yards of the traditional site, that fits better with the biblical accounts. This slideshow requires JavaScript. We also went to the site of the second Temple. Probably most me

The sights and sounds of the second day were fabulous. We visited an Ethiopian church in Jerusalem. I had forgotten that the Ethiopians have a long heritage in Israel, as well. At the end of this slideshow is the “Night Spectacular,” an amazing display of Israel’s history, shown on the walls of the Citadel. Though it is set to a moving soundtrack in person, it’s worth watching, even as a slideshow on our blog, but I’d say it’s worth the 14 hours on a plane to see it again! I

We left Central America and flew into LA to meet the team and fly out as a group. That gave us a couple of days to pick up the rest of our equipment and clean the cameras and lenses, test the microphones, charge the batteries and pack an endless supply of tape. Of course, we’d been watching the news. We knew that the day before we were scheduled to leave, the Palestinians were planning on demonstrating their displeasure with Israel, but we had no idea if or how that would aff