Page 21 - Holyland Magazine - 2010 Edition

At left: A child of faith on the Jordan's
banks. This page: Above: A man immerses
in the Jordan where John the Baptist did.
Photos: Yael Ilan. Below: Excited American
pilgrims step into the Jordan, muddied
by this first fall rains. Photo: Miriam
Feinberg Vamosh

A new experience of the given to the area’s major landmark, the fifth- These days, it’s not only members of the historic
most famous river in the century Monastery of St. John. ancient churches who are coming to the site,
Bible awaits visitors in and not only on Epiphany. Pilgrims’ groups of
the Judean wilderness Many traditions come together here. That all denominations are now “discovering” it.
north of the Dead Sea. is typical in the Holy Land, going back to Truly a “no-frills” spot, its amenities are
times when pilgrims could not travel freely somewhat spartan, compared to Yardenit, the
and often stayed put at sites they were Pilgrims’ Baptismal Site near the point where
able to reach; there, frequently from the the Jordan flows out of the Sea of Galilee,
safety and coolness of a cave, they read
and pondered all where most visitors
the biblical tales experience the
that took place in Jordan.
the vicinity. The
traditions at this site But no-frills does
include, in addition not mean no-thrills.
to the baptism of On the contrary,
Jesus by John and being in a place of
the crossing of the such authenticity –
Jordan by Joshua, where literally just
Elijah being fed by a stone’s throw
ravens and his ascent away, John the
to heaven. Baptist preached
– can be an
Here, where the unforgettable new
muddy waters of the highlight of your
Jordan eddy lazily Israel visit. It’s
along, about 12 feet guaranteed to leave
deep, you are so a better impression
close to the other on you than it did
side you can fly on Mark Twain,
a paper airplane who describes his
across and have it 1867 visit here in
land in the lap of a Innocents Abroad.
pilgrim sitting on the
wooden dock, hung “With the first
incongruously with suspicion of dawn
two orange lifesaving every pilgrim took
rings, on the off his clothes
Jordanian side. The and waded into
dock leads to a the dark torrent,
walkway, and up to singing ‘On
a beautiful little gold-domed chapel built by Jordan’s stormy banks I stand/ and cast a wistful
the Jordanians in the year 2000, based on eye/ To Canaan’s fair and happy land/Where
ancient accounts that marked the baptism my possessions lie.’ But they did not sing long.
on the east bank of the river. Since 1994, The water was so fearfully cold that they were
this has been a peaceful international border obliged to stop singing and scamper out again
between Israel and Jordan. … So we saw the Jordan very dimly.”