Galilee on Yom Ha'atzmaut

The Kinneret—the Sea of Galilee, shaped like a harp—gives a completely different impression from the Dead Sea where we visited yesterday. You approach the Kinneret through flourishing farm fields and orchards rather than monochrome desert landscape. The shoreline is crowded with Israelis celebrating the holiday of Yom Ha'atzmaut (Independence Day) with a trip to the sea. Cars are festooned with Israeli flags, picnic and camp sites are packed, and the sea itself is buzzing with speedboats. Barbecues are a primary feature of today’s holiday, like our own Independence Day in the U.S., and from the bus we see smokey signs of this modern-day sacrificial offering.

It is said the Galilee is sweet because it knows how to take and to give (receiving three rivers in the north and flowing via the Jordan on to the south), while the Dead Sea is bitter because it only knows how to take (receiving the Jordan but stopping there and continuing no further)...