This cemetery in Nazareth contains Muslim, Christian, and Jewish graves. Some are quite old and it’s in the center of the old city. Apparently there is a group of Israelis that come every year made up of all three faiths who come to clean the graves.
Maimonides, the great Jewish sage is is often referred to as a polymath is one of the most important figures of Medieval Judaism. His grave is located in Tiberias though he died in Egypt while serving as physician to the Sultan Saladin.
On the way up to the grave we passed pillars each displaying one word representing the topics he wrote about including love, holiness, business, health, law, etc.
The women’s section- you can see half of the marble tomb on this side.
The Pioneer Cemetery (Kinneret Cemetery) is at the southern end of the Sea of Galilee. It is the burial place of many pioneers who came to Israel in the early 20th century. They mostly came from Eastern Europe.
The cemetery is a bit chaotic with the older stone moved by tree roots and all the graves are above ground in the tradition from ancient times.
As we watched the sun set over the lake there is an automatic music box that plays old pioneer songs. It was quiet and a lovely place to wander.
On our way to Tzfat we stopped at Meron, the burial place of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai who wrote the Jewish mystical text called the Zohar, a mystical text that is quite complex.
The blue covering is over what is supposed to be the grave though is probably more likely a cenotaph (representation of where the person is buried but no actual remains). There are always people there, women on one side and men on the other.
The son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai who is an important Talmudist in his own right is also buried there.
This was a much more nicely appointed site than most I’ve seen.
There were many women and children there and apparently on Lag B’Omer there are 100,000 people at this site coming for pilgrimage.
Cemeteries and graves are interesting places to learn about history. Over the past few days we have managed to encounter a number of them in Nazareth, Tiberias (by the Sea of Galilee), and in the hills of Meron on the way to Tzfat where we will be spending Shabbat. The important things that make a community are schools and cemeteries. In Nazareth we were surprised to learn that people of all three faiths are buried in the same cemetery though usually they are buried in separate cemeteries. On the way to Tzfat we visited the hills of Meron, that look like the forests of the Sierra foothills. We saw a lot of damage from the snow they had a few weeks ago. Apparently Tzfat got 20 inches of snow. The tombs of Rabbis Hillel, Shammai, and Tarfon, among others can be found in the area. I was surprised to see that these rabbis were buried in such a beautiful natural environment. We will be in Tzfat for Shabbat so a short post tomorrow and then rest.
Mina, I found the images of the old cemeteries fascinating and quite beautiful. Ancient and some newer cemeteries around the world are designed to be a peaceful resting place as well as for prayer or contemplation. I visited many different cemeteries while I lived in Europe several years ago and found the architecture as well as statuary very lovely. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, it’s a great way to learn about history as well as culture of the area. In Jewish cemeteries people leave stones or sometimes other objects rather than flowers when they visit so that enriches our understanding of who is there and who has been there.
Poetry Without Words 
Mina, I found the images of the old cemeteries fascinating and quite beautiful. Ancient and some newer cemeteries around the world are designed to be a peaceful resting place as well as for prayer or contemplation. I visited many different cemeteries while I lived in Europe several years ago and found the architecture as well as statuary very lovely. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, it’s a great way to learn about history as well as culture of the area. In Jewish cemeteries people leave stones or sometimes other objects rather than flowers when they visit so that enriches our understanding of who is there and who has been there.