While there are almost a countless number of sights and visits that a pilgrimage to the Holy Land can contain in any combination and sequential order across the whole breadth of the region, there is one generally predictable commonality: unless a visit to Jordan to Sinai is added at the beginning or end the trip, pilgrims will arrive through the international airport near the city of Tel Aviv, and they will also depart through it. 

As is the case with most major international airports in the world, the airport itself is located some distance away from the metropolis of Tel Aviv, and its adjacent twin city, Jaffa.   The city of Tel Aviv is a thoroughly modern settlement, hardly more than a century old, and is the heart of the modern secular Israeli state.  Jaffa, sometimes also referred to as Jaffo or Joppa, connected to Tel Aviv through urban sprawl and a boardwalk along the waterfront of the Mediterranean Sea, is quite another story.   It is an ancient city, first established nearly four millennia ago, and is mentioned by name in Ancient Egyptian documents as far back as the reign of King Thutmose III, nearly 1,500 years before the birth of Christ.

As a port city of immense strategic importance, Jaffa has been sought and fought over by virtually every nation and peoples who have been a part of the story of the Holy Land.   It is mentioned numerous times in the Old Testament, but most famously as the port of departure for the Prophet Jonah as he attempted to avoid following God’s instruction to head to Ninevah by taking a boat to Tarshish, whereupon God creates a storm and sailors, fearing the wrath of God, toss Jonah overboard to be swallowed alive by a great sea creature before being safely expelled to shore after three days of prayer and repentance.    In the New Testament, Jaffa is best known as being an important center of activity and ministry for the Apostle Peter as recalled in the Book of Acts, a connection which is in part remembered through the stately Franciscan Church of St. Peter located in the Old Harbor area of the city, a neighborhood that is considered by many to be among the most beautiful and best-maintained in the region.

Very often, the last stop on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land will be to the Old Harbor of Jaffa before heading to the airport. It is a final opportunity for a meal together, a refreshing walk in the cobbled pedestrian alleyways and along the pier and, if not too late in the day, a chance to pop into the Church of St. Peter and say a quiet prayer of thanks for one journey completed and another about to begin; the journey home.  Some will return to the Holy Land for more pilgrimages; for others, their path will not lead them back again.   But all who do so at least once in their lives will admit that the experience was one that forever changed their knowledge and understanding of their faith, and will be kept in their memory for the remainder of their days.    Many Christians who could not make this journey in 2020 will soon begin preparation for it in 2021; others may wait longer.   May all who reach the Holy Land in the coming year be blessed with safe travel, good health and fortune, and above all, may they, as Pope Saint John Paul II implored the faithful, "Be not afraid!"

Be Not Afraid!

Good Shepherd Travel offers trips to Jaffa as part of their Holy Land tours.  Rome, Lourdes, Fatima, Ireland, and many other destinations are among our most popular programs.  For more information on how to begin preparing for a pilgrimage in late 2020 or in 2021, contact Tony AbuAita at Tony@goodshepherdtravel.com.  We will return to pilgrimage – and we hope to see you with us!