We noted last week the inauguration of the “Gospel Trail,” a 40-mile route that runs from Nazareth to Capernaum. Tom Powers has noted an article in Haaretz that discusses the need for a $700,000 expenditure to create a trail with essentially the same purpose and route as one established several years ago.

All well and good, but a brief perusal of the map of Israel reveals that another route was dedicated three years ago and goes by a few names, among them the “Jesus Trail.” It follows a slightly different route, 65 kilometers in length, with orange trail markings, from Nazareth to Lake Kinneret, and caters – until recently, with the enthusiastic encouragement of the Tourism Ministry – to exactly the same clientele.
The creation of the older route began as an initiative of Maoz Yinon, a 35-year-old entrepreneur who owns the Fauzi Azar hostel in Nazareth, plus another hostel in Jerusalem. At the time Yinon won the support of many groups for his plan, among them the Tourism Ministry, the Israel Trails Committee (part of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel ) and several local authorities. Together with an American Christian named David Landis, he developed a route based on three principles: It would have a connection to Christian tradition, it would feature hiking in beautiful landscapes and it would encourage the involvement of local communities.

Tom references a blogpost (that I cannot locate) on the Jesus Trail site which distinguishes between the two trails. In Tom’s words (slightly reformatted):

The new Gospel Trail does not

• take into account hikers’ need for regular water sources,
• it bypasses too many important Christian sites,
• it was not planned in cooperation with local communities,
• and the places visited are not truly representative of Galilee’s diverse social fabric – more specifically, it steers the trail users away from Arab towns and villages in favor of Jewish areas.

I’m sure that the Israeli Ministry of Tourism will have a different perspective to justify their expenditure of 3 million shekels.

An old tradition identifies the area of Kursi as the place where demon-possessed pigs drowned themselves in the water. Developers planning to construct a vacation village have now been granted permission as long as they provide public access to the beach and construct a promenade to connect with a path around the Sea of Galilee. From the Jerusalem Post:

A compromise was approved by a district court last Thursday between Adam Teva V’Din – Israel Union for Environmental Defense and vacation village developers, that will allow for guaranteed public access to the beaches and infrastructure developed at a Kinneret beach on the Golan Heights, both sides confirmed on Tuesday.
Along with local residents, Adam Teva V’Din had filed a petition arguing that the Kursi resort project should not be allowed to go forward without public access to the beach and open areas.
The parties eventually reached a compromise, allowing for the continued construction of the village, but with an officially mandated agreement that will allow for public access to the beach and surrounding nature spots. In addition, the developers will be responsible for building a public parking lot and a promenade that connects with the existing path that surrounds Lake Kinneret, according to Adam Teva V’Din.

The full story is here. According to the best NT manuscript evidence, no pigs died at Kursi. The site of the swine dive should be located in the territory of the Gadara on the lake’s southeastern shore.

Several years ago some private individuals developed the “Jesus Trail” for travelers who wished to walk from Nazareth to Capernaum. We described this effort at some length last year. Yesterday the government Israel dedicated the “Gospel Trail,” a route that travels the same ground as the “Jesus Trail” and apparently competes with it. The Jerusalem Post reports on the story:

Minister of Tourism Stas Misezhnikov inaugurated on Tuesday the new Gospel Trail pilgrimage route which has been created by the Ministry of Tourism along with the Jewish National Fund.
The trail, which cost NIS 3 million to develop over three years, is designed to further increase the already large numbers of Christian tourists and pilgrims who visit Israel each year.
[…]
The route of the Gospel Trail follows the path which Jesus walked at age 30 after he was evicted from Nazareth, as related by the New Testament.
The trail, which runs for 63 kilometers, starts at Mount Precipice just outside Nazareth and continues eastwards down to Capernaum, taking in a number of important Christian holy sites.
These include the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount; Magdala (Migdal today) the home of Mary Magadelene; Tabgha, the site of the Feeding of the Five Thousand; and Capernaum, where Jesus established his ministry and met his first disciple Peter.
Those traveling the trail will be able to do so by car, bicycle and, more traditionally, on foot – despite the current lack of amenities and accommodation along the route. The ministry says it is working on a program to encourage entrepreneurs to develop tourist facilities to provide services for those walking the trail.

The story includes a 3.5 minute video which features interviews with Christian pilgrims pleased with the announcement.

A search for Gospel Trail takes one to www.gospeltrail.com, a site owned by Jesus Trail™.

The Israel Ministry of Tourism website includes a description of the Gospel Trail route and the infrastructure created by the $700,000 investment. The site also includes links to a 12-page booklet (which includes the map posted below), a stage-by-stage guide, and a high-resolution satellite map with the trail marked.