I arrived in Haifa. Not a particularly notable city, you don't see it in the news. But then it suddenly turns out that this is a worldwide religious center with millions of followers around the globe—a religion I had no idea even existed. How is that possible?

In the late 19th century, Baháʼí Faith emerged based on Islam. Essentially, it's a meta-religion claiming that all major religions are united, and that Bahá'u'lláh (the founder), Buddha, Zoroaster, Krishna, and various prophets are all manifestations of God. At first glance, it all sounds peaceful: they advocate for gender equality, universal education, and a world government instead of a bunch of separate countries. By the standards of a century ago, ultra-progressive.

In Haifa, followers built the Baháʼí Gardens. In 2008, they were added to UNESCO's World Heritage list. Now it's the city's main attraction.

The faith emerged in Iran but faced severe persecution there, which continues to this day. That's why the gardens ended up in Israel.

There are over 5 million (!) Baháʼís in the world, and their numbers are growing by 5.5% each year. And that's good news, because every believer is obligated to voluntarily contribute 19% of their excess wealth to the Baháʼí center. I couldn't find any public financial data on their official website, but something tells me the numbers are quite impressive.

And they even have their own calendar (what else?): 19 months of 19 days each, plus 4-5 extra days to round out to 365.