Masada and the Dead Sea

It wasn’t the first thing on my mind get up and 5:30 on a Friday morning to on a two hour drive to go hike, but I managed to roll out of bed and get dressed to go hike Masada. Which was amazing! We didn’t spend as much time as we should have since we had to get back in time for Shabbat, but it was still a fascinating experience. We hiked up the Roman Ramp and entered the fort near the place where the Romans broke through the walls. The hike up was really steep, but it only took about 20- 30 minutes. We got to see the ruins of the original palace that Herod built as a winter palace and as a place to run away to if there was a rebellion. It was amazing what expense that Herod went to in order to build it. The remains of food that was found showed that fish and cherries were imported and the Roman Baths that were built require a ton of wood and a ton of water, neither of which is available at Masada. After Herod’s death, it was taken over by a group of Jews who valued their freedom of religion more than their attachment to the Temple in Jerusalem. Well in the summary, they decided that there freedom was the most important thing to them and they all committed suicide rather than be killed by the Romans or sent back to Rome as gladiators. We then had a long talk about the significance of Masada to the Jewish people. How it was explained, and I hope I get this right, is that it is a symbol to the Jewish people of their situation in the Middle East and how there is always there threat that they might have to make a similar decision. I’m not sure if I really understand or agree, but that’s how it was explained. On the way down we took a path on the other side called the Snake Path. It literally winds up and down the side of the mountain and it is a long series of steep stairs. While it was quite a party to hike down, my legs were shaking upon reaching the bottom, and any other time I would stand still. We spent the majority of the time on Masada, but we managed to get sometime at the Dead Sea. J First of all, Israel may be a desert… but there isn’t much sand to speak of. There is a lot of dirt and a lot of rocks, but limited sand. The beach at the Dead Sea is a small strip of rocky beach and where the sea hits the rocks, the salt builds up into huge crystals. The bottom of the sea is also really rocky, but once you can start floating it’s amazing. I loved lying with my head back in the water and it was so comfortable! However, do not put your head underwater! While I was spared the pain of getting the water in my eyes, the water tastes disgusting. The water actually feels really oily when you get in from all the salt but it does make your skin feel great. The whole unfortunate part of this trip is that there we had to be back by two in order to be ready for Shabbat.