Day 29 - Netzach - Ellie Shifroni & Timna Taub
Thank Hashem we got that 7:30am sleep in this morning; we definitely needed all the energy we could get. Today was the long awaited and extremely hyped up day that IST went to Masada and the Dead Sea!!
Whilst it was no Dan Jerusalem, the breakfast at Inbar served a classic Israeli style brekkie with yummy cheeses, veggies, cereals (Kariot YAY) and more!
Straight after breakfast, we packed into the bus and made our way to Mt. Masada. After last night’s eventful and most definitely nauseating bus ride home, we were all very grateful for Mussy’s (our faithful regular bus driver) much calmer and slower driving this morning. News of the day from Ilan Lavan reminded us of Sydney, which we felt we had left a lifetime ago.
Once we arrived at the bottom of Masada, we met with Lehava and began to walk up the ramp. This was the ramp that the Roman armies had constructed in the year 73, to be able to reach the Zealots that lived on the top of this historically significant mountain. We climbed up the stairs for around twenty minutes and when we reached the top, were glad to have some shade and a cool breeze.
As a year group, we davened a powerful shacharit amidst the rubble of a thriving Jewish community that stood so many years ago. We sang and prayed together and of course got photos... lots of photos.
After prayers, Rabbi Wolfowitz gave a short and motivational speech about how crazy it was to think that we could be standing in the very same spot where Eliazar Ben Yair, the leader of the Zealots, convinced families, mothers, fathers and children to murder each other because they couldn’t bare to be slaves to the Romans. Last night we were lucky enough to watch the amazing Masada light show which taught us about this story of the Jews who lived there and their brave martyrdom.
After this, we were led on a guided tour of Masada, a mountain symbolic of the sacrifice and bravery of our people, with Yossi. We walked through the fortresses of King Herod that were well built and beautifully decorated. Due to King Herod’s constant paranoia that someone would take over his kingdoms, he built massive and protective walls surrounding Masada. This proved to be helpful when attempting to push back the Romans when they attacked.
We learnt about the 8 camps around the mountain that the Romans built and how the entire siege of Masada, building the ramp, setting up camps and attacking the palace, only took ten weeks.
We then made our way through different buildings some with Herod’s beautiful mosaic floors, which still had some remnants left. From there we entered the Bath house which displayed the way the Jews cleaned themselves, typically before Shabbat, and the clever way they created a steam room.
We questioned why there was a constant black line running through most of the buildings and Yossi informed us that all the buildings underneath the black line were original and had not been touched, whereas the rocks above that line had been collected from piles of rubble around the mountain and used to build up those walls.
Yossi then took us down many stairs into an ancient water reservoir, which had held the water and provided life for all those who lived on top of Masada. The walls were many meters high and wide, made from thick stone. We passed around a coin from the time of the Zealots that helped us understand the currency of that community.
Our final stop in the tour of Masada was a stunning lookout that encapsulated the Dead Sea and Jordan and the mountainous terrain. We were told to yell out “Am Yisrael Chai!” and listen to the echo that responded. It sounded like thousands of people at the bottom of the cliff screaming back at us. We all felt a sense of pride as we screamed to the world that the Jewish people continue to live on. This had extreme significance on the top of Mt. Masada, a place where many Jewish families had flourished yet also suffered so much.
After a long and hot walk down through Shvitz City (the snake trail of Masada), we were all satisfied with a good lunch at the Masada restaurant buffet.
On the bus ride to Ein Gedi, Yossi interestingly pointed out the many sink holes caused by an excessive amount of salt in the ground that sunk up entire houses and even parts of a road and bridge.
At Ein Gedi National Park, we toured the beautiful site, walking around the waterfalls and rocks and through the surreal landscape. Some of us even decided to jump into the fresh, cool water, fully clothed and had to end up getting new (and extremely funky) board shorts from the kiosk. Eli Grauman and Ilan Lavan look great in pineapple shorts.
We arrived at the Dead Sea with smiles of excitement across our faces. The girls and boys split into their respective beaches and got changed into swimming costumes. Nervous that cuts on our bodies would sting, we made our way down to the rocky shore. We entered the cold water in slides to protect our feet from the large, sharp salt rocks. Most of us were amazed by the smooth feel of the sea and the incredible sensation of floating above the water. We all laughed as we tried to swim to each other without being able to touch the ground.
Told that this water was great for skin, we rubbed it all over ourselves. For some, this wasn’t the smartest idea (we could tell this by the itchy and red rashes left on our bodies and even faces). A special shoutout to all those who got the salty water splashed into their now bloodshot eyes but made it out alive. Immersing ourselves into the Yam HaMelach was an incredible experience but we were undoubtedly keen for a good, long and warm shower.
On the way home we made a very much needed pit stop at the Supermarket. By the contents of our shopping baskets, it seemed as if we wouldn’t see food till Sydney. At least we knew a few of the guys wouldn’t go hungry for a while! Back at the hotel we all showered and had dinner. We then made our way to a Chanukiah workshop. We got to design and create our own chanukiot for the panel of judges (the teachers and madrichim) to select a winner. Mazal tov to Ethan Agosin who made it very clear that he was most definitely the winner of the most creative and best chanukiah. After an exciting and eventful day we are all so tired but very much looking forward to the next 13 days (Ahhh it’s gone by so quickly) of IST ☺️ and especially for Israeli Advocacy starting tomorrow.
Ellie Shifroni & Timna Taub 16.12.2019
