Masada and Dead Sea!

Today we woke up at 4:30 am, had crackers and tea, then headed to Masada where we took a 15 minute hike to the top via the Roman ramp. We had some lectures about King Herad, saw the sun rise. There were Greek baths with mosaic tiles in them, saw a synagogue. We learned the story of the 900 Jews after the destruction of the second temple, who committed a heroic suicide. They wouldn’t throw rocks at the people building the ramp because there were Jewish slaves making it. There were 10 names in pottery, One of the names was Yoav. Other birthright groups were on top of Masada from England and other countries. We did an activity on Masada where we shouted Am Yisrael Chi over the valley to the mountain and listened to the echo. The walk down was about 45 minutes, while some people took the cable car.
Becca really enjoyed the peacefulness on Masada and having the chance to think about the archaeology and how the Romans had a tough job building the fortress. Seeing all the different parts of the palace was very amazing. I really felt connected to the Romans and Jews who lived on Masada in the past. Being an archaeology student, Masada was my favorite part of the trip so far.
We went to the Ahava shop for a bit, then to the dead sea and put some black mud on our bodies before going in the Dead Sea. Some people went in the sulphur pool. Lunch was a choice of three sandwiches, pears, water and chocolate.
Becca and Sarah M. had a great time at the Dead Sea collecting a variety of rocks that were incredible. The salt minerals incased a bunch of the rocks. Becca spent the majority of the time at the beach looking at and collecting rocks. The two geology students on the trip decided that the Dead Sea was a geologist’s dream place. While we were floating in the sea, we could look around and see the mountains.
We came back to Jerusalem, to the Yehuda Youth Hostel, dressed up for Shabbat and had a group service and dinner. We did a massage game and then introduced all the Israeli soldiers with songs and skits. For Oneg we had dates and poprock chocolates.
We are looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.
Alex Greene and Becca Siegal