Running on Empty

The best pool in the world is located at the Masada Youth Hostel. Over 1000 feet below sea level, the air around the Dead Sea is thick and sticky, and the summer heat is so oppressive that it is too dangerous to climb Masada if you start after dawn. We arrived at the hostel covered in Dead Sea salt and mud and grime, so we threw ourselves into the forgiving pool as soon as we arrived.

From our base camp at hostel, we began our climb up the mountain at 4:30 the next morning. Our whole group made it to the top of the fortress just in time to see the sun come up over the peaks of the Harei Adom across the Dead Sea in Jordan.

After the sun came up, we celebrated b'tai mitzvah for two of our group members, Jackie and Joanna. This week's parsha is Pinchas, in which Moses allows women to inherit property from their fathers and husbands--a fitting story for two young women inheriting the Jewish tradition. A big yasher kochech to both of them.

From the heights of Masada we headed to lunch in Jerusalem, followed by a guided tour of Yad VaShem, Israel's memorial to the Holocaust. Balancing the stories of heroism and sorrow within the museum is the grand view of Jerusalem at the museum's end, a symbol of Jewish hope for the future.