Masada and the Dead Sea

4AM wake-up? Really, Lior?

Yes, really. After waking up in the middle of the night, we headed towards Masada and prepared to climb. We hiked up the snake path - a long, windy trail weaving up the mountain. In Lior’s terms, the hike took about a long-ish 45 minutes. Once we got to the top, we all agreed the sweat was worth it.

Every one of us made it to the top to enjoy the sunrise. To complement the beauty of the whole experienced, we were blessed to bear witness to a proposal. Two of our participants, Joel and Nicole, got engaged! We wish them endless happiness and are excited about the birth of a new Jewish family.

After the sun rose, we toured the top of Masada and learned about its historical relevance while taking in the breathtaking view from the top. We stood at the site of a 2000 year old synagogue, saw the ruins of ancient Roman base camps, and climbed back down again - and all this before breakfast!

We then enjoyed a nice meal at the base of Masada before piling back onto the bus and changing into our swimsuits to head over to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is famous for its salinity - it is so salty that no fish can live there, and most people can float with very little effort. It’s a very weird experience to “stand” in the middle of the sea in an area that is deeper than you are tall and still have your head above water. We all had a lot of fun floating around before piling back on the bus again - first to grab lunch at a local mall, where we discovered that Israeli fast food is surprisingly similar to its American counterpart (with the addition of falafel and shwarma, of course), and then to a hotel to prepare for Shabbat.

After such packed days, it was a relief to stop somewhere for 24 hours. With us for Shabbat was Shorashim Bus 152, from Harvard.