Sun in the South

Today we woke up really early to climb Masada. When we arrived at the top, we toured around learning about the Roman Era, when the Jews rebelled against the Romans following the destruction of the second Temple.  A group of zealots held out against the Romans in the old fortress on Masada, though they would end up killing themselves instead of facing an almost certain future defeat. To end the tour we went to the far edge of the mountain and yelled word by word "Am Yisrael Chai", and we could hear the words being echoed back to us far in the distance. This was like the fallen Jewish soldiers calling back to us from heaven. It was really cool to experience.

We climbed Masada! 

From there we went east to En Gedi, and some of us went in the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth. (Due to the heavy rains from the winter season, there was flooding and road closures that caused some timing issues, so not all of us could go in, but I was able to). What makes the Dead Sea unique is its minerals and high amounts of salt (the average ocean is 3% salt, the Dead Sea is 33% salt). Because of this, the minerals in the sea give you the ability to float without trying, plus you can find out if you have cuts and where they are, because it will burn there! It was a very unique (and burning) experience. After that we took the long bus ride to Kibbutz Keturah, our next hotel, to welcome the next Shabbat.

- Andrew