Saturday - the Sabbath
Wow - it's amazing what all that entails. We were taught - Shebat Shalom - Have a good Sabbath.
We learned a lot about the rules that govern the practicing Jews and the orthodox Jews, and it was incredible. The orthodox Jews have more rules, but generally, neither group is to do work on Saturday. So the debate of what is work and what isn't has led to rules that include not using locks that work electrically because it sparks a fire and that's against OT laws, and my personal favorite - no pushing elevator buttons. Watch out for the Sabbath elevator that stops at every floor going up and coming down to help you avoid the work of pushing a button.
On to the trip - Saturday we visited Masada - the mosted visited site in the country. I was completely unaware of the story of Masada, so I'll share it because I found it fascinating. If you already know it or don't care, skip on down to the pictures.
Masada was built by Herod the Great who, it turns out, was a greatly paranoid man. He feared the Romans and the Jews, and so built a refuge at the top of Mt Masada complete with a magnificent water system, palace, food storages, and synagogue(s). Years later, after Herod died of natural causes, Jerusalem was defeated by the Romans and the temple was destroyed. Women and children were killed and men were sold into slavery. Over 900 people escaped to Masada where they lived for about 3 years (73 AD), at which time the Romans got their troops together and attacked. After battling for days, the Jews at Masada realized that their defeat was inevitable. Their leader, Elazar ben Ya'ir, gathered everyone to the synagogue on the eve of Passover, and gave a speech convincing the men that it is better to be dead than to be a slave to the Romans or to see their wives and children at the hand of the Romans. So, each man killed his own family, then they killed each other, the last one falling on his own sword. The Romans entered Masada the following day where they found all but a couple of elderly ladies dead, and everything but the food storage burned. The women explained what had happened and explained that the food was left so that the Romans would see that they would have been able to survive much longer, so that was not the reason for their decision. Masada is the symbol of the few against the many, the weak against the strong.
The overhead model view
On to the trip - Saturday we visited Masada - the mosted visited site in the country. I was completely unaware of the story of Masada, so I'll share it because I found it fascinating. If you already know it or don't care, skip on down to the pictures.
Masada was built by Herod the Great who, it turns out, was a greatly paranoid man. He feared the Romans and the Jews, and so built a refuge at the top of Mt Masada complete with a magnificent water system, palace, food storages, and synagogue(s). Years later, after Herod died of natural causes, Jerusalem was defeated by the Romans and the temple was destroyed. Women and children were killed and men were sold into slavery. Over 900 people escaped to Masada where they lived for about 3 years (73 AD), at which time the Romans got their troops together and attacked. After battling for days, the Jews at Masada realized that their defeat was inevitable. Their leader, Elazar ben Ya'ir, gathered everyone to the synagogue on the eve of Passover, and gave a speech convincing the men that it is better to be dead than to be a slave to the Romans or to see their wives and children at the hand of the Romans. So, each man killed his own family, then they killed each other, the last one falling on his own sword. The Romans entered Masada the following day where they found all but a couple of elderly ladies dead, and everything but the food storage burned. The women explained what had happened and explained that the food was left so that the Romans would see that they would have been able to survive much longer, so that was not the reason for their decision. Masada is the symbol of the few against the many, the weak against the strong.
The overhead model view
From the cable car leading to the top of Masada
Water system - included 12 cisterns that provided enough water to survive in the desert for at least 20 years.
pool
synagogue where the people gathered to hear the challenging speech
looking below at the remnants of a Roman camp
natural path
original paint
pipes that released steam to heat water in the baths
the cable car was a little tight going down - there were still several of us that crammed in after I took this picture - it could have been a deodorant commercial!
pottery from Masada that we picked up while walking around
Masada was one of those places that I knew absolutely nothing about when we arrived, loved learning every detail we were given, and would now be very interested in studying further. I love that!
Next we went to Ein Geti - see the little caves in the rock?
Ein Geti is a Nature Reserve, border settlement, and where David hid from Saul in caves!
This waterfall was toward the base - we didn't have to walk very far to get to it. It was pretty, but we were told if we wanted to keep hiking, one further up would be worth the trek. The waterfalls are natural flowing fresh water streams in the desert.
So we hiked up - past this rock rabbit
past this waterfall
We learned that 1 Samuel 24 happened in Ein Geti, and several of the Psalms, including 57, 58, and 63 were written here.
to this one, where we got a lovely picture of the two of us, and a random photographer who didn't mind stepping into the frame just in time to ruin our photo op! ha!
trekking back down
and finally - lunch
After lunch we went to Qumran! This plaque gives the story of Qumran.
Notice that the men who found them were Bedouin shepherds. Our guide called them Bedouin brothers (pronounced Bed-win). From then on, every time we heard Bedouin, I thought of the Baldwin brothers! ha! :)
What it probably looked like in the cave where the pots were found. The story is, the Dead Sea Sect members looked out over the desert and saw the Romans approaching after Jerusalem had been destroyed on their way to Masada. The Sect was no threat and kept to themselves, so they didn't think the Romans would pay them any attention. Some of the scrolls were hidden in the pots in a cave just in case. This was a good thing since the Romans destroyed everything in their path, including Qumran. 38 of the 39 books of the Old Testament (minus Esther) were found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Some of the remains of Qumran
The cave where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.
One thing I didn't know - the men who found the scrolls found out that they could get more for them by cutting them up - so they did! There are lots of really tiny pieces that had to be reconstructed.
pottery from Qumran
Baldwins - I mean, Bedouins!
They sold pretty jewelry!
We got out of the bus and walked over a ways to a cliff that looked across to more mountains, with an enormous, dark valley in between.
It was the Valley of the Shadow of Death from Psalm 23! It is a literal place!
The valley was known for being very dark because the sun is only visible when it is directly overhead. There were criminals and animals and danger throughout it, and when David wrote the Psalm, he was speaking of actually going through this valley several times. Our guide explained that even though it is a psalm often read at funerals, it is not a psalm about death. It is a psalm about God's protection and provision and life.
We stopped at this beautiful overlook as we entered Jerusalem that night. Our guides showed us where several different significant events happened - where Abraham went to sacrifice Issac and the temple was built by Solomon that the Lord completely filled, where the Mt of Olives is, where the city of David is, so many exciting places! Then we sang "We Are Standing On Holy Ground" and I can't even tell you how awesome that was. Stinking Amazing.
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