On Thursday the class took a field trip to Masada - which is about 2hrs. driving from Tel-Aviv. We left the dorms at 1am so that we could watch the sunrise from Masada - I thought leaving at that time was a great idea, although I'm sure my classmates would beg to differ.
Learning about the history of Masada and seeing the site itself was incredible. The story of the place is looooooooong, so I'll give a brief synopsis (let me know if any of this is incorrect): The palace/fortress was built originally by King Herod about 2,000 yrs ago as a vacation home, then during the Roman occupation it became a last stronghold for a group of zealots rebelling against the Romans. It eventually did fall to the Romans, but rather than be forced to become slaves, the people of Masada decided to (sort of) commit mass suicide. Since suicide is not allowed in Judaism, the 10 leaders of the community killed their own families, then they drew names from a pot and 1 person killed the 9 other men and them himself. The story is super interesting so I suggest reading up on it if you so desire. The story has been used as a symbol of Jewish survival and courage, and everyone on the trip seemed to know the saying "Masada shall never fall again."
I think it's impressive that so many Jewish Americans know so much about the history of Israel/Jewish diaspora. Almost everyone knew about the story of Masada, about the stories of King Herod, the different wars Israel has been a part of, etc etc. Not to mention 90% of the class speaks/reads a decent amount of Hebrew - and a good chunk is fluent. I've recently learned about 'birthright,' a sponsored? trip to Israel for Jewish Americans to learn about their people and culture. Man, I wish Chinese people had something like this! I don't know anything about Chinese history. I don't even think I know who the President is - does China have a president? Then again, sending 10000 billion Chinese people around the world back to China to learn about their roots would be chaos.
Anyways, I'm not so eloquent. Here are some pictures of Masada:
Everyone warned me about the 'hike' up. It took 15 min. and I'm pretty sure my old walk to work up Fillmore was harder. But the other path up did look a little more intense.
Learning about the history of Masada and seeing the site itself was incredible. The story of the place is looooooooong, so I'll give a brief synopsis (let me know if any of this is incorrect): The palace/fortress was built originally by King Herod about 2,000 yrs ago as a vacation home, then during the Roman occupation it became a last stronghold for a group of zealots rebelling against the Romans. It eventually did fall to the Romans, but rather than be forced to become slaves, the people of Masada decided to (sort of) commit mass suicide. Since suicide is not allowed in Judaism, the 10 leaders of the community killed their own families, then they drew names from a pot and 1 person killed the 9 other men and them himself. The story is super interesting so I suggest reading up on it if you so desire. The story has been used as a symbol of Jewish survival and courage, and everyone on the trip seemed to know the saying "Masada shall never fall again."
I think it's impressive that so many Jewish Americans know so much about the history of Israel/Jewish diaspora. Almost everyone knew about the story of Masada, about the stories of King Herod, the different wars Israel has been a part of, etc etc. Not to mention 90% of the class speaks/reads a decent amount of Hebrew - and a good chunk is fluent. I've recently learned about 'birthright,' a sponsored? trip to Israel for Jewish Americans to learn about their people and culture. Man, I wish Chinese people had something like this! I don't know anything about Chinese history. I don't even think I know who the President is - does China have a president? Then again, sending 10000 billion Chinese people around the world back to China to learn about their roots would be chaos.
Anyways, I'm not so eloquent. Here are some pictures of Masada:
Everyone warned me about the 'hike' up. It took 15 min. and I'm pretty sure my old walk to work up Fillmore was harder. But the other path up did look a little more intense.
Martin was an excellent map of Israel. 
Sunrise over the Dead Sea...and Jordan. How freakin' cool is that!?
The sun is slowly creeping up
View of the Dead Sea and Jordan.
Peeking out...
BAM!
The desert view from Masada:
The remains of the old Roman camps.
Entering a bath house
Our ARMED GUARD.
At the synagoue.
The same day, we also stopped at the Dead Sea. I was a little bummed though because we were only there for 30 minutes which basically meant that I jumped in, twirled around and got out. I'll be back.
Basically sitting upright in the water. I don't think I could drown in this thing if I tried.
Andy in special Dead Sea mud. 
Being me, naturally I have a ton of cuts/scrapes and everyone kept warning me about how painful the salt water would me...eh...it hurt, it wasn't that bad. I don't think I look too upset.
The remains of the old Roman camps.Entering a bath houseOur ARMED GUARD.At the synagoue.The same day, we also stopped at the Dead Sea. I was a little bummed though because we were only there for 30 minutes which basically meant that I jumped in, twirled around and got out. I'll be back.
Basically sitting upright in the water. I don't think I could drown in this thing if I tried.
Andy in special Dead Sea mud. Being me, naturally I have a ton of cuts/scrapes and everyone kept warning me about how painful the salt water would me...eh...it hurt, it wasn't that bad. I don't think I look too upset.
1 comment:
Miss you chica!! Who knew Televiv would be so much fun? I seriously want ur life...you thought I was joking huh? Well, study hard...stop partying so dam much. Be safe and hope to hear from you soon. MUAH from cali!!
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