Day 9 - July 14

Masada, Dead Sea, Yad Vashem & Jerusalem

I am skipping a few days because I wanted to get my thoughts down about today while they are still fresh.

Masada

First a little history lesson. Masada today is one of the Jewish people's greatest symbols. Israeli soldiers take an oath there: "Masada shall not fall again." Next to Jerusalem, it is probably the most popular destination of Jewish tourists visiting Israel. It is strange that a place known only because 960 Jews committed suicide there in the first century C.E. should become a modern symbol of Jewish survival.

After Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70, the Great Revolt ended-except for the surviving Zealots, who fled Jerusalem to the fortress of Masada, near the Dead Sea. There, they held out for three years.

Masada is situated on top of an enormous, isolated rock: Anyone climbing it to attack the fortress would be an easy target. Yet the Jews, encamped in the fortress, could never feel secure; every morning, they awoke to see the Romans Legion hard at work, constructing battering rams and other weapons. If the 960 defenders of Masada hoped that the Romans eventually would consider this last Jewish beachhead too insignificant to bother conquering, they were to be disappointed. The Romans were well aware that the Zealots at Masada were the group that had started the Great Revolt. Once it became apparent that the Roman Legion's battering rams and catapults would soon succeed in breaching Masada's walls, Elazar ben Yair, the Zealots' leader, decided that all the Jewish defenders should commit suicide. Because Jewish law strictly forbids suicide, this decision sounds more shocking today than it probably did to his compatriots. There was nothing of Jonestown in the suicide pact carried out at Masada. At best they had a life of slavery waiting for them. The Romans really had it in for them.

I took the trolley car to the top. The "snake path" hike to the top is 2.5 miles and I would never had made it. Besides, it was so hot today that the snake path was closed. It had to be over 105 degrees in the dessert.

I am not sure why King Herod built this fortress at the top of this mountain in the blazing heat in the middle of nowhere, but it is impressive. It is pretty elaborate. It looks like The Commandant had some nice digs. There are huge storage areas, mikvas (Jewish ritual baths) and public bath areas. There was even a church built hundreds of years later during the Byzantine era. The monks apparently liked the location to get away from everything and get closer to G-d. The views are spectacular. You have to check out the pictures from today.

I feel a true sense of amazement at the complexity and beauty of this ancient place. I also most definitely feel the spirit of the symbolism of the resistance of the Zealots against the Romans. I am no tough guy but I feel like I would have been up there during the revolt.

At one point, the heat started to get to me and I was feeling a bit woozy, almost punch drunk. My friend takes me into the closest bathroom to cool off. I do not realize it is a women's bathroom even when a woman walks out but I made it through.

Dead Sea

The biggest disappointment of the trip so far. The Dead Sea is known for being so salty, nothing lives in there and people float and cannot drown. There are signs with all these precautions - do not run in, do not put your head underwater, etc. Really just a bunch of Russians getting a sun tan. There is however a really cute blonde in a string thong with the cutest tush. The souvenirs and dead sea products are beyond overpriced.

Besides, I pack a bag to change after taking a dip but I forget my bathing suit. The thought of going in the water in my Tommy Hilfiger black boxer briefs crosses my mind for the briefest of moments when the thought of a picture of me on Facebook flashes in front of me. I decide to take the "F" (fail) for being a schmuck. My compliments to the little Russian milashka in the string thong.

It is getting late. I will continue this entry tomorrow.

Yad Vashem -The Holocaust Memorial Museum

My friends that I am visiting have been there many times before and it is a heavy experience so I am on my own. As I am entering the Museum there are 2 large busloads of young Israeli soldiers leaving the Museum. I assume that they were taken there as part of a formal training experience. Never forget. This is why you serve in the military and protect our country. This is why the Jews must have their own homeland. I could not have planned a better entrance.
It is a very expansive museum. I start off touring the outdoor portion. There are very beautiful quiet areas where trees, walkways and monuments that are donated in memory of someone who perished in the Holocaust. The weather is beautiful. I say to myself that this is not so bad. Wait - the worst is yet to come.

I then visited the Art Building. The exhibition contains mostly artwork by Holocaust survivors with a Holocaust theme. The works of art are arranged by themes, some real heavy such as families being torn apart or the fact that the murdered have no gravesite or were given a proper burial.

I have never been an art lover but most of these paintings, drawings and sculptures really communicate the horror and tragedy that these people suffered. It really hits you between the eyes. I almost skipped the exhibit but end up spending much more time than expected. Check out some of my photos.

Next is the Holocaust History Museum. It tells the story of The Shoah (Hebrew for devastation or catastrophe) from the Jewish perspective. It tells the story of the Jews who lived and died under the Nazis through the use of a wide variety of original artifacts, testimonies, photographs, documentation, art and multimedia displays.

Nothing - and I mean nothing can prepare you for this experience. You walk through nine chronological galleries. For the most part the people touring the exhibit are very solemn. I am encouraged by the fact that there are families, tour groups and individuals of all nationalities and ages. Not just Jews.

I feel as if I am constantly getting punched in the gut as I walk through the exhibit. Occasionally, I have to stop and just sit and take a break from the emotional onslaught. While I do not cry much, my emotions range from rage, fear of the future to sorrow. I cannot imagine having to live what the survivors lived through. At times I truly feel it would have been better off to have died early on rather than to suffer.

I end up spending so much time there that I get kicked out of the museum. I was probably the last visitor to leave.

I have had friends and girlfriends that are not Jewish question why I am so committed to Judaism or why I am such a staunch Zionist even though I am not that "religious". I know that Jews do not have a monopoly on suffering. All I have to say is take a walk through this museum or the one in Washington DC and then talk to me.

Jerusalem Dinner

At this stage I could not care less what I eat. My friends take the lead and we go to an American style café named Rozia. The atmosphere is very alive. The place is hopping. I am starting to get out of my funk. We walk through the streets after dinner.
The city is so alive. People are having fun. It is a young crowd. I feel encouraged about the future. I just hope that the younger generation never forgets.

General Observations

1. I am no longer the fattest guy in Israel
2. Almost all restuarants give you toothpicks after a meal. Good idea. My dad would love it.