Day 11

As we left the cool city of Jerusalem we experienced a wonderful refreshing mountain breeze. It was our coldest morning of the trip. Many of us were sad to leave the city that we had just begun to know in all its complexities and many layered history. Some of us also did not take full advantage of the awesome pool facilities at Mt Zion Hotel. Even Zach had to agree it was a five star hotel. As we drove south from Jerusalem, we descended 450 ft below sea level, to the Dead Sea Basin. Of course the temperature quickly rose to 39*C, around 100 F. As we descended we drove through part of the Territories and witnessed first hand the changes in the Bedouin communities. Very few of them are truly nomadic, they have started to settle down and build permanent structures. We saw camels, goats, and sheep grazing on the side of the highway. Despite incentives from the Israeli government, the Bedouins are living at the lowest SEC in all Israel. They have they highest infant mortality rate, the lowest literacy rate, and highest overall mortality rates. As we descended we also were able to see first hand the greening of the desert by the different Kibbutz communities, many of which grow Date palms because the date tree can handle a certain amount of salinated water. Our first destination was the hill top fortress of Masada. Unfortunately, we were unable to climb up due to the late hour and the weather, but we did see many youth groups walking back down. Once again our luck held and we experienced a cool breeze at the top, which Muki our guide said was extremely rare. Despite the breeze, it was very hot at the top and we mostly tried to stay in the shade. At around 650 meters long the majestic mountain of Masada captured the admiration of the group. During the days of King Herod (who was more roman than the Romans themselves) he built himself a luxurious summer resort on Masada. It took from 37 BCE to 4 BCE to complete. Of course it was on top of one of the more defendable mountains of the area because of his paranoia. After we got an overview of the entire complex, we first explored the western palace structure, complete with private Roman bath house with 5 separate rooms- apoditerium, with frescoes on the walls, the tepidarium, the frigidarium with a stepped pool, and the caldarium (a steam bath). The caldarium had a raised tiled floor and domed roof that prevented the steam from dripping straight down, instead the steam could recycle within the room. Quite extravagant given the fact that we are on a desert mountaintop. You might be wondering where they got water. Herod devised an ingenious system to collect the winter rainwater via channels dug into the mountain side that diverted these flood waters into a series of large cisterns. some of them as large as 4 tour buses. It is still debated if Herod ever actually visited his completed palace. Of course Masada is famous for its place as the last stronghold of a group of Jews led by Eleazar ben Yair, who revolted against Roman rule. This group of zealots fled from Jerusalem to Masada in the year 70 CE. They numbered close to 1000 people, and they were able to survive until 73 CE. One of the sayings that epitomize the difference between the two groups and their use of the palace is “Romans worship beauty, and Jews find beauty in worship.” The Jews built a kitchen right on top of the Roman’s mosaic tiled floor. We also followed in their footsteps by adding a water bottle and a rock to the mosaic floor. A large group of us were able to walk to the far southern edge and yell the saying “Masada will not fall again” Each word came back to us as an echo from the past. Eleven brave members of our group ran/walked down from the top! The rest of us took the cable car back down.

As we drove further down the coast, we saw acacia trees, and small oasis along the Dead Sea. We then had a wonderful few hours floating in the Dead Sea with its 30% salt content, except for a few of us who had cuts and scrapes. In comparison, Ocean water is 3% salt, and sea water is 3.3% salt. The salinity of our blood is 0.9%. We then drove two hours further south towards the Red Sea to Kibbutz Lotan, an Eco-Friendly Reform Kibbutz. The kibbutz has 150 people a combination of members and volunteers. We got a tour of the facilities by two volunteers who are working at the Kibbutz
They built and teach others to create geodesic domes made out of straw and mud, they utilize their trash as building materials for a playground, art and sculptures and they turn their waste water into irrigation water by a series of hydroponic plants, and their food/human waste into compost. They are planning to build a solar field which will eliminate the power grid needs for the guest houses. They served us a wonderful dinner made from all their own products.

Susan and Allison Benfield