Day 6: Exploring Masada...

The former palace, originally surrounded by 4,300 feet of 12-foot high casement walls, was built in 20 BC for King Herod on top of a hill overlooking the Dead Sea. In 70 AD, Jewish “zealots ” fought off the Roman forces for between 1-3 years; once the wall was finally breached, the approximately 1,000 Jews committed murder/suicide rather than becoming slaves. Previously, they were viewed as heroes, but now they are thought of as rebels. Archaeologists have gone to great efforts to mark the ruins with lines delineating original construction below the line and reconstruction above, which I really appreciated since so many ruins don’t mark reconstructions.

Apparently Even the Birds are Jewish--
This one Appears to be Wearing a Yarmulke

Original Thermal Bath House

Day 6: Into the Desert...

Today was a fun last day in Israel with the best weather we had all week. Benny drove us to the desert, crossing back and forth between the West Bank and Israel (there was an occasional checkpoint between the two). We saw some Bedouin camps from the bus, but didn’t manage to get a photo. First we went to Masada National Park, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Before we went up, Batya asked if I wanted to hike down the 1,300 feet, but I wimped out and said I’d take the cable car; it seemed very strange to have to travel so high to get back up to sea level.

Remains of Roman Camp

The Dead Sea in the Distance
and the Old Sea Floor in the Foreground

Day 5: Israel Museum...

1:50 Scale Model of Jerusalem in the 
late 2nd Temple Period in 66 AD

Shrine of the Book Houses the Dead Sea Scrolls

Next, we visited the Israel Museum, which thankfully was uplifting. There are four complete synagogue interiors, Jewish art, Israeli art and a large selection of European art including Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Monet (which apparently were all donated). It was a very impressive museum and a nice distraction.

After dinner at the hotel, Andrea and I took a bus back into town to a pedestrian shopping area. Unfortunately, many of the shops were already closed, but I did manage to find some Roman glass earrings. Found the bar area, but decided to head back instead; if only we’d known that we’d have to wait 45 minutes for a bus, we would have accepted one of the offers for a free shot of whisky made by employees outside several of the bars. Later night than we’d expected, but we always felt safe or would have hopped into a taxi.

Day 5: Holocaust Museum...

Knesset Menorah, a 15-foot menorah that
 stands across from the Israeli parliament

Next up was Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum. The construction of the museum, built in 2005, was very interesting and there was an overwhelming amount to read/watch/see. The hardest parts to visit were the Hall of Names (a large circular room containing the names and histories of all the victims) and the Childrens’ Memorial (where the names of the 1.5 million children murdered are read in a darkened hall illuminated by four candles reflected endlessly in mirrors). Needless to say, it was a very emotional visit. I literally felt the weight of sadness on my shoulders.

We had lunch at the museum; the room was actually split for dairy on the left and meat on the right. The salad bar was on the right, so clearly not designed with vegetarians in mind; I was happy because it was chockful of yummy veggies. For some strange reason possibly connected to the Sabbath, the only hot veggies offered at our hotel last night were either canned or frozen.

Day 5: Dome of the Rock...

We started the day with a 30-minute wait to go through security before viewing up close the Dome of the Rock (a shrine built in 691AD where Mohammed ascended to Heaven). The shrine isn’t open to the public, but is very beautiful from the outside. It just happens to be built on the spot that the 1st and 2nd “Temple of the Mount” were built (apparently a holy spot since around 500 BC--all that remains is the Western/Wailing Wall, hence its importance).

Afterwards, we were hoping to visit a synagogue that was recently renovated, but our timing was off. While a few of our group stopped for coffee, Andrea and I wandered around. We ended up in a wine shop; it was great fun laughing with the British owner while buying some Israeli wine to take back to the hotel.

Day 4: Israeli Folk Dancing Show...

After dinner, we took a bus to the Jerusalem YMCA for an Israeli folk dancing show. The beautiful art deco building was built in 1933 and was a great location for the show. At the end, the audience was invited up to dance to Hava Nagila. I wimped out and stayed seated with the rest of our group except for Marijke, who immediately jumped up and had a blast.


Marijke was born in Amsterdam in May 1945, just days after the liberation. How interesting it was to hear the stories of how her Jewish mother was able to avoid being shipped off to a concentration camp. She kept us entertained with many funny stories about her various husbands and her years as a linguist for the FBI.

Day 4: Church of the Holy Sepulchre...

Next we visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a very holy pilgrimage site which claims to be where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected. The church is actually divided into separate sections for the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics and Armenians. It was rebuilt in the 12th century after the original 4th century church was destroyed. Under the lamps is where his body was thought to be prepared for burial. Even though this particular stone was added in 1810, that didn’t stop people from kissing it. We went upstairs to see the spot of the crucifixion, which is in the most elaborate part of the church with a lot of gold and silver icons, providing people another spot to kiss. It was strange witnessing a priest shove some folks aside as he prepared for a short ceremony.

It was also strange seeing several people crawling on their knees around the Tomb of Christ (the sepulchre).  

We opted not to wait in the long line to enter the tomb, but did go in a small cave that would have contained a family grave from around the same time.