Masada for Beginners

What a great day at Masada and the Dead Sea. If you have never seen a Dead Sea wave, well, here is one ...

The temperature was 43 degrees outside of the water, and we all felt it. Sadly, one of the priests who is a diabetic, walked to the sea shore bare footed, then swam, or rather floated as we did, and then returned to the shore to find that his feet had blisterd to bleeding and he did not realise. Oohh!

I had no lunch that day! But, as this pic shows, I could do without lunch.

I like this pic of the tree by the Dead Sea. Hope you do too.

Masada is a hugely interesting site for tourists and an immensely important site for the Jewish people. My pic below was taken from the bus but you can see the dimensions and what the countryside is like. Makes our drought look like a day in the park! It is near the Dead Sea: 450 metres above it, and is 650 by 350 metres in dimension. It was a palace for the paranoid King Herod in Jesus' time. Mind you, Herod had several palaces scattered all over the country and each outdid the other in oppulence and secrecy. 

Masada is symbolic of the Jewish struggle for freedom and is the memorial site of the last stronghold of a group of 960 zealot rebels who held seige for three years against the Romans in 73AD. When eventually the Romans built a ramp to push up catapaults, and then break into the tower, the zealots had all committed suicide rather than be taken as hostages and slaves. Interesting, that they would compromise the sacredness of their lives against their most sacred Law! I am not sure I understand that one. Even today, all Israeli military conscripts make their vow of allegience here.

 The story and the determination from both sides have always captured my imagination, so I enjoyed the visit in the melting heat, even making a little Aussie presence from the very top with the Dead Sea in the background. http://www.parks.org.il/ might help you grasp Masada better.

This page is dedicated to our Australian military personnel, who so often have to carry out decisions that are made for them, while they do not understand the reasoning. The Church and the military have so much in common at times. Bless ém all.