The Incredible Climb!

Today was possibly the longest day of my life; but a great one as well! First off, we woke up at 4am, got dressed, and met outside the rooms to make sandwiches. I made two chocolate sandwiches. One was for breakfast and the other for at the top of Masada.

We were all so excited so it didn’t even feel too early. We then started on the hike! We took the snake path, which is the harder of the two, up the mountain. At first it was completely dark so we had trouble seeing where we were going and what was up ahead, so that made it difficult, but over all the hike was great. We made it to the top with plenty of time until sunrise. We took tons of pictures with the great view. When the sun was about to rise, the Madrichim called us over. 

We sat in a big group and watched the sun rise from the top of Masada. While it rose we listened to an Israeli song. It was probably one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. I’m so so so happy we made it up for the sunrise. It was really unlike anything I had ever seen. After the sun was up, we gathered for Tefilah. The Tefilah was almost magical. Just to be standing on top of such an important place, at 6 in the morning, all together, knowing that we accomplished the hike, it was just a great feeling. 

Alli and I

After Tefilah we split into our Jewish History groups to explore and learn all about Masada. We saw the remains of Herod’s palace and the ancient mikvahs. We learned about the Zealots and how they decided to take their own lives instead of being enslaved by the Romans. The coolest part of Masada was we got to see a Torah Scribe writing the Torah. We watched him write the Torah! We learned that if he messes up spelling God's name, he has to start the entire page over. I learned a lot on top of Masada. When we were done with our lesson we took the snake path down. 

Elana, Dani, Lizzie, Aubrey,
Alexa and Josia

When we got to the bottom I was so tired and hot so I got ice cream. We then got on the bus and headed to the Dead Sea! When we arrived we were each given a bag with lunch in it and we had to go change. David was nice and bought us some of the Dead Sea mud. We all had so much fun putting the mud all over ourselves. After I was covered in mud, I headed into the water! 

Emily and I 

Stacy and I 

It was so much fun to just we floating around with everyone. I stayed in for quite awhile but then it got uncomfortable so I got out to rinse off. After the Dead Sea we drove to the next place we were staying. We settled into our rooms and had Shabbat. 

Rebecca and I 

Becca and I mud- high fiving

Floating!

After dinner we had 5 programs we could choose from. I chose to go to Tal. Tal was having a discussion on the difference between Israeli teens and American teens at our age. We learned about the school system here and talked about the army for a while. Israelis go into the army at the same time we are going off to college. Tal also told us that at the end of EIE we will know more about the history of Israel and the Jewish people than 60% of Israelis. After Tal’s talk I was exhausted so I went to sleep.