Bar Kochba Caves

I know it has been awhile since I have last posted, but it has been so busy here! We have had quite a few Tiyulim and busy weeks. 

I will start with on February 22 we had a Tiyul to learn about the Bar Kochba Revolt. This revolt took place after a series of many other revolts after the destruction of the temple. In 135 BCE Bar Kochba (known as “son of stars”) was thought to be the Messiah. This took place because Jews were not happy under the rule of Hadrian who was turning Jerusalem into a Roman city called Aleia Capitolina. At first the revolt goes well for the Jews, as the Romans are taken by surprise. 

A sign to us that this revolt was going well is that Bar Kochba mints his own money, which is a sign of sovereignty. It took the Romans three and a half years to put this revolt down, but when they did, it was not pretty for the Jews. The revolt is described as a huge tragedy according to Jewish sources. 

So what were we doing on this Tiyul? We were crawling through caves! During this revolt the Jews and Romans used caves as part of their warfare. The Jews would run through these tiny caves with Romans chasing after them. These caves were extremely small. I mean extremely extremely small. They were also very dark that even with a flashlight it was difficult. I personally didn’t really enjoy these caves. But it was cool to go through them and get a hands-on idea of what the revolt would have been like. After the caves we talked about the wild asparagus that grew where we were and we even got to eat some. 

Then we walked up to a “pyramid” on the site. Apparently it is the only thing of its kind to be found in Israel. I wouldn’t quite say it was a pyramid, but more like a lot of stones on top of each other. Then it was lunchtime! We had a great lunch consisting of pita, schnitzel, and various vegetables. It was very enjoyable. 

We then got on our buses and headed to the Beit Guvrim Amphitheatre. This was in one of the major Roman cities in Israel and it was used for Roman activities such as fights, theatre, and basically just entertainment. We learned about Roman leaders and great Jewish leaders of the time period. At the end we played a little game in the amphitheater, then we headed off to our next destination. 

We had a hike up to a nice spot with a great view. I’m not exactly sure where we were, but there were lots of beautiful flowers native to Israel. When we were done there, we headed back the Kibbutz.