Relaxing Sabbath and the Return to Kibbutz Tzuba

The next day I stayed back with a small group of people and rested. We didn’t really do anything but I definitely needed the time to relax and recover after the long weekend. Of course we had services in the morning though. Later we had dinner and Havdalah, then got back on the bus to return to Tzuba! When we returned we found out our new roommates for the next month and moved in! This time I took a front room and I think so far I like it better. My roommates are nice and I’m excited to get to know a new group of people! Off to a long week of school!

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. 

Leaving Tzuba for the Weekend!

Our long weekend of Tiyul began this morning! We put our bags on the bus and headed off to the old city. We met by the Kotel where I found out my teacher was not here again so Baruch taught our class. He took us to the Southern Wall excavations. There we learned about the stones used and the importance of Beit Hamikdash. 

We walked up the steps that the Jews would walk down as they left the temple. We learned all about the mikvah and what it is used for. Baruch told us how Shavuot, Sukkot and Pesach are the three holidays that we are commanded to make a pilgrimage to the temple and Jerusalem was so crowded during these holidays even though Pesach was the most popular. On a side note, Baruch also informed us that the fax machine was invented in 1932. 

After, Baruch let us climb through one of the excavations, which was like a maze. He didn’t come with us so it’s a good thing it opened on the other side. Then we walked to the Jewish quarters for lunch. I got a bagel and cream cheese, then some ice cream. It was all very good. After lunch the Tiyul continued. We went into a museum that displayed the basement of a house. We could see the mikvah. We also saw lots of pottery from the time period. 

Then we sat down for about 45 minutes to discuss how each sect of Judaism felt about Hellenism. Baruch then left us so we waited about an hour for the other groups to be finished. Once the groups finished we got on the bus to start our 2 hour ride to Masada! 

When we arrived we got new roommates and got to get settled into our rooms. We ate dinner quickly, spent some time outside, then went to bed extremely early to get ready to wake up at 4am for the sunrise hike!

Israel Museum!

It has definitely been one crazy week we just finished! We took our first Jewish History exam last week so Sunday started a new lesson. In honor of the start of our lesson, we had a Babylonian Bash for the first part of Jewish History class. 

We learned about the exile to Bavel and what happened to the Jews.  For the remainder of the week we learned about the Hellenistic Era, Greek influence, and assimilation of the Jews under Roman rule. On Wednesday we took a halfday Tiyul to the Israel Museum! My teacher couldn’t make it so I was put into Ariella’s group. The museum was outside and it was cold and windy, but still cool.  The museum was a model of Jerusalem under the rule of King Herod. It was pretty cool to get to see exactly what archeologists believe Jerusalem looked like. 

The Beit Hamikdash was incredible. The model of the temple really gave me a sense of how small the Kotel really is. The Kotel looks gigantic when you are standing under it, but in comparison to the whole temple, it is just a small piece. We learned about the four sects of Judaism and how they responded to Hellenistic influence. 

We then learned about the Dead Sea Scrolls which were left from a Jewish Cult of the sect Essenes. This sect died out because they did not allow women to live with them. They believed the messiah was coming any day, and women would be a distraction. 

After the Dead Sea Scrolls, we got a snack and got on the bus to go back to Kibbutz Tzuba. When we got back we had a regular school day. The evening however was not so regular! We had to be completely packed and have all of our stuff moved out of the rooms by 10:30pm and have a small duffle bag packed for the weekend. Our room looked so empty. When we returned to Tzuba we would be switching rooms!