The wonder that is Masada. (http://sourceoutdoor.com)
The last time I had attempted to climb up the historical mountain of Masada, I had failed miserably. I was on my senior trip and it was the last day of touring before going home. First, we hiked through the mountains of the Ein Gedi nature reserve, then Masada, and finally finished our day off at the therapeutic Dead Sea. I hiked in Ein Gedi with ease and even got to enjoy a nice cooling swim in one of the natural springs, but when it came to the hike up Masada, I was already nearly spent.
When I saw the mountain of Masada from a distance, the snake trail that takes you to the top didn’t look as challenging as it actually is. Even when at the bottom of the mountain, about to start the hike, the climb didn’t seem strenuous. With me on that trip were my 40 classmates from my senior class in high school as well as my principal and two of my teachers. They had asked everyone if they wanted to take the cable car up but everyone was feeling a bit adventurous and decided that conquering this mountain was something they needed to accomplish.
At that time, I was extremely tired from a lack of sleep the night before as well as from the hike in Ein Gedi that morning, so I knew this climb was going to be difficult. On top of being tired, I also did not have a lot of water with me for the hike. I wanted to take the cable car but I was too embarrassed to be the only lazy non-adventurous student in my grade. I decided to keep my mouth shut and climb up the mountain with my fellow classmates, only to faint 20 minutes into the climb. I needed to be carried down the mountain by my tour guide while everyone else advanced up the path. As you could imagine, this was more embarrassing than it would have been to just take the cable car in the first place.
Now that I am in Israel again, I have made a list of things that I need to accomplish before I leave and climbing up the mountain of Masada was one of my top entries. I say “was” because I actually climbed up that deathly path on Wednesday, November 23, 2011 and I have never felt more accomplished in my life!
This time, I was with my family members, who had been touring with me all week because they came to Israel for my cousin’s Bar Mitzva. So there was less pressure to succeed because I know my family will love me no matter what. (Also, this time I brought enough water for at least three people).
As I gradually ascended the mountain, I felt more and more proud of myself. As soon as I passed where I had fainted the last time, a feeling of ecstasy overcame me and with each and every passing step it grew and grew. I took a few breaks to catch my breath, but eventually I reached the top, the last of my group, after climbing for 45 minutes.
The most amazing part of this phenomenal experience was the story behind this mountain itself. Unfortunately, since we climbed so late in the day, we weren’t able to tour the top of the mountain properly, but we have all been there before.
Our tour guide retold the tale on the bus ride home:
A mikve at Masada. (Yair Talmor)
There once was a man, Herod, who was a born a slave to the Hasmonian Jews. One day, Herod received a message from God telling him a specific time and date when he would be able to overthrow his masters and become a ruler of his people. Herod then overthrew his masters and murdered many people along the way. He subsequently claimed to be the true leader of the Hasmoneans and took a woman to be his wife with whom he could continue the Hasmonean nation. The woman later killed herself, stating before she died that everyone in the world should know that anyone born of Herod is not a true Hasmonean, rather he is a mere son of a worthless slave. Herod continued to kill anyone in his way and ruled over the Jews with an iron fist.
Because of his paranoia, Herod decided to build a massive fortress on the top of Masada. Herod went on to rule until he died, and with his death the city of Masada died as well.
In the year 70 CE, a group of about 960 Jews called the Sicarii needed a place to flee after the destruction of the Second Temple and discovered Herod’s palaces still intact. They decided to settle there and lived peacefully for two years until the Romans discovered their existence.
The Romans decided to come to Masada and destroy it just like they did to Jerusalem. So they attempted to climb up the mountain, but failed with each attempt due to the difficulty of conquering a fortressed city. They then established a siege around the mountain, but even after a year saw no results due to the overflowing dry food supply the Jews had because of the dry air near the Dead Sea. Finally the Romans resolved their problem and started to construct a ramp on the west side of the mountain. As they got closer to the city, the Jews started to shoot at their enemies, but then heard men screaming Hebrew prayers to God to save them. They then realized that the men building the ramp were Jews captured from Jerusalem and could not bring themselves to kill their own brethren.
As the ramp finally reached the city, the Jews built a wooden wall on top of the stone around the fortress to cushion the blow from the Romans. The enemy retaliated, setting the wood on fire, which caused the walls to completely crumble.
These events all occurred on the eve of Passover and by the time the Romans had broken the walls, it was already dark so they returned back to their camps with a plan to attack the next morning in the safe daylight.
That night the Jews went home and had their Seders with their families and then all the men met at the synagogue to concoct a plan.
The leader of the city convinced the men to go home to their wives and children and kill them, because it would be better to die an honorable death by their own hands than to live a life of slavery at the hands of the Romans. The men proceeded to murder their families and then set the city ablaze so that the Romans will have nothing to loot. The only things that were left untouched were the abundant food and water supplies so that their enemies may see that they had preferred death rather than enslavement. They then went back to the synagogue to create a lottery of who would die next until all of the men were dead.
The next morning, the Romans returned to the top of the mountain prepared for what they thought would be a great battle, but arrived to an eerie silence only to discover hundreds of dead bodies. The reason we know of this story is because of one survivor who could not bring himself to kill his loved ones and fled only to convert to Christianity and become a Roman historian.
After climbing up Masada, I connected to the story on a much higher level than when I went with up with the cable car. I realized what the Jews of that time had to go through to collect food and what they had to climb to get to their homes. I also realized the true difficulty their enemies faced if they would want to conquer the city on top of the mountain.
The stories are significant to Israel today: The main impression I gained after climbing and learning about this amazing mountain was the symbolic significance this one little summit has for Israel today. Many Israelis today look at Masada as a symbol of the determination of a people to be free in its own land. The story inspires us and causes us to appreciate the land we live in today that these Jews would die for rather than lose it to their enemies.
Shelly Greenstein is a current JewliciousU intern who is studying at Midreshet Eshel in Jerusalem, in one of Masa Israel’s 200 programs. www.masaisrael.org.
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