Day Two in the Judah Mountains

The hearts of the history nerds rejoiced in excitement over our first stop today: the Jewish monument MASADA! We first hiked the trek of the entire steep incline as a group. We have been training for that hike this whole year by walking the hill to the Joshua building at Hume everyday, and so this hike was a piece of cake! There was so much to see up there. We learned so many things about Masada as we were able to walk through and look at the things we were discussing. We learned the use of the structure during the Herodian period of history as a metropolitan center of big business. We learned about how Israel is in the most important crossroads of the most important ancient trade routes. We learned from our tour guide Ronen that “IF YOU CAN CONTROL ISRAEL, YOU CAN CONTROL THE WORLD!”

Ronen, our amazing tour guide, explained to us how long exactly is a “day’s journey”: twenty to twenty-seven miles. This is because, while walking, a person can travel that average distance in a day. And in the desert, you need a place to stay; you can’t just sleep anywhere. So most cities in Israel are about twenty to twenty-seven miles from each other. “Oooohhh…” (Ronen keeps telling us to say this when we learn something new.) One place twenty-six miles from Masada is a small Bedouin encampment where we all stopped to learn about hospitality. Ronen led us through this small village full of tents and brick buildings. As we all entered a large tent, Ronen tells us all to take a seat on a few cushions around a small fire. There Ronen taught us the story of Lot and his hospitality. In Genesis 19, it says that he was “sitting by the city gateway” of Sodom. This meant that he was a city official. A higher-up sees a few people walk into the city and approaches them and bows down to them. He realizes they are angels. He takes them into his house and feeds them and even washes their feet. Under the cool roof of the tent we are sitting in, a Bedouin man was giving us tea, coffee, and candied fruit as Ronen spoke. “I don’t know about you, but I grew up in a generation where I was not supposed to talk to strangers,” he says. But Lot and this Bedouin man feed and wash the feet of a bunch of strangers. Our challenge from our guide was taking this lesson of hospitality to our own lives and our own way of living. I think I can say for most that I am excited to take on this new way of living.

Right after this meeting under the tent, a few of the local men took us out for a camel ride through the desert. We rode camels through the Israeli desert! All of us were either freaking out or laughing at those who were. All of us were paired together and every pair named their beast. Names from Absolom to Geranium were given. All fit their owners well. This experience is one that will stay with us for a long time.

After lunch we all loaded up in our buses and headed to the Dead Sea. Nothing can describe this experience. We all walked from our hotel to the beach as a group. This must have looked weird to people. Over fifty people all walking in a long line and every single one wearing a white bathrobe with a hotel logo on the chest. As our one big family waded into the sea that died many years ago, we couldn’t help but laugh. As we were all forcibly pushed to the surface because of the concentration of salt, many thoughts were going through our heads. Feeling the smoothness of our skin because of the minerals, the burning pain of it getting in our eyes, and the feeling (not taste) of it getting in our mouths, and the view of the shore with our hotel rising above the palm trees and the plateaus of the Judah mountains rising above that, we could not help but be thankful. What did we do to receive this opportunity? We don’t know but we thank our God that we did. Thank you all for your prayers and continue praying for us as we explore the Holy Land.

Layla Tov from Brett and DlR

P.S. The hummus here is absolutely incredible!