Shabbat in the Desert

This morning the MBIers woke up before the sun rose, and hopped on the buses to make their way to one of the most amazing and historical sites in Israel - Masada. After taking the shorter way to the top the MBIers were given time to walk around the site, and the madrichim also put on some role plays as some of the most famous historical personalities linked to Masada. One was Josephus Flavius, a first century Jewish historian, who gave an overview of the history of Masada, setting the scene. The second act was 2 women who lived on Masada who talked about what life was like. The third was Elazar Ben Yair, the leader of the Rebel Zealots against the Romans at Masada in 73 AD, who talked about what lead the group to commit suicide. Each group then had a short discussion about the choices made by those on Masada and how one makes choices in general. Masada is one of the most unique and remarkable architectural structures in the world - sitting atop a mountain that, at it's highest points, reaches almost 400 meters above the floor below. Masada has the ruins of Herod's temple, as well as all the signs of Jewish communal life, from the synagogue, to the mikvah, to the houses.

The MBIers then headed down from Masada by the winding snake path from which they had a spectacular view of the Dead Sea. After enjoying a hearty and well-earned breakfast at the Masada Youth Hostel they went to the Dead Sea, both the lowest and the saltiest area on the earth's surface. Here they relaxed at the beach and enjoyed floating around in the salty water.

The afternoon was spent travelling through the large machtesh in the desert, a huge naturally formed crater right in the middle of the Negev Desert. The machtesh is a universally studied phenomenon, as it is one of the few in the world that was not created by a meteor or impact of a large object, but rather by the movement of the land underneath it. It is an overwhelming experience to look over the cliffs of the machtesh and see the splendor of the huge sunken area.

The group then went to Kibbutz Sde Boker where they will be this weekend, to rest and prepare for Shabbat. The Sde Boker youth hostel has an amazing promenade where the chanichim can see the valleys and mountains of the desert. It is really a calming and beautiful place for Shabbat. This week Bus 2 was in charge of the Kabbalat Shabbat and oneg. This week they wrote their own lyrics about their trip so far to the tune of "Country Roads", a well known machaneh song.