Friday, July 30, 1999

ISRAEL TOUR July 19 - August 2, 1999

Temple Adat Shalom Congregational tour hosted by Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz and Rabbi Mark Hurvitz and guided by Walter Zanger

Early morning climb Masada and then take mud baths and "swim" in the Dead Sea. Overnight in Jerusalem.

Noam Hurvitz-Prinz reported on the day

When we woke up I was very glad because I felt rested. It was the first time in days that I woke up rested, and it was a good thing too because we were going to climb the Snake Path on Masada. I, along with most of the group were eating breakfast at 6:45. These were all of the people walking. About 8 people were still asleep because they were going to take the cable car up with Walter our Tour Guide. The timing of our hike was horrible the sun was out and burning early in the morning. Our hike would have been much easier if the time had been earlier even though the time was only 7:30. After about 40 minutes of climbing like this we all made it to the top. Soon After, the sleepers arrived, too.

When everyone was ready we started to explore Masada. While learning about the Great Revolt, in 70 CE against the Romans, we saw the ruins of Masada. These ruins include a Bakery, a Bathhouse, a synagogue, some storehouses and two of King Herod's palaces. We also saw many mosaics, two of the most beautiful in King Herod's public palace. Next we learned about how the Romans ascended their ramp to find that everyone, but 2 women and 5 children, had killed each other, rather than become Roman Slaves. Once we learned the sad ending to the revolt we left Masada in the cable cars.

For lunch we went to the Ein Gedi Restaurant, which is right next to the Dead Sea. After we ate we got to float in the Dead Sea, take mud bathes, or get a massage. Two hours later we left the Dead Sea for Jerusalem. At about 4:00 we arrived in the Dan Panorama Hotel. For Kabbalat Shabbat, an option was to go to Kol Ha Nishama, one of the few Reform Congregations in Israel. When the beautiful service was over we went to dinner at Bet Shmuel, the building that houses the dorms for the NFTY High School Semester in Israel. Once the wonderful dinner was over we walked back to the hotel for a good night's rest.

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Acknowledgments:

• Nisus Software Inc. of Solana Beach, CA for hosting davka.org.
• Lila Abrams and her staff of Abrams Travel, Inc. (1-800-338-7075) and her tireless efforts to make this trip a success.