Masada, near the Dead Sea                                                               April 18, 2000

After sightseeing in Jerusalem, we boarded a bus for the Dead Sea, a place to relax.  But the mountain known as Masada is on the way, so first things first.

Thirty-three years ago, when I was younger and spry, the only way up was to climb.  I started at 8 o’clock one August morning, without much water or foresight.  By the time I was a third of the way up, it was all over. I was already too hot and too thirsty to finish the ascent.  So much for the good old days.  Today getting to the top of Masada is easy.  Just pay your shekels, and the brand new tram takes you up in about 10 minutes.  Then climb a few steps, and you’re looking at what remains of this once-magnificent home away from home.

Masada pretty much had anything a King in the year zero could want.  It had gardens, vineyards, storehouses, living quarters and the like.  The fortress also had an intricate viaduct system bringing water to the top, several pools and baths, steam rooms, and a vomitorium, for those ever-so-popular and lavish eating binges.  

Then came the Jewish rebellion of 67 A.D.  Somehow the nationalistic, Jewish Zealots gained control of Masada.  They settled in and waited, as battles raged elsewhere.  After a few years the war was over; the Roman Empire again controlled Palestine.  Naturally they set their sites on regaining Masada.  The Jews managed to hold off the much larger Roman army for several years.  But eventually it became clear that the end was near.  The 960 rebels, including women and children, decided to take their own lives rather than be captured.  Obviously a difficult decision, and one that was even more difficult for the 10 men chosen to carry it out, though they did.  When the Roman army arrived, the rebels were all dead.  (Actually, the Masada story comes to us from a lone surviving mother and child who hid away and avoided death.)

Today Masada is considered a symbol of Jewish independence and freedom.   New recruits to the Israeli Defense Forces swear the oath of allegiance in an annual ceremony on its summit.  They defiantly shout out: "Masada will never fall again".  But the lessons of Masada may be changing.  In the past, most Israelis viewed the suicides at Masada as a glorious story of resistance.  Nowadays some feel it might have been better if the rebels had surrendered.  Many of the Zealots would have died, and the rest would have become slaves.  But some would have survived.  These, or their heirs, might in time have been able to buy back their freedom.  Eventually they could have continued the fight.  Or perhaps times would have changed, bringing enlightenment, peace and grandchildren.  The Masada story is still relevant today, both for the Jews and perhaps for the Arabs.