Haifa, Israel

            Sunday, 9 Apr 2017 – This morning our alarm went off at 5:00 AM (by our “new” time after resetting clocks!).  Originally, we were supposed to meet onboard for our tour at 6:30 AM; however, yesterday cruise ship personnel had been notified by Israel that it would be later before passengers could leave the ship; consequently, the time for our meeting had been changed to 6:50 AM.  Even so, longer tours (to Jerusalem and other places) were also starting late.  After passport checks and going through security, we boarded our bus for our 12.5-hour excursion to “Masada & the Dead Sea.”  It was about 7:45 AM before our bus departed.

            Incidentally, most people went to Jerusalem today.  Of course, it was Palm Sunday for Christians and Passover for Jews, which seems like an appropriate time to visit that city.  However, it was announced that the city would be even more crowded than usual, more difficult to get up close to important sites, and more danger of being separated from the group.  In our case, we had visited Jerusalem in 2009 and wanted to see different places on this cruise.

Our tour guide, Tali, speaks English very well.  As we listened to her, we realized that she obviously is very interested in history and archeology.  Tali told us that Israel is 80 percent Jewish and 20 percent Arab; about 20 percent of the Arabs are Christian, and the remainder is Muslim.  In Haifa, we noticed that street signs are usually in three languages: Hebrew, Arabic, and English.  Referring to a map, Tali pointed out the geographical areas of Israel (which is about the size of New Jersey), and described how Israel is situated on two Teutonic plates, so that the country has big earthquakes about every 100 years.  As the bus traveled across the countryside, she pointed out places where Old Testament prophets or leaders (such as Elijah and Gideon) are said to have lived.  Tali talked about the long history of this area, starting with the Bronze Age, which was the time of the Old Testament – and Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons, and slavery in Egypt…. When we were not too far from the city of Armageddon, she told us that 32 layers of town had been uncovered there.  We passed within about 25 minutes of Nazareth.  In 1947, modern Israel came about, a result of a United Nations mandate, an action that was never approved by the Muslims in Palestine.  At one point, we passed within one kilometer of Jordan; for a while, our road ran parallel to the electronic fence (not electric) between the two countries.  (Tali mentioned that people used to cross over the Israeli border, but now the border is patrolled.) 

Tali told of an interesting conversation she had a few years ago in Arabic with an Arab man.  (We think he was a bus driver.  Our bus driver today was also an Arab.)  Knowing that Jews, Christians, and Muslims all regard Jerusalem as a Holy city, it had puzzled her that nothing in history shows that Mohammed was ever there.  On the other hand, history does show that Jesus was in Jerusalem.  So, why is Jerusalem holy for Muslims?  This man explained that Mohammed was taken into Heaven, where he received the Koran from God; then he was set down in Jerusalem.  Tali decided then that with all religions, there are two kinds of truth: one of the Brain and the other (the Muslim belief) of the Heart.

When the bus came to an intersection where the driver could have turned right to go to Jerusalem (about 20 minutes away then), instead we turned left in the direction of the Jordan valley.

In the distance from our bus was the city of Jericho; this was also the area where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was tempted for 40 days.  Soon after that, we passed one of the two places famous for baptism in the Jordan River; although several monasteries used to be here, most have been abandoned.  

Our bus gradually descended 3,600 feet toward the Dead Sea – the lowest point on earth.  As we drove along the shores of the pale and still Dead Sea to Qumran, it was difficult to remove our gaze from it, even though the demarcation between the light-colored water and the somewhat hazy sky above it was indistinct.  The Israelis call the Dead Sea, the “Salty Sea.”  At the Qumran Visitor’s Center, our bus stopped, where we could look around and purchase, besides the usual Israeli souvenirs, products containing minerals from the Dead Sea.  If mud from the Dead Sea is plastered on the face, supposedly one can look 20 years younger, said our guide.  (We didn’t try it!)

            As the bus drove down the road, Tali pointed off into the distance to a cave where she said the Dead Sea scrolls had been found.  Although we saw several caves in the side of the mountain, we weren’t certain which one was the cave where the scrolls were found.

            As we passed part of the Dead Sea, there had been a lovely beach and hot springs.  However, Tali said that most of that beach had been swallowed up by sinkholes.  We could see some smaller holes, which looked like sinkholes, not far from the edge of the Dead Sea.  Still, this is an area of natural springs, so that more vegetation is here.

Not long after that, we could see a large, rather flat mountain in the distance, with formations on one side that look like large steps from the distance.  This was the Masada.  At this point, Tali talked about King Herod, who built the Masada.  Of course, probably all Christians have heard how Herod the Great had babies killed after he had heard reports of the birth of Jesus.  This king was crazy, perhaps because he had seven wives, said Tali, presumably joking.  He killed one wife, perhaps his favorite, and then buried her in a tomb at the Masada.  (Tali said that the archeologist who discovered her tomb seven years ago, fell on her grave and broke his neck and died – which might have been related to the evil here.) 

This story of King Herod and later events is complicated and some of these details as heard by us might not be totally correct; however, this is what we remember of Tali’s story:

In 70 AD, thousands of Jews were in hiding and starving.  During this time, many Jews were living in the Masada fort.  However, determined to capture those Jews and condemn them to slavery, a Roman legion camped around the Masada.  Despite the threat, the Jews believed they would be safe because they had water from a cistern and had stocked up three years of food.  However, the Roman soldiers built both a ramp up to the fort and a battery ram; finally, the walls of the Masada were caving in.  When it was obvious that the Jews would be defeated, their leader announced to the others that a decision had to be made: either they would face slavery for themselves and their wives and children, or they end their own lives.  In the end, they decided that death was better than slavery and whatever horrible future might result for their women and children.  Ten men were selected to slay the rest of the people; then, by drawing lots, it was determined that one of them would kill the other nine men, and then only one of them would kill himself (which is forbidden by their religion).  When the Romans finally broke into the fort, all were deceased – except for two women and a few children, who had hidden in a cistern.  Masada is now a national Jewish shrine, world famous for its recognition by UNESCO for its unique structure and history.

Masada Shrine

            The Masada is truly breathtaking, the most spectacular ancient archaeological site in Israel.  Upon arrival, we ascended by cable car to the summit of the mountaintop fortress. The ancient ruins include Herod’s three-tiered palace, the synagogue, the baths, the defending walls, and the water cisterns that still to this day are considered an engineering feat.  The cable car ride was exciting when looking out the sides (especially from the front of the car), but was also extremely crowded.  Two cable cars go up and down, one ascending while the other descends; each is supposed to hold 80 people, but we were packed in “like sardines.”  Walking on top of the mountain was the most challenging part of this excursion; in various places, we had to climb stone stairs, which were irregular in shape and size.  At least at about three places, we were able to sit for a few minutes while listening to Tali talk to us.  Although the sun was bright, there was some breeze at least part of the time.  Someone had told Sally that what she remembered most about the Masada was the heat; however, it could have been worse.  Tali said we had a good day for this.

            After leaving the Masada, our bus driver took us to a new hotel for a buffet lunch.  As usual, we piled too much food on our plates, but it was almost 2:00 PM by that time – a long time since breakfast.  Although Tali warned us that the Jews were already in Passover mode and some of the food might be different, the only difference that we could see was that there was no regular bread.  Everything was delicious, with lots of choices and several kinds of dessert.

This time, we weren’t rushed through our meal.  When we arrived at the hotel/restaurant, Tali said we had two hours for our meal and a dip in the Dead Sea; we just needed to plan our time.  At the tables, on each chair was a plastic bag containing a towel.  Although we asked several people if they intended to go into the water, many said they were not.  (One reason given was that Tali had told us that the water feels oily.)  Sally told them that, after coming this far, she wasn’t going to tell her grandchildren that she didn’t go into the Dead Sea!  (One man retorted, “Lie!”)  Although Jesse wasn’t keen about going in, he finally decided he would.  After changing to swimsuits, we walked out the back door of the hotel almost onto the sandy beach.

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is the saltiest sea in the world, making the water very buoyant and making it easy for the body to float.  We wanted to find out how much the water would buoy us up.  Tali had warned everyone not to get the water in our faces because it would hurt.  Although we soon discovered that the water was shallow and so we would probably have to go out quite some distance before it was even waist high, Jesse soon stopped and sat in the water.  Even then, his legs came up right away, so that he almost lost his balance; he had to be careful to keep his balance so that he wouldn’t end up with his face getting wet.  At that point, Sally sat down, too.  Since the water was higher on her, it was scary because the sitting position is difficult to control when one’s legs are being pushed up!  When Jesse saw that there was a black-colored safety bar made of rubber, extending from the water’s edge out into the water, he had sat beside it.  With Jesse holding onto that bar with one hand and holding onto Sally with his other hand, she was able to sit steadily.  Otherwise, how did it feel?  To tender feet, the sand contained some tiny sharp particles in it; and the water did feel greasy to the skin.  However, when we showered afterward, the oily water washed right off.  Although this experience wasn’t exactly a “swim,” it was a unique sensation to float so effortlessly.  With more salt and minerals than any other body of water in the world, the Dead Sea is considered to be a natural health and beauty spa.  For us, it was an adventure.

            After re-boarding our bus, at about 4:45 PM we headed back to Haifa the way we had come, stopping once briefly at a coffee shop, mainly to use the restroom facilities.  This time, sitting on the other side of the bus, we had a little different scenery until it became dark.  We arrived back at the ship terminal about 8:15 PM, but sat at the terminal using free Wi-Fi there for 20 or 30 minutes because getting online from the ship has taken so long recently.  Of course, we still went to the ship’s buffet for soup.