Israel Day 4 by Ellen Severson

               

Crossing the Judean desert &
leaving our troubles behind!

As we cross the Judean desert again, we are reminded that in biblical days the desert was a place to go and leave troubles behind.  “The desert is a classic place where people ran to get away from whatever problems they had." Think of when David ran to the desert to get away from Saul.

As we traveled from Jerusalem to Masada, we crossed the green line into what was Jordan before the 6 day war. We passed Bedouin encampments, fields of date palms and a few camels.

At Ein Gedi (natural springs), we took a dip into two of the four spring fed pools. Everyone was laughing and reveling in the cool refreshing experience.

At the Dead Sea some of us braved the salt water and floated to the top.

At Masada, the Israelites turned
the Roman bats into mikvaot.

"At Masada I learned a lot; I was impressed that when the Israelites came they turned the Roman baths in to mikvaot," Ruth.

"Shiloh really got to me, just being where the ark of the covenant was," Sol.

"This has been an incredible experience learning from Shuli, our guide and Rabbi Dardik,” Sol

To view all our pictures....click here and don't forget to leave a comment...especially those who were on this incredible trip -- please tell us your thoughts when you were there!