"And here is what I know now...goes like this, my salvation lies in your love, my salvation lies in your love" - Orange Sky (the OC Mix 1)

We woke up at 4:15am, ate some pound cake in a hurry, and walked to Masada. The face of the rock - completely devoid of any softening vegetation - rose up swiftly before us as we began the ascent. Masada, the desert fortress built by Herod the Great was the cite of the last great battle between the Jewish rebels and the Romans in the 70s CE. I was the 5th person up from our group and the first girl, which, modesty aside, made me (and our hyper intense tour guide) pretty proud.

After touring the top, we made our way down to breakfast at the hostel, before heading out to the Ein Gedi nature reserve, where we (gasp of happiness!!) swam in a waterfall!! Especially because it had been so hot in Israel, this was beyond refreshing! After returning to the hostel and getting ourselves cleaned up and packed up, we drove to Tel-Aviv. On the drive, we stopped at a rest stop

"Aint no one gonna break my stride, aint no one that can hold me down, oh no, I've got to keep on moving" - Matisyahu lyrics (originally from Ace of Base?)

The theme of day was ‘The Judean Wilderness," enough said. In the morning we began our descent into the desert to the south. On the way, we stopped in Tiberius to volunteer with Christians who had emigrated from Lebanon; for almost twenty years they had formed the South Lebanese Army and fought on Israel's side, but after Israel pulled out in 2000, they were harassed, persecuted, and forced to flee from their homeland. As a result, they are in Israel. We did some crafts with the kids, played soccer, learned traditional Lebanese dancing (!!), and ate amazing carbohydrate concoctions. They were extremely thankful to have us there and to have the support of the larger international Christian community; it was incredibly touching to see their response to such a small gesture on our part, which once more served as a reminder of the kind of positive effect our smallest actions can have!

After this, we drove to the Dead Sea, where we swam (or rather, floated), covered ourselves in mud, and generally relaxed for the rest of the day! In t

All my live I've been waiting for
I've been praying for
for the people to say
that we dont wanna fight no more
they'll be no more wars
and our children will play" - Matisyahu lyrics

This morning we went to the border with Lebanon, where we were given a presentation by an IDF Commander. Having been to the Syrian border, it was enthralling to realize the complexities of Israel's relationships with its various neighbors; for examples, since the 2006 war, the IDF focus mostly on civilian protection at the Lebanese border, seeing to maintain the status quo in the area. Having seen both these borders and stood at the edge of Gaza, one of the things that most amazed me was how small and unprotected the borders looked. We were well aware that they were nothing if not well-protected, but from our vantage point they looked like mere fences...how is that really meant to keep terrorists out, especially from Syria? On an interesting tangent: the IDF uses Arab Bedouins to patrol the borders...by simply looking at the ground, these people can tell if someone has crossed the path and then give you their gender, weight, height, etc. Incredible (especially because they are Arabs, although Israeli citizens)!

After the border, we went to the national park of Tel Dan for a walk through the beautiful natu

"I told you to be patient
I told you to be fine
I told you to be balanced
I told you to be kind" - Bon Iver lyrics

The first half of the day was spent "walking in the footsteps of Jesus' Ministry" in Galilee, visiting the site that symbolizes the Sermon on the Mount, the place that symbolizes the miracle of feeding the 5,000, etc. We dipped our feet in the Sea of Galilee as well - so refreshing!

 

After this, we traveled to the Golan Heights and immersed ourselves in the political debate over the area. In part, we visited the ancient town of Gamla, where one of the epic battle-sites of the Roman suppression of the Great Revolt. The Golan is a place of incredible hiking and I was pretty sad to be rushed through it all; however, when I return in several months, I have arranged with Avi and Ohad to go on a solid hike with them...the weather will be much cooler then, so it will at least be bearable to be outside!