Warren - a weekend in salt

Shabbat Shalom. It is Saturday and the day got off to a great start with a hike up to the top of Masada. There is nothing like a long hike up a mountain to the site of a monumental tragedy to get the juices flowing! As we climbed, I considered the legion of 8000 Roman soldiers gathering at the base of this impressive mountain. Here, in the middle of nowhere, at the lowest place on earth, next to an enormous sea that is comprised of liquid salt, the Romans considering how to attack the oddly placed palace of Masada. First, they laid siege to it. They didn’t know of Masada’s enormous hordes of water in underground cisterns, grains and dates. Eventually, the Romans built a siege tower and attacked with fire. There were less than a thousand Jewish rebels in Masada which included women and children. The remaining rebels, after the losses from the battles, committed suicide. Suicide is forbidden in Jewish law, so they drew lots to decide who would do the evil deed of suicide. First, they killed their wives and children, then they each killed another until there was only one man left. That last man was left to kill himself. Hearing of all of this massive destruction and the Jew’s courage to give their own lives rather than supplicate to a false god made us quite hungry. We hiked back down and went and enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast at the hotel. We are enjoying the Dead Sea and the pool. We are getting massages later. Life is good.

It is now Sunday. We are headed to Jerusalem today. We bathed in the Dead Sea yesterday. The water is syrupy with salt and other minerals and we floated on the top of the water due to the buoyancy.

I think there must be a reason that this place is called the Dead Sea and not the Salt Sea. It is eerie to me that there is no life in this large body of water. Seeing the salt cake on the shore and feeling the sand crunchy with salt was odd, but not troubling to me. However, considering the lack of wildlife in and around the sea was troubling to me. Where are the birds? Where are the fish? Where are all of the other animals that you tend to find around a pool of water? There were none. The salinity of the water is too high for life to survive in it. I have been told that the minerals in the water are very good for the skin. That may be. There is something about this place that gives me the feeling that nature was saying, “hey, don’t touch this!”

I had all but written off the Dead Sea, but on Sunday morning, we went for a hike at En Gedi National Park and visited Nachal David. Visiting this little canyon in the mountains next to the Dead Sea gave me a better understanding as to how people could actually live in this place. There are three springs that produce fresh water that runs in waterfalls off the mountain. There are many little animals and trees that surround this true dessert oasis. As we climbed around the area, I was struck by the contrast between the Dead Sea and this oasis paradise.

We are headed back up to Jerusalem. We are staying either with Walter and Paula, or in a house nearby. Walter and Paula are being wonderful hosts to us and treating us like royalty. Walter knows just about everything there is to know about Israel. He is one of Israel’s top tour guides, an ordained Rabbi and an historical scholar.

I am still wrestling with my overwhelming repulsion to the Dead Sea. Is this the place of Sodom and Gomorrah? Is this a place of death and destruction? Imagine the irony of placing luxury hotels and spas in this spot, if it was. “What are you applying to your dry skin?” “Oh, that is just the mineral remains of my long dead ancestors!” Before I gave the matter any real consideration, I had a feeling of dread about the place. Perhaps I just didn’t like the hotel.