The students all did well sleeping in the Bedouin tent and being up and ready to leave at 4:30 am! We climbed the Roman Ramp up the mountain of Massada. While we were up there our tour guide taught us about two stories: the story about King Herod who built himself a palace on Massada during the period of the Roman Empire. And the story of 960 zealots who lived on top of Massada, trying to escape the Romans. Their attempt ends up being the final stand against the Romans, ending tragically.
As the story unfolded we walked through the ancient ruins and saw how Herod constructed it and how the zealots lived. It was a challenging morning because it was unseasonably chilly and the strong wind made it even colder, but the kids did great. The students walked down Massada's famous Snake Path that zigzags down the other side of the mountain.
After lunch we had a great time swimming in the Dead Sea. The temperature got warmer and the wind became a comfortable breeze. How cool it was to walk into the water of the Dead Sea and lift your legs and effortlessly float!! Many of the students had fun putting on Dead Sea mud too.
On our drive from the Dead Sea to Eilat we stopped at Kibbutz Yotvata, which is famous for its dairy farm products. The kids loved the "Shoko Basakeet", delicious chocolate milk in a plastic bag and, of course, ice cream.
Friday evening everyone dressed nicely, and we welcomed Shabbat with "shabbatograms" for each other, some songs and prayers and a Shabbat dinner. After dinner we had some really fun activities, lead by Dikla. We played some crazy games that helped everyone feel part of the group, get to know each other better and laugh! With each passing day our students and the students from the Kadimah School in Buffalo are getting to know each other better and make friends.
It was a long day---- everyone was exhausted but in good spirits. Saturday morning we all get to sleep in (yay!), breakfast is served up until 10:00 am. A relaxing Shabbat in Eilat is planned.
Shabbat Shalom!
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