The story of Masada is a fascinating story. It’s a great site to visit while in Israel. But what can we do to make the visit unique? What are the 10 most meaningful things to do at Masada? Let’s start with the story.
The site itself is a plateau, almost begging to be used as for a defensive military site. And so King Herod, built a massive fortress on top of the plateau. The fortress included palaces, water cisterns, food storages, and more. But king Herod dies in 4 BCE and the Romans took over. Life wasn’t so easy for Jews under Roman control. Many Jewish practices were banned. For about seventy years the Jews of Palestine tried to continue Jewish life. But in 70 CE, a group of Jew have had enough and rebel against the Romans. While the Jews don’t have a chance against the enormous Roman army. Jerusalem falls quickly, and a small group runs to this formidable fortress. They last another three years before the Romans come closer to besieging the fortress.
How does the story end? The Romans are getting closer to the top of Masada, the Jews rebelling against them have a decision to make. What did they want their legacy to be? They were either to be enslaved and/ or killed by the Romans, forever writing Jews as one of the defeated peoples of the Roman Empire, OR to die as free men, writing themselves down in history as defying the strongest powers at the time.
Their choice? Die as free Jews, by killing themselves.
This poses a lot of questions for us today. So therefore, while you are at Masada, think about some of these things to do to make it more meaningful.
#1: Meditate while watching the sun rise.
While watching the sun rise after hiking up Masada is a common activity, it can be easy to overlook the opportunity it offers to us all—to meditate on what our legacy will be. Part of what makes Masada so intriguing is that the Jewish zealots were willing to take their own lives over living, and they decided this because of the idea they stood for. Watching the sunrise is beautiful and inspiring on its own. But it’s also a great time to think about the ideas you stand for, and what you would do to make them come true.
#2: Shout at the Echo balcony
There is one edge of the Masada Plateau where if you stand and shout out, it will echo back to you. This is because of the geographical make of the region. Once you have reflected on what your ideals in life are, and explore the story and site of Masada, hearing your statements echo back to you is almost like a signature to continue stand behind your ideas. While many shout prayers or statements, like the Shema, take the time to think of something that really shows what you believe in. This is like a contract between you and yourself. Your echo is the signature of that contract!
#3: Do yoga while looking at the Dead Sea
From the top of the plateau, you can see the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth! Doing yoga while focusing on the amazing the Dead Sea can be very empowering. You are symbolically standing strong at the same spot where almost 2000 years ago, different Jews did the same thing! You are placing deep roots to connect to the strong Jewish zealots who taught us a very valuable lesson. Doing yoga on Masada is also a way to step back from our modern world and think about those ideas and values I mentioned before. We’re so busy with our smartphones, and tablets, and computers, and social media that we easily forget what it’s all about and what we’re working toward. So let’s take a step back, do some yoga, and remember what it is all about.
#4: Think about what it must have meant for these Jews to do what they did
The Jewish Zealots who lived here from 70- 74 CE truly believed they were the last Jews in the world. They very much believed that whatever they did would write the last chapter of the Jewish people. What they did would be talked about for hundreds of years. That train of thought helps explain why they would kill themselves, despite being forbidden in Judaism. They wanted the Jews to be remembered as free men and women, not being pushed around by world power of the time.
#5: Discuss what you would do if that happened today
Now that we understand a little bit more why the Zealots did what they did, we can discuss what we might do if something similar happened to us. What would you do if someone told you that you could no longer have a family dinner on Friday nights, wear a Star of David around your neck, or use Yiddish throughout your daily lives? Would you fight it, would you ignore it, would you follow these new rules? Would you change your answer if you thought you were the last Jews in the world?
#6: The Story of Two Rocks
There is a practice at Masada to take two rocks with you when leave Masada. You take both of them home with you. Before a friend of yours comes to Israel, and Masada specifically, you give them one of the rocks to return to its home. You do the same when you return to Israel and Masada, before taking two new stones.
Before replacing the rocks we must write two notes to take their place in our pockets. The first one reminds us “I am of dust and ashes.” This note comes from a verse in Genesis (3:19): “By the seat of your brow shall you get bread to eat until you return to the ground—for from it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” The second rock, and note, states “the world was created just for me.” The Kotzker Rebbe taught us this exercise, but done with the rocks, the trick is to balance humility and self- worth.
#7: Walk the Snake Path in complete silence
Most groups will walk either up or down the snake path. Named for its winding route, it is the longer of the two main hiking paths. When you do hike the Snake Path, whether it’s going up or going down, try to do it in complete silence. Use the time to reflect on the story, it’s meanings, and its messages. Pretend you are one of the zealots hiking up to the top of the plateau to fight for your right to win a free, and open Jew.
#8: Say the Shema prayer in the synagogue
The synagogue in Masada is one of the first synagogues ever built, and was built before the Second Temple was destroyed. It was used as a place to learn Torah and Jewish law. The Shema prayer is the most important central prayer in Judaism. It states that we believe in the one and only Jewish G-d. Saying this important prayer in one of the earliest synagogues, located in a place where Jews fought to be Jews can be incredibly significant.
#9: Read a piece of the speech given to the Jews at the end of the rebellion
Elazar Ben- Yair was the leader of the Jewish Zealots on Masada. Before the Jewish fighters against Rome commit suicide, he delivers one last speech. Reading that speech makes the visit incredibly more meaningful. It goes as follows:
“Since we long ago resolved never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than G-d Himself, Who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice….We were the very first that revolted, and we are the last to fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favor that G-d has granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in a state of freedom.”
#10: Put a stone on the grave of the Jews who died on Masada.
The tenth most meaningful things to do at Masada is to put a stone on the grave of those Zealots. During excavations of Masada from 1963-1965, Yigal Yadin the archeological team found 25 bodies in a cave. The time reburied the bodies on July 7, 1969, on the western side of Masada.
In Jewish tradition, we put a rock on gravestones instead of flowers because rocks don’t die. After all the exploring and thinking about their story, we can let these Zealots know we’re thinking and honoring them by putting a rock on the grave.
So next time you’re at Masada, you have some things to do. You don’t have to do all of them, or even half of them. But just doing one of them can make the visit that much more meaningful.
