Sunrise at Masada

At 2:30 a.m. on Monday morning, six brave men (Mark, Alex, Jonah, Ron, Rabbi Stecker and myself) started a trek for Masada. The cab picked us up and we headed out. We caught up on our sleep in the cab, except Rabbi Stecker, who kept the driver awake and alert with conversation. We arrived at the mountain at 3:50, 20 minutes before we were supposed to.

We went to the ticket booth to show our vouchers and get our tickets to climb. That's when our adventure really started. A man there told us that we could start hiking up an hour before sunrise, which we heard was 5:13am. The problem was that we were misinformed and sunrise was actually at 6:13am, meaning we arrived an hour early (and missed an hour of sleep).

We relaxed at the bus station near the gate and talked about the stars, and stories of Masada. Soon, we were accompanied by a group of soldiers and a group of rowdy college kids. We waited for the opening of the trail for 20 more minutes, and then started our ascent up the Snake Path. It was very dark, so we used the flashlight app on Rabbi Stecker's iPhone to see the path (and the cliff). It was a long and strenuous 50 minute journey to the top, consisting of large steps and steep paths, but we finally made it to the top 15 minutes before sunrise.

We all pulled out our phones and cameras to capture the special moment. Finally, we saw the sun peek over the horizon with colorful beams of light surrounding it, and we all knew that our difficult trek was well worth it.

After sunrise, we went to a place by Herod's Western Palace which had ben used as a Torah study area, and we performed a morning Shacharit service where many of us led a prayer - we did most of the prayers except the ones that required a minyan (even though we were joined by a man who wrapped himself with Tefillin, and a few chirping birdies).  It was a great way to gather together and celebrate our successful adventure.

-- Josh Putter