The 2011
Journey Home to Israel

Day 6 - The Dead Sea

Saturday’s Highlights

Saturday afternoon was fun-filled with the Journey Home Tour’s visit to the Ein Gedi Spa, a popular attraction set in the heart of mountains and groves of date palms on the beautiful shores of the majestic Dead Sea — the lowest place on earth at 400 meters below sea level — to enjoy time floating in the famous mineral-filled sea, mud baths, and massages.

Following the 3-hour stop, the Fellowship supporters delighted in their walk through the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve where they enjoyed the photo opportunities afforded by the ibex, deer-like animals famed for the ability to climb steep hills, and rock hyrax, or cronies, which had wandered from rock crannies and thickets to delight the visitors, especially Debra Bowcott and her mother, Maria Perreault, both of British Columbia, Canada.

Saturday’s More Serious Stop and Steps

The group also visited Masada, built as a palace by Herod the Great and used as a fortress for one of three strongholds that remained in Jewish hands before the siege of Jerusalem in the First Jewish Revolt against Rome in 70 A.D. It was there, in 73 A.D., that a Jewish group, surrounded by Roman troops, chose to commit suicide rather than surrender to their Roman enemies.

IFCJ vice presidents John LaRue and Jim Jewell chose to hike up Masada’s steep and intimidating Snake Path — no small feat, especially in 35 minutes as they did — rather than take the super-fast cable car to the mountain top with the rest of the group. Jewell said the accomplishment had been his lifelong dream.

Introduction to Dead Sea Scrolls

The caves south of Khirbet Qumran where the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 — considered the most amazing archaeological find in history — were viewed by the group.

The Scrolls, on which all but one (Esther) of the books of the Hebrew Bible were written, were discovered by a Bedouin man who was trying to get one of his stubborn goats to leave the cave. The Bedouin threw a stone into the cave, heard a clank, and discovered the earthenware jar in which the leather-bound Scrolls were hidden.

On Sunday, the group will see the actual Scrolls in the Israel Museum.

Camel Opportunity

The personable and accommodating Sea Level Camel — named because he thrills tourists at the sea level stop between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea — provided thrills and Kodak moments for the Fellowship visitors from the U.S., Canada, and Germany. No one enjoyed the experience more than Wanda Adamov of Oceanside, Calif., who squealed with delight as she waved from atop the camel.

Coming Sunday

Sunday morning, the tour will head to Yad L’Kashish, a project for seniors funded by the Fellowship, to talk with the men and women who are offered an opportunity to work in a creative environment, creating metal, wood, hand-sewn crafts, jewelry and more. Yad LaKashish gives hundreds of elderly a sense of purpose and community as well as financial assistance.

Today's Photos
Click on any photo to see a larger version.

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