Masada

Masada is one of my favorite places in Israel. I love the courage of the people who were willing to take their own lives (or more accurately, the men took the lives of their families) rather than be raped and sold as slaves. Our guide, Daniel Rona, provided a different perspective. He explained that the Bible teaches us to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and that we believe in being subject to kings and rulers. His view is that if the zealots at Masada had submitted to the political authority, the ending could have been so much better for them. I still like to think of them as courageous people full of integrity, but Daniel makes and interesting point.

Here is a summary of the story of Masada as it is generally told (there are those academics who believe the whole thing has been exaggerated, but it's still interesting.)

During the first Century of the Common Era, The nation which we now call Israel was held as a Roman colony. The Jewish people who lived in this area, however, refused to succumb to the religious practices of Rome and decided rather to remain true to the religious practices which there ancestors had practiced. This Jewish faith was incompatible with that of the Romans, and for this reason, the Jewish people began to revolt in 66 C.E. This revolt would mean the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state, as the Romans proceed to destroy every stronghold of Judaism throughout the area.

The last area where the Jewish people had power was an old fortress known as Masada. From this mountain fortress, these people known as Zealots lead raids on neighboring Roman towns and remained the only Jewish stronghold within Israel. As the war came to a close, the only place left for attack by the Romans was Masada. A Roman general laid siege to Masada in hopes of taking this last stronghold. The Zealots prepared themselves for a long siege by rationing food and water. The Roman forces were strong, and they broke through the outer wall. The Zealots had made there last attempt at survival, and knew that death was their only end. Rather than give the glory of victory to the Roman soldiers, these Zealots committed mass suicide, seeing this as the best way to avoid slavery and death by the hands of Romans.

Masada is a big rock mountain that Herod the Great chose to build a palace. It's 1500 feet above the Dead Sea and totally isolated. When we were there we saw the ruins of lots of buildings, pools, baths, and fountains. It isn't just a one-building palace, it's a whole slew of different buildings surrounding the main palace. It was a hot sweaty day for us as it was well over 100 degrees, but I'm still fascinated by this place. More than 960 men, women, and children died at their own hand rather than surrendering to the Romans. When they realized they were about to be captured, the men in the town cast lots and 10 were selected to take the lives of the other men after they had taken the lives of their families. Of these ten one was selected to kill the other nine and then take his own life. In the end one woman and a couple of children were found hiding in a cistern but the Romans quickly took care of them.

There is a spirit of identity at Masada for Israelis. Children and soldiers visit Masada at least once in their careers. Some boys come to Masada for their bar mitzvah. Soldiers used to come to Masada to take their oaths and would cry out "Masada shall never fall again!" but they don't do it much anymore. It seems the old glorified legend is giving way to the supposition that the mass suicide was driven more by political ambition than by anything else.