"Sunrise is in half an hour. It's a fifteen-minute walk to the foot of the mountain, and a seven-minute hike up the Roman path. Let's go!" In the dark, cold morning, we walked quickly, following and trusting one another. Carefully, we hurried up the steep mountain path. Those of us with asthma stopped every dozen steps to breathe, and the rest of the group waited patiently for us. Only two weeks earlier, we were all strangers, but already we cared enough about each other that we refused to move except as a group.

We were Group 11--United Synagogue Youth's only Italy/Israel Pilgrimage group. Our three-day boat trip from Brindisi to Haifa, a simulation of the illegal immigrations of 1947, had forced us to work together. We had needed each other then, and we needed each other now.

Finally, we reached the mountaintop. We rushed across the peak and stood, silent. We waited for what seemed like an eternity. Gradually, the gray sky lightened, and the clouds were illuminated. Color spread across the sky--red, orange, yellow, blue, violet. Awed by the beauty before us, we whispered a prayer: "Blessed art Thou, O L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, the Source of all creation." Some of us wept, some of us smiled, some of us stared.

The sunrise over Mount Masada was breathtaking. The sun warmed us as we held our morning services in the oldest synagogue in the world--built in 73 C.E. by Elazar ben Yair and the nine hundred Jews with him. After services, a tour guide explained the history of Masada, beginning with King Herod's palace and ending with the Israeli soldiers who are inducted into the army every year with an oath: "Masada will not fall again."

Standing atop the mountain, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Nine years earlier, when I was in Israel with my family, my mother had been unable to complete the climb up. I was afraid that my asthma would prevent me from "conquering" Masada, but I did it.

I knew, when I stood on that mountain peak, that I could do anything. Masada has daunted many would-be conquerors; only those who are truly determined can reach the top. In my life, I have dealt with many obstacles. I know that many more challenges will face me, some even harder than Masada. But with the support of my friends, and with the beauty of a sunrise waiting for me at the top, I think I will be able to climb every mountain.


written august 1994, uploaded may 1999