BAR MITZVAH IN THE DESERT

Last Thursday saw us off to a very early start from Jerusalem to attend the Bar Mitzvah of our son-in-law’s nephew which was planned to take place on top of Masada.  Masada has changed greatly since we last visited a good many years ago and has become much more visitor-friendly, thankfully, without spoiling the uniqueness  of the site.  At the base of the plateau, there is now a spacious visitors’ Centre containing shops, cafes and restaurants and  a film on the history of Masada is shown before the ascent to the top in the modernized cable car.  We were welcomed on our arrival by a sandwich buffet in one of the newly-built restaurants and were accompanied during our whole time there by three musicians playing traditional Jewish and Israeli music on accordion, saxophone and darbuka (also known as a goblet-drum) and periodically sounding blasts on a huge shofar.  The music together with the beautiful weather, gave a very festive air to the occasion. On reaching the top we walked across the plateau to the remains of the Zealots’ Synagogue where the service took place and Jonathan performed his Parasha .

Accompanied by the musicians we then walked across to where a Torah scribe, enclosed in a small glass cubicle set into a cave, sat, seemingly oblivious of the watching tourists, as he meticulously copied the words of the Torah onto a new scroll, using a quill and vegetable ink, just as was done in Roman times.  The bar Mitzvah boy was allowed to go inside to watch the scribe at work and after being given an explanation of this sacred art, was given the honour of helping to add a letter, his hand on top of the sofer’s.

Then it was back to the cable car for our descent and return to the coach which had brought us from Jerusalem.  We knew that lunch was the next item on the agenda but as the bus travelled through the barren desert at the foot of Masada we had no idea where it was going to be served until, suddenly, in front of us, in the middle of nowhere, there appeared an open tent with bright rugs covering the floor and tables beautifully laid as one would expect in a smart restaurant.  Where the meal of barbecued meats and the wonderful variety of salads and vegetables, was being prepared was a mystery as the food appeared on the buffet tables as if by magic and it was a magical feeling to be sitting and eating in the middle of the desert in the midst of family and friends.  This was certainly a different and exciting way to celebrate a Bar Mitzvah and we are sure that all the guests enjoyed the unusual experience as much as we did.