Never Again Masada!

Hamas terrorists invaded the state of Israel, killing civilians, beheading babies and children, raping women, and taking hostages to use as bargaining chips and human shields. They even used the cell phones of victims to send execution videos back to the victims' contacts and families. Much of the world was shocked by such barbarity. Sadly, too many ghoulishly cheered and protested on behalf of the terrorists, just as they did on 9/11.  

Those in Canada, the United States and Britain, watching events unfold on television, and who have never faced an existential threat such as is faced by Israel, may have difficulty understanding the mindset. An important event in Israel's history which occurred nearly 2000 years ago has greatly influenced how the modern nation of Israel reacts in such times of crisis—and is a key history lesson, essential for understanding the situation.   

My wife and I had the opportunity to visit Israel in 1978. One of the sites on our tour was Masada. This ancient fortress looms approximately 1500 feet above the Dead Sea on the edge of the Judean desert. It served as a summer palace for Herod, complete with a fresco tiled swimming pool and sauna. Despite its desert location, an ingenious series of canals and cisterns could store enough water in a single day's rain to sustain 1000 residents for two to three years.   

As impressive as it once was, what brings Masada into focus today is its first century history. Disaster came upon the Jews when they revolted against their Roman overlords in 66 A.D. Four years later, Jerusalem fell. The siege of Jerusalem was brutal, just as Jesus foretold and the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus recorded. 

Zealots took the easy-to-defend Masada to make a last stand. The only way to the top of the plateau was by way of a long snaking trail which could be easily defended. You can still see today this well-defined trail and the remains of eight stone-walled Roman camps surrounding the fortress. There was no easy way to attack the holdouts who sat comfortably atop the plateau, but the determined Romans embarked on an ambitious building project. They built a dirt ramp up to the top of the western side, a structure, though weathered over time, that remains to this day.  

Outnumbered eight to one, the Jews realized the day of doom was upon them and chose to kill one another (Jewish law forbidding suicide) rather than have their wives abused, their children enslaved, and the men defeated in battle. Josephus records what happened from the testimony of a literal handful of women and children who survived. He records the gist of an impassioned speech where Eleazar ben Yair, encouraged his countrymen. 

Let our wives die before they are abused, and our children before they have tasted of slavery; and after we have slain them, let us bestow that glorious benefit upon one another mutually, and preserve ourselves in freedom, as an excellent funeral monument for us. But first let us destroy our money and fortress by fire; for I am well assured that this will be a great grief to the Romans, that they shall not be able to seize upon our bodies, and shall fail of our wealth also; and let us spare nothing but our provisions; for they will be a testimony when we are dead that we were not subdued for want of necessaries; but that, according to our original resolution, we have preferred death before slavery. (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, VII, VIII, 6)  

Masada is a monument and a symbol for Israel.   

"Modern Israeli soldiers swear 'Masada shall not fall again' and make nighttime pilgrimages to the site as part of their initiation into the military. 'Masada is part of our Israeli and Jewish conscience,' said Shraga Kelson, tour guide. 'We still are involved in a battle for survival.'"   

In case you missed the significance of this, our guide back in 1978 made it clear – Israel will not go down as the zealots of Masada did nearly two millennia ago. They will take their enemies with them. The state of Israel has survived three wars (1948, 1967, 1974), two intifadas (violent uprisings lasting six and five years respectively), suicide bombers, rocket attacks, and now, after 75 years of existence, it is locked into its fourth and most dangerous war. 

Understanding the Israeli mindset of never again Masada, one must ask how this will all turn out? Watch our full-length program "Can Jerusalem Survive?" as we answer that question in great detail.