RANSVESTIA

"theirs" and set times for ceremonies with neither spaces nor times being infringed on by the other, it is hard to believe that they are all purporting to worship the same Jesus who taught peace, brotherhood, loving thy neighbor, etc. Somehow I could have done without it all. My imaginations and memories from childhood were much more satisfying than this com- petitive way of handling things. We visited the convent of the Sisters of Zion and our wise young woman guide made a telling point. She said that it should not be the rock, the tomb, the place, the building or the event that occurred here or there that one seeks out or venerates, but rather the whole concept of what happened in that city in those days. That was very wise and somewhat erased my disturbed feelings.

We took a morning ride from Jerusalem down to the Dead Sea, along the cliffs where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found - the caves are high up on the cliffs and no way to get to them easily-down about 30 miles to Masada. There we took an aerial tramway to the top. This is a very fas- cinating and historical place which I'd never heard of before until a friend, knowing I was going to Israel, gave me a book about it to read. Here on this relatively flat topped mountain rising sheerly out of the desert and the other hills around it the early Jewish Zealots made their last stand against the Romans. The place had been built and fortified by King Herod long before and there is a whole city on top with palaces, temples, baths, storehouses and everything. These 600 people men, women and children made their last stand up there. The Romans circled the place with about 6 camps, could not storm it as it was too steep and finally did a fantastic job of piling dirt up against the mountain in a rising wall until they could walk up it about two thirds of the way and gain a footing to climb the rest of the way. It was a feat of fantastic proportions to build this ramp. When they finally got to the top they found practically all of the defenders dead- by their own hands. I think I recall that 2 or 3 women were still alive and told the story. But rather than fall into Roman hands or to have their women raped their children taken into slavery they all decided to end it right there. The words of their leader in explaining their conditions, the alternatives and exhorting them to take their lives are about the most in- tense, dramatic and forceful I've ever read.

Saturday the 6th of Oct. we spent visiting the Dome of the Rock, the large Moslem mosque. It is really large, the floor covered with Oriental rugs with men sitting in groups all over the floor. We had to remove our shoes to go in of course. It is a really magnificent place with the big rock in the middle from which Mohammed was supposed to have ascended into heaven. Only Moslem men worship here, women are not allowed

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