Happy Chanukah!
As for Masada: The book and TV miniseries came out when I was in high school. I lived near the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico), and could see a nice plateau (flat top mountain) from my house. I was a cross country runner, and used to go to the mountains for good training. I called the run to the plateau "going to Masada". It was a good nine mile up and down run, and I always thought of the warriors that held out in Masada when I did that run. It was quite inspirational.
