The Charlotte Jewish News - January 2011 - Page 21
Israel, Part 6: Underground
By Amy Krakovitz
We have a short walk from out
side the Old City’s walls to the
City of David and the entrance to
Hezikiah’s Tunnel.
The tunnel is an aqueduct built
around 700 BCE by King
Hezikiah. Not only is it mentioned
in the bible twice (both in II Kings
and in II Chronicles), but it has
been dated by archaeologists to
the 8th century BCE. The tunnel
was dug from both ends, north to
south, and the workers met inside.
Apparently they went off course a
time or two because the tunnel
itself follows a winding path that
would have been nearly 700 feet
shorter if it had been dug in per
fectly straight line.
Before we go in, Doron hands
out small flashlights and blinky
lights (just like you’ve gotten at
Bar/Bat Mitzvah parties) because
the tunnel is not strung with lights.
It will be dark and tight.
Fortunately we are dressed
appropriately; the water depth is
about a foot and a half, reaching,
at least on me, to just above my
knee. And the water is cold! Its icy
touch is an odd contrast to the
warm and stuffy air above in the
tunnel. The walls are quite close,
the rough markings on the walls
where they were hewn by the
workers visible in the small lights
each of us is carrying.
I am right behind DJ Wilson, a
college student from UNC-Chapel
Hill. He is at least 10 inches taller
than I am, so I know if he doesn’t
hit his head, I will be fine. In some
places the ceiling is quite low, DJ
and others need to crouch to get
JCC Tributes
Butterfly Garden Project
Fund
Wishing Jill and Ed
Newman a Happy Hanukkah
from Jennifer, Michael,
Sydnie, Tori, and Reece
Newman
In honor of Barbara and
Jerry Levin from Judy and
Leonard Marco
In honor of Gwen Orland
from Keith, Laura and Emily
Orland, Marilyn and Jerry
Bergman
In honor of Judy August
from: The Osserman Family
In memory of Margaret
Schwartz, mother of Larry
Schwartz from Stacey and Ira
Slomka, David Cohen
In memory of Marcia
Gottlieb and Martin Blumberg
from Lisa Richman
Oasis Senior Adult Program
Fund
In honor and appreciation of
Jodie lagnocco and liana Levin
from Evelyn Raflo
A donation to the Oasis
Program Fund from Sharon
Pearson, Edie Lebet, Ellen and
Sam Waldman ^
JCC
through.
Normally, 1,750 feet would not
be far to walk. I would guess that
it might take an average of 6-7
minutes if you were to walk it in a
straight line. But we are down
there much longer than that. I am
not keeping track of time, in fact I
am losing frack of time. Someone
is up ahead of me is saying that
the tunnel would be great for
smuggling but no one could con
firm that they were in fact used by
the IDF for smuggling at any time.
I had to wonder what it must
have been like for the workers.
Not just the back breaking job of
cutting through solid stone, but
the isolation under the ground
might have been maddening. At
last we come to the point where
the two crews meet. The inscrip
tion on the wall (it’s a replica
now) has some words missing,
lost to antiquity by time and neg
lect over more than a millennium.
What we can see says in transla
tion: “... this tunnel ... and this is
the story of the tunnel while ... the
axes were against each other and
while three cubits ... to cut... the
The replica of the original plaque that is now in
the tunnel.
The tunnel exits here at the SiloamPool.
voice of a man ... called to his fel
low, for there was a through-pas-
sage in the rock, from the right ...
and on the day of the tunnel the
stone hewers struck each man
towards his fellow, ax against ax,
and the water went from the
source to the pool for 2,100 cubits.
And 100 cubits was the height
over the head of the stone hew
ers.”
This spot is not in the middle of
the tunnel, but quite near the far
southern end. At the exit is the
pool mentioned in the inscription,
the Siloam Pool. We gather
around the pool as we wait for
word that our bus has arrived. The
point where we egress at the
Siloam Pool is adjacent to a
Muslim section of Jerusalem.
Within our view are three or four
minarets, and while we wait, the
call for prayer begins. We can hear
voices from each minaret singing
in unison, yet in harmony. It’s a
beautiful, melodic sound on the
still hot air
The bus has arrived and we
continue on our journey to our
next stop, Yad VaShem.
Before we enter the building
though, we walk slowly through
the Garden of the Righteous
Among the Nations. Trees are
planted along the Avenue of the
Righteous in honor of those who
saved lives, because trees are a
symbol of renewal of life. We
spend but a few moments there
before we go into the museum. We
leam that there are no photos
allowed and there is a strict clos
ing time of 4 PM, leaving us
just about two hours to tour the
whole museum. So where is the
first place we go? The cafeteria,
for we have not had our lunch yet
today! ^
Next month: Yad VaShem, shop
ping at the Supersol, dinner in
Emek Rafaim.
Temple Beth El's Rededication Weekend - Please Join Us!
The weekend of February 11-13, 2011, we will rededicate and celebrate our new 32,000 square foot
building. Please join us for a special Shabbat Worship Service, a Welcome Home Celebration and a Fam
ily Scavenger Hunt. We are also creating a commemorative journal in which individuals and businesses
will extend their congratulations to Temple Beth El as it begins another exciting chapter in its 70-year
history. You, too, can be included by purchasing an advertisment or listing. Please see below for details,
Weekend Events
• Friday, February 11th at 7:00 pm
Rededication Shabbat Worship Service. Torah
procession begins at 6:50 pm on the second floor
of the Bernstein Education Building and will end
with placing our Torahs in the new ark in the Blu-
menthal Sanctuary.
• Saturday, February 12th at 11:00 am
Congregational Shabbat Service.
• Saturday, February 12th at 7:00 pm
Welcome Home Celebration with food, drink and
dancing to the music of Liquid Pleasure and the
Robyn Springer Quartet. (RSVPs required, www.
beth-el.com/RSVP, $150 per person, $1,000 for
Underwriter level.)
• Sunday, February 13th, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Family Scavenger Hunt for children and families to
learn how to navigate our new home.
Rededication Journal
inside back cover, color ($1,800)
Full page full color ($1,200)
Full page black & white ($1,000)
Half page full color ($900)
Half page black & white ($750)
Quarter page full color ($600)
Quarter page black & white ($500)
Eighth page black & white ($250)
Name listing ($50)
Please make checks payable to Temple Beth El.
Memo: Recognition Journal. Call 704-366-1948 to
pay by credit card. For submission guidelines, see
www.beth-el.com/rededicationweekend.
Questions? Contact Lew Kirschner:
lewisl71(S) ix.netcom.com.
All ads must be received by
January 6, 2010.