Musical Tunnelling

Imagine wading through about 1.5 feet of water in a narrow underground tunnel with minimal light and a few inches between you and the next person. Now, imagine the same thing while being sandwiched from the front by a bunch of rambunctious Israeli teenage boys and from the back by a chorus of Amish folk in suits, dresses, and bonnets, singing songs about Jesus, led by a tall man with a lantern. It is somewhat reminiscent of a twisted gold panning excursion in the Yukon in the 1900's.


However, this is where Avital and I found ourselves on Sunday in Jerusalem, exploring the ancient tunnels which served to bring water into the besieged City of David years ago. It took us at least an hour to snake from the opening to the tunnel to the pool at the other end. There were times when we had to duck in order to walk through and others when the top of the tunnel was feet (meters?) above us.


While the basic premise of walking through a chiseled stone tunnel made over 2000 years ago is in itself amazing, our company certainly added to the experience. It was suggested by site staff that we sing as we went through (as an hour wade through darkness and water can pass kind of slowly in silence), and almost immediately the Amish behind us began a slow harmonious praise to Jesus. It didn’t take long for the Israeli teens in front of us to break out in Hebrew pop songs in response. They then cycled through American hits, Israeli hits, Israeli folk songs, a few prayers, and a few renditions of Halleluyah, all of this over the steady Amazing Grace-like tunes coming from behind us. The Israelis even took requests and suggestions from me and Avital. (We were especially instrumental in filling in lyrics to songs like “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion, though it was confusing to hear a song from Lion King sung in Hebrew.) The combination of Christian prayer and Israeli enthusiasm (for lack of a better term) was overwhelming.


The whole thing just seemed so funny to me, and when we came out into the light at the end of the tunnel, one of the Amish women came over and said that she especially enjoyed one of the Halleluyah numbers we’d put on. I guess these entries are starting to get monotonous, but again, the message here is that these are the sorts of things I’ll miss.


One thing I’m not sure I’ll miss, though, is the Israeli who looks about 15 sitting across from me on the train, wearing a police uniform wielding a 3 foot long gun.



p.s. I've SCHEDULED another post to publish itself two days from now (cool huh?) since I might not be by a computer so check back soon :)