The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

This afternoon I got to go on the coolest Tiyul (field trip). We went to the City of David, which is the city King David built back in around the 10th century BCE. It was pretty cool seeing the ruins and learning more about the history, but the best part was Hezekiah's Tunnel.

Now the City of David is built on a hill, and the water source, the Gihon Spring, is not in the city. That meant to get water, people had to leave the city and go into the valley where they could be attacked. To make it safe to get water, a tunnel was built, Hezekiah's Tunnel. This tunnel is 1,750 feet long through a rock solid mountain. Today, you can hike through the tunnel, which still has water running through it.

7 of us and my teacher, the infamous Professor Joel "Mustache" Duman decided to go on this hike at the end of our Tiyul. It is a pitch black hike that takes about 20-30 minutes through the water-y tunnel. I wasn't sure if I was going to go at first, since I am not a huge fan of enclosed spaces or the dark, but decided to test my limits and I am so glad I did.

Its amazing think that this tunnel was built in the 8th century BCE. I can't imagine the time or work it took to carve out the mountain. Two teams were working on it, one starting from each end, and somehow they managed to meet in the middle. We had so much fun hiking through the water, which at times was almost waist high (but most of the time came up to our calves). The tunnel is very narrow, at times I had to walk sideways.  The ceiling gets very low at times, for much of the walk my classmates were ducking (luckily I was short enough to only have to duck a few times). Also as I said before its pitch black, so you have to bring a flashlight with you to hike it! I'm sure my explanation isn't doing it justice,  but it is by far the coolest thing I have done so far in Jerusalem. Anyone who comes to visit me, be prepared we are going on this hike!

After the hike, two classmates and I took a quick stroll to the Kotel. Again I did not go up to the wall (this time because I was not dressed properly). I hope soon I will be in the right mindset and clothes and be able to pray there. Afterwards we went on a search for a burger, which luckily was a successful expedition (after a few wrong turns made by yours truly first of course).

Hope everyone has a fabulous Shabbat/Weekend! Miss you all!

Hiking through Hezekiah's tunnel