Contemplating the essay that I am about to write, I have come to the conclusion that more than anything, it is about curiosity.  The curiosity is my own.  For many years, I have wondered about the Jordan River and whether or not it really rolled.  But there are some things to take care of before we get to the rolling of the river.
In the last half of the 1970s and on into the early part of the 1980s, in pursuit of the business interests of the AT&T Corporation, I made at least 12 to 15 trips to Israel.  It was in that period that the Jewish state was becoming firmly established.  Also in that period, there was a certain gung-ho attitude about the Israeli people.  They were not bound by the traditions of the past but were doing things that, if they worked, were quite good enough.  If they did not work, they would try something else.
It was in this period of time that the Israelis reached a deal with the Italians to construct a cable between Tel Aviv and some point on the Italian mainland.  It was also during this period that the Italians had an entity called Italcable.  The Italians decided that the shares in Italcable should be sold and it became a business rather than an entity of the Italian government.  The Israelis came to distrust the new owners of the other half of the cable.  Because I had several reasons to deal with the Italian telephone company, I was asked by the Israelis to pose several questions to the Italians which were of vital interest to the Israelis.  This was all on the up and up, but I agreed to do this because of my great interest in the fortunes of the Israeli telephone company.  When I got an answer from the Italians that I thought would be of interest to the Israelis, I often made Tel Aviv and Jerusalem my next stop.  And so in a large measure, this accounts for my making so many trips to Israel.  My recollection is that the cable between Tel Aviv and the terminus in mainland Italy was eventually completed.  It had several stops along the way due to bureaucratic infighting but eventually the cable was put into operation.
During my trips to Israel, I was always met at the Tel Aviv Airport by my great and good friend Aryeh Ron.  Perhaps those of you who have been readers of Ezra’s Essays will recall Aryeh Ron, who had a maiden name of Leo Ritter.  About 1938 in Vienna, Leo Ritter was ordered by the Nazis to go home and bring his toothbrush back to scrub the sidewalk.  As you can imagine, Leo Ritter (Aryeh Ron) was a Jew.  He took the hint and left Vienna for the Palestinian territory in the Middle East.  When he arrived he had to master the Hebrew language.  In addition, Aryeh Ron also mastered English as well.  There were times when he and I had long talks about life under the Nazis and about life in his new home of Israel.  As I have said, particularly in my essay called “The Four Stars of David,” Aryeh Ron was one of my closest and best friends.
Now we get to the curiosity part.  On this trip, I was alone in arriving at Lod, the airport that serves as the only airport for international travelers.  Lod was a very small town located near Tel Aviv.  At this point, I should mention that the Israelis had no motor pool.  I believe that when Aryeh Ron met me, he did it in his own car.  Motor pools in the Israeli communications authority were a long way down the road.
On the way to Israel coming from some place such as Rome, I began to think of the religious significance that Christians attach to the River Jordan.  There are several songs, particularly Negro spirituals, that speak of crossing over Jordan.  From a religious standpoint, crossing over Jordan will cause the faithful to wind up in Heaven.  But in actual fact in the Middle East of today, if the Jordan River is crossed, one will find himself in the Kingdom of Jordan.
When Aryeh Ron picked me up at the luggage counter, I asked him if we could go by the Sea of Galilee that followed the Jordan River down to the Dead Sea as well as going to Jerusalem.  This was the long way between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, but Aryeh Ron welcomed the opportunity to show me the Jordan River.
My curiosity came from the words of the ancient Negro spiritual called, “Roll, Jordan, Roll.”  In my trip with Aryeh, I wanted to see whether in fact the Jordan River was a rolling river.  A rolling river is one with a certain amount of depth.  I had assumed that a rolling river would have a sufficient depth to cause waves to crest.
I had in the back of my head the Mississippi River as well as the Missouri River.  I also was thinking of the Merrimac River of Missouri.  Clearly, the Mississippi, the Missouri, and the Merrimac Rivers were rolling.  They were mostly rolling toward the Gulf of Mexico where they joined the ocean.  I did not expect to find the Jordan River to be anything like the Mississippi River but I was curious as to how this river presented itself.
When we reached the Sea of Galilee and turned south toward the Dead Sea and Jerusalem, I saw mainly a meandering river which seemed to lack any suggestion of depth.  In my own mind where I kept the thought, I thought that comparing the Jordan River to the Mississippi or Missouri River was more or less a farce.  It appeared to me that there were times when even I could have waded across the Jordan River.  I am not a swimmer and I would attempt no such thing.  But it presented itself as a wade-able river.  As it approached the Dead Sea, the thought of wading across the river was ever more constant.
As for the rolling part, it must be stated that the Jordan River with its lack of depth provided no hint of rolling.  At that point it was more or less a river or a stream that flowed between Israel and Jordan.  But I am not here to argue about the width and depth of rivers in the Middle East.  Nor am I here to argue about crossing the Jordan, which will land you in the kingdom of Heaven.  It is my belief that those who fantasize about the River Jordan with its entry to Heaven are pure romanticists.
In point of fact, the people who produced Negro spirituals were slaves.  Anything that took their mind off of their conditions of employment was strictly applauded.  But that was yesteryear.  I can assure that at this time, the River Jordan is not much more than a stream which has no ability to roll or to flood anything.  It is simply a stream which appears to be at some point wade-able.  But if the songwriters who were slaves wanted to say that the Jordan River was something that they could look forward to because it represented entry into Heaven, I would say they ought to be applauded for their belief.  Whether that belief was true or not is beside the point.  That is what they believed and it is fine with me.
 
This business of whether the Jordan River actually ever rolled has existed since the first Negro spiritual reached our ears.  Later, Vincent Youmans wrote a song called, “Without a Song” which was included in a 1929 musical called “Great Day.”  One of the lines from the song goes:
I’ve got my troubles and woe
But sure as I know,
The Jordan will roll.
The composer was Vincent Youmans.  The lyricists were Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu.  That song, “Without a Song,” is still sung today and is a standard in American musicology.
 
There is one other thought that has to do with the pronunciation of the name Jordan.  A good many of the singers, usually black, pronounce the word Jordan as Jerdan.  Why Jordan became Jerdan is still a mystery to me.  I suspect that if the Jordan River actually rolls musically, the fact that the name is pronounced as Jerdan is not of any consequence.
I told you at the beginning that this essay had to do with, basically, my curiosity.  As we finish this essay, I am no closer to learning why historically the Jordan River is suspected of rolling.  But no matter what the outcome of the rolling part, I as always enjoyed my day with Aryeh Ron.  I explained to Aryeh early in the trip that I wanted to see whether the River Jordan actually rolled.  Aryeh said that if that river was wet, that was all that mattered.  Now that I have had 30 more years to think about this conclusion, I agree that if the river is wet that is all that is needed.  So it is that I say, “Roll, Jordan, roll…I want to go to Heaven when I die, so roll, Jordan, roll.”
 
E. E. CARR
October 11, 2012
Essay 702
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Kevin’s commentary: First and foremost, Judy requested that I add this link to the essay — it is the song Roll Jordan Roll. The baritone specifically has a hell of a voice. Worth checking it out for him alone!
Second, I had no idea what at “motor pool” was.
Third, Pop’s description of the Jordan reminds me somewhat of the Rio Grande, which Texas history teaches children is some huge majestic affair but in reality is muddy and full of awful chemicals. Also it is narrow enough that stones may be thrown across it to Mexico, which I know because I’ve done so.