that was fun

This shabbat we had a guest lecturer, Dr. Hagi Ben-Artzi. After Shababt, he showed a film that he had made on Rachel's tomb.

For a long time, archeology and the Bible have fascinated me. They both attest to an ancient presence of Jews in Israel, and new discoveries trhow new light on the subject.

Rachel's Tomb is considered to be, by tradition, on the outskirts of Bethlehem. I've often gone there to pray. When I was a child, we had a framed tile of Rachel's tomb in our home - it has long been considered a sign of our hopes to return to the land of Israel.

Here's a quote from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel\'s_Tomb

"Early Jewish scholars noticed an apparent contradiction in the Bible with regards to the location of Rachel's grave. In Genesis, the Bible states that Rachel was buried "on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem." Yet a reference to her tomb in Samuel states: "When you go from me today, you will find two men by Rachel's tomb, in the border of Benjamin, in Zelzah" (1 Sam 10:2). Rashi asks: "Now, isn't Rachel's tomb in the border of Judah, in Bethlehem?" He explains that the verse rather means: "Now they are by Rachel's tomb, and when you will meet them, you will find them in the border of Benjamin, in Zelzah." Similarly, Ramban assumes that the site shown today near Bethlehem reflects an authenic tradition. After he had arrived in Jerusalem and seen "with his own eyes" that Rachel's tomb was on the outskirts of Bethlehem, he retracted his original understanding of her tomb being located north of Jerusalem and concluded that the reference in Jeremiah (31:15) which seemed to place her burial place in Ramah, is to be understood allegorically. There remains however, a dispute as to whether her tomb near Bethlehem was in the tribal territory of Judah, or of her son Benjamin.^[53]"

^{Dr. Ben Artzi claims that the actual tomb is elsewhere - north of Jerusalem near the border of the Tribe of Benjamin, not far from the Arab village of Aram - evidently the Biblical village of Ramah, Samuel's home. In the valley there are 4 large stone structures,a and 2 smaller ones from the Middle Bronze age - huge rectangular structures that are apparently not buildings, but piles of rocks.}

^{In Arabic they are known as "the tombs of b'nei Yisrael" - attesting to their Biblical antiquity.}

^{Dr. Ben Artzi's contention is that this is the authentic and original Tomb of Rachel, and he showed that all the problems in the Biblical narrative disappear when you accept this. It is clearly on the road to Babylon as well, explaining how the Midrash has Rachel coming out of her tomb to comfort the exiles going into Babylonian captivity.}

^{But what of the other 5 stone structures? Why not just one? The argument is that when the Northern Kingdom (Israel) divieded from the Southern Kingdom (Judah), Hebron and the Cave of the Patriarchs (Machpela) became inaccessible, so the Israelites built additional monuments to commemorate the tombs of Sarah, Leah and Rebecca, and Bilha and Zilpa as well (the  latter were the matriarchs of four northern tribes). Apparently, this was the site of the "high places' where sacrifices were offered as an alternative to the Temple in Jerusalem. At the same time, the Judeans built a monument in memory of Rachel, buried in the (northern) land of Benjamin. That is the traditional tomb of Rachel visited today, near Bethlehem.}

^{I found the presentation convincing. This site is just 20 minutes by car from my home - and I've never visited it! Unfortunately, while it is near the roadside, there is nowhere to park, and it's not wise to trek around Arab villages alone and unarmed. It would be wonderful if the gov't would at least build a vantage point where it could be observed.}

It's quite understandable that Christians would feel a strong religious presence. The Land of Israel is where Jesus lived and died acccording to Christianity.

We have no shortage of holy places - Jewish, Christian and Moslem. Sometimes we share the same holy places - often without incident, sometimes with conflict.

On the whole, we don't feel the unrest day to day. Israel is still safer than many Western countries. You can start planning your next visit.

To add to the lag B'Omer post -

I just heard from my neighbor who went up to Mt. Meron to spend Shabbat and Lag B'Omer at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai.

There were nearly 30,000 people camped out there for Shabbat - a few had succeeded in finding rooms in the nearby moshav (cooperative agricultural settlement), but he, and most of the visitors, slept in a tent. There were huge communal meals, donated by kind people, and Hasidic rabbis held forth with stories, divrei Torah and song. He said it was an amazing experience.

He left around 11:00 on Saturday night, after taking part in some of the singing and dancing in honor of Rabbi Shimon. There are specific turnes and even dances that originate in the yearly pilgrimage to Meron - one dance depicts the resurrection of the dead!

According to the news, over half a million (!!!) people visted Mt. Meron this year on Lag B'Omer.

Tomorrow we celebrate Jerusalem Day. This is a holiday often ignored overseas and observed in Israel by only a portion of the general public.

This holiday marks the liberation of the Old City of Jerusalem in June 1967, and its reunification under Israeli sovereignty.

There are parades, special concerts and cultural programs in Jerusalem, and the religious Zionist community celebrates it with the recitation of Hallel and holiday prayers. There is a traditional procession from the Merkaz Yeshiva (in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood, west of the central bus station) up the length of jaffa Road at midnight to the Kotel, accompanied by bands. I did this - once or twice. Then in the afternoon there is another march with flags and dancing, also ending at the Kotel Plaza.

I will be leading a tour of the Temple Mount, G-d willing. In the past i have had to cancel because of threats of Arab violence and the subsequent closing of the Mount to visitors.

Jerusalem is at the center of our prayers, hopes and vision. We don't only pray for the rebuilding of Jerusalem - we are active participants in this miracle.

Here are a few websites about Jerusalem that may interest you:

www.amit.org.il/learning/english/jerusal...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFMGwBOOAbg

I attended a talk a few weeks ago by Dr. Haggi Ben-Artzi (he just happens to be the PM's brother in law, but he's a well-known educator and speaker) who said that we sould expand Jerusalem Day to an entire six days of celebration and praise - for each area that the IDF liberated in 1967: Samaria, Hebron, Gaza, etc. and the miracle of grounding the entore Egyptian airforce on the first day of the Six-Day War. There were serious fears for Israel's survival - and we found ourselves at the end of the week victorious.

In our shul we have planned an evening of song in honor of the day. A few years back, we celebrated our youngest son's Bar Mitzvah on the eve of Jerusalem day, with festive evening services accompanied by music and psalms of praise.