Let Your Feet Do the Talking

Hebron-Past, Present and Foreve
by David Wilder
Let Your Feet Do the Talking

April 27, 1995

At the time this is being written, the Rabin Government has announced intentions to surrender three army bases in Judea and Samaria to Palestinian forces. This unrivaled act of treason is beyond the scope of human understanding.

The response of the Israeli People was expressed last Tuesday, during the Passover holiday. Over 20,000 people visited Hebron, prayed in Ma’arat haMachpela, the Caves of the Patriarchs, and participated in a program at the Avraham Avinu neighborhood. The ceremony, attended by MK Ariel Sharon, included the laying of the cornerstone of a new building to be constructed in Hebron. It is to be named after the two Jewish residents of Hebron-Kiryat Arba, who were murdered by Arab terrorists a month ago on the outskirts of the city. Beit Nahum b’Yehuda, memorializing Nahum Hoss, hy"d a long-time resident of Hebron, and Yehuda Partush, hy"d, is our response to government decisions barring Jews from their own homeland.

For 700 years Jews were forbidden to enter Ma’arat HaMachpela. From the year 1267, until the six-day war in 1967, Arab rulers of Hebron refused to allow Jews past the infamous "seventh step" outside the 2,000 year old edifice. Even after returning to the first Jewish City, Jews had to struggle in order to be able to pray inside the building, with full rights, as were granted to the Arab population. Now, once again over half of this monumental structure is "off-limits" to Jews. However, this time the decree is not one of foreign rulers, but of the Jews themselves!

However, Israelis from all over the country showed immense affinity to the Ma’ara and to Hebron by visiting the site during the week of Passover, and especially during the two days that the entire building was open and available to Jewish worshippers. The two Chief Rabbis of Israel, Rav Bakshi Doron and 

Rav Yisrael Meir Lowe, were among the thousands who took the opportunity to visit Hebron. Rav Lowe, overwhelmed, remarked that this unpreedented display of support proves the Israeli People’s love for Hebron and the Caves of the Patriarchs.

There is no doubt that the tremendous support for Hebron, as exhibited last week, bothers Rabin, to say the least. Several weeks ago he spoke to a group of Jewish Youth leaders from the diaspora. What did he speak about - aliya absorption, industry, education? No, he spoke about the Jewish Community of hebron - and needless to say, he was quite vehament, blasting the "crazy Jews" who are trying to destroy the "peace plan". Even Rabin realizes that if Jews continue to show such overwhelming support for the City of the Patriarchs, it will be almost impossible for him to fulfill his great dream, that of a Judeinrein Hebron.

If you are planning on visiting Israel this summer, make sure that Hebron is on your ittinerary. If you know others, friends, relatives, coworkers, who will be here, tell them that Hebron is a must - no less than Jerusaelem! If they look at you with big eyes and say, "Hebron - you’ve got to be kidding. There are Arabs in Hebron - It’s dangerous in Hebron", you answer like this: It’s true - there are alot of Arabs in Hebron. But there are also 550 Jews that live in the heart of Hebron and among them are over 200 children. If those two hundred children can live in Hebron, play in Hebron, sleep in Hebron, and ride bicycles in the streets of Hebron, then anyone can come visit Hebron for two or three hours. As did over 20,000 Jews last week , LET YOUR FEET DO THE TALKING!

A Covenant of Eternity

Hebron-Past, Present and Forever
by David Wilder
A Covenant of Eternity

May 12, 1995

Last Friday morning, on the 5th of May, (which also happened to be the 5th of Iyar-Israel Independence Day), I, along with my wife Ora, had an overwhelming experience, the likes of which I have never yet encountered in my life. For the previous Thursday evening, at 8:00 PM Israeli time, Ora gave birth to our seventh child, a boy, in a Jerusalem hospital. Ora, a "Sabra" of Sepharadic ancestry, and I have been married for almost 16 years. Our oldest (of 4) girls is going on 15 and the oldest of three sons is almost 14.

Following our new son’s birth, we decided to celebrate his entrance into the Covenant of our Forefather Abraham (known as a Brit Milah - or circumcision) at the site most fitting for such an event: Ma’arat HaMachpela - the Caves of the Patriarchs, in Hebron. The massive building that covers the ancient caves is 2,000 years old, built by Herod during the Second Temple Period. It is the largest Jewish monument in the world, and the only 2,000 year-old building existing in its entirety. For the Jewish People, this structure is extremely symbolic of Jewish History - for 700 years, from 1267 until 1967 Jews were not allowed into it. They were permitted to pray by the infamous "seventh step" leading to the entrance of the building, but no further. Only after we returned to Hebron in 1967 were Jews once again allowed inside. Even at that time, and for many years following our return to Hebron, Jews were not allowed to perform a Brit Milah inside Ma’arat HaMachpela because of Islamic laws forbidding any drinking of alcoholic beverages. Because wine (or grape juice) is necessary at a Brit, Jews were forbidden to partake of such a ceremony. (If anyone understands the logic, please write and explain it to me.) However, after many years of determined struggle, we were victorious. Israeli’s may now perform a Brit Milah inside the Ma’ara.

However, it should be noted that the importance of the Caves of the Patriarchs is not the huge Herodian building, but rather the caves ensconced under it. These caves, the burial ground purchased by Abraham, to bury his wife Sarah thousands of years ago, was the first land purchased by a Jew in Eretz Yisrael. This is where it all started - the roots of the Jewish People in the Land of Israel. This was the first act , dramatizing the covenant between the Jewish People and their Creator, in their Homeland. MK Ariel Sharon, speaking at the Ma’ara said: "What other nation in the world can make such a claim - all our Patriarchs and Matriarchs buried in one place - the roots of our nation. I would bring every schoolchild, every tourist here. I would bring every ambassador arriving in Israel to Ma’arat HaMachpela before showing him any other place in Israel. This is where the Jewish People began, in Hebron."

What then would be more fitting than to continue to renew our eternal covenant at this same site? So at 10:00 AM on Friday morning, eight days after the birth, we gathered, friends and family, in "Ohel Avraham" the Abraham Hall, inside Ma’arat HaMachpela, to celebrate the addition of a new Jew, and new Israeli, to the Jewish People in the Land of Israel. The "Sandak" or Godfather was Rav Dov Lior, the Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba-Hebron. He held the baby as the ceremony was performed. The baby was named Raphael Baruch Yair in memory of two close friends from Kiryat Arba-Hebron murdered by Arabs.

As you might well imagine, it is very difficult to describe the emotions felt by a father and mother participating in an ancient rite, at the site where the originator of the observance lies in eternal rest. I can only say that I wish upon each and every one of you, and of all of the People of Israel, the privilege to feel what we felt and what we continue to feel - having been merited the honor to be an active link in the eternal chain, bonding the People of Israel to the Land of Israel, according to Jewish Law and tradition. You should all be granted such happiness.