On this day, I took a day trip to Hebron.
A bit about Hebron: it is a highly tense, contentious place. It is in the West Bank, and has primarily an Arab population (around 15,000), but because of its small population of Jewish settlers (around 1,000) it is under the watch of the IDF (Israel Defense Force). Palestinians have curfews and are not allowed on certain streets; the small population of settlers are allowed to be armed (an anomaly in Israel, where guns are illegal to the civilian population); there is a constant air of tension, memories of clashes always fresh. Most of the religious sites are Arab-controlled, and Jews have either restricted access or are not allowed at all.
It's an important place, to many people, and so conflict over control is very high. It is believed by some to be the oldest continually inhabited place in the world (as is Damascus in Syria), and it has one particular site that is the primary source of contention: the Cave of the Patriarchs - the burial place of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah (Rachel was buried outside Bethlehem when she died giving childbirth while on the road). If you aren't familiar with the Torah, Bible, or Qur'an, those are considered the mothers and fathers of the modern 3 monotheistic religions - Abraham was the first to worship only the Hebrew god, and his two sons Isaac and Ishmael were eventually the ancestors of Jesus and Muhammad according to Christianity and Islam. Hebron is also one of the four holy cities of Judaism, each associated with a different element: Tzfat = air, Tiberias = water, Jerusalem = fire, and Hebron = earth. ...so, it's kind of an important place, to say the least.
I signed up to take a tour with the Hebron Fund, a Jewish organization based in Hebron, with tours lead by a rabbi who is one of the settlers currently living in Hebron. Obviously, this gave a very specific perspective and narrative, which I took with a grain of salt, but it was definitely very eye-opening to learn the beliefs, emotions, principles, etc. of the Jewish population in Hebron. Unfortunately this also meant I missed out on the things the city is well-known for, such as its glass blowing, pottery, fresh fruit markets, etc., because we did not touch the Arab part of the city. Non-Jewish, non-Muslims are usually permitted in the Arab-controlled areas, but obviously as a part of this tour that wasn't going to happen.
The first stop on this tour to "visit our mothers and fathers" was Kever Rachel, outside Bethlehem. This was a particularly interesting place to visit because it is situated literally within the border wall Israel is currently building between the West Bank and the "green zone" (Israel proper). It was surreal, knowing that just on the other side of that concrete wall was Bethlehem, and the people on that side of the wall were not permitted to visit the tomb of Rachel, less than 100 feet away from them. There has been a lot of controversy over the move to keep the tomb within Israel rather than Palestine, because of how important it is to both Judaism and Islam, and the tomb is only accessible now by taking bulletproof busses, and it is surrounded by incredibly ugly military outposts... the sketches and photos of it, pre-concrete-barrier, are so beautiful and picturesque, I'm sad I was not able to visit it in the 1970s.
Picturesque Palestine.
Rachel's Tomb, pre-barrier, pre-Israel state.
Inside Rachel's Tomb (Kever Rachel).
Me inside Kever Rachel.
Kever Rachel, within the military barriers - you can just see the dome peeking over the fence.
After we were given time for davining (prayer), we continued easily through the checkpoint and went to Hebron (the IDF doesn't really stop people going into the West Bank, they mostly just care about who leaves it). Here is one of our first views of Hebron:
A quiet street in Hebron in the early morning.
Our first stop was in the middle of the part of the Jewish settlement outside the "Old City," where there are some archaeological ruins, and where there was a lot of violence with the neighbors until very recently (within the last few years).
Bronze Age city street - from around 2500 BCE.
Structures ranging in age from 2500 BCE to 500 AD, with an apartment building for Jewish settlers built over them.
In the Jewish settlement of Hebron, with the main Arab part of the city in the background, listening to the tour guide.
Gazing at a coffee canister from a coffee shop that used to be here before the last major outbreak of violence - you can see the bullet indents on the outside.
Street art in the Jewish quarter of Hebron - the Hebrew letters inside the triangle-heart star of David says "Chai" (pronounced "hi" with a throat "h") - "Am Israel Chai" loosely translates to "To Israel, Life!".
We then took the bus only a couple short blocks (we were bussed everywhere more than 2 steps away, presumably for safety reasons since the busses are bulletproof) to the Hebron Heritage Museum, which was beautifully painted and chronicled the history of Jewish presence in Hebron, particularly in the modern era and focused heavily on the 1929 massacre of Jews by the Arabs during the British Mandate.
The Hebron Heritage Museum in Beit Haddasah
Entrance to the Hebron Heritage Museum.
The Hebron Heritage Museum.
Our next stop was the Jewish Quarter of Hebron, which had been the main site of the 1929 massacre, now fully reinhabited and thriving. We went first to the Avraham Avinu Synagogue, revived/rebuilt after years of being used as a dump near the markets, with its ancient scrolls returned. There is a lot of significance to this particular synagogue, including Kaballic legend - read here if interested.
Our guide, showing us the ancient scrolls.
A minaret seen rising behind the Jewish Quarter
Before the synagogue, which was in use when we first tried to enter, we walked through more of the Jewish quarter, including to our guide's apartment - it was a little weird, cramming 40 people into his living room while he talked about the history of the Jewish presence in Hebron, and about the significance of the synagogue itself so we could just go down and look at it quickly before lunch... but it was random and interesting.
It was then time for lunch just before and just outside the main event, the reason for everything Hebron-related, the second most holy place to Judaism after the Temple Mount: Me'arat ha-Machpela (Cave of the Patriarchs - literally, "Cave of the Double Tombs", referring to the original layout of the caves before Jacob dug in there and added a couple more). The base of the wall around the caves was build by Herod in the first century; after wars and destruction and such, a mosque was built on the remains, and in Saladin's time those two minarets you can see today were built. Only in recent times have Jews been allowed in to worship, and they are still denied access to all the tombs except for 10 holy days a year.
Tomb of the Patriarchs
Myself in front of the Cave of the Patriarchs
Abraham's cenotaph.
Abraham's cenotaph.
Myself outside the tombs of Abraham and Sarah.
Inside the worship area for the cenotaphs of Abraham and Sarah.
Leah's cenotaph.
View over Hebron from the Cave of the Patriarchs.
The clashing sounds outside the Cave of the Patriarchs (video!).
This was the end of the tour; after ample time for davining, we returned to the bus, which returned us to Jerusalem. This view outside Jaffa gate has become so familiar to me, it's like home.
Myself outside Jaffa Gate.
I highly encourage you to read up more on Kever Rachel, the Cave of the Patriarchs, and Hebron in general... it's insane how much history and contention there is over them, and even more insane that I just hopped on a bus and went there. On my next trip to Israel I'll be sure to be an American tourist and visit the main part of Hebron, and appreciate the local Palestinian culture and art and food... but for now, it's good that I learned so much from the side most accessible to me as a post-Birthright Jewish traveler.
As always, I do not include all (or even close to all) of my photos
here in my blog. To see all my photos from my post-Birthright travels,
see my Flickr album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mtashalocke/sets/72157628990457609/
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