imenig
THE DETROIT
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Hebron's Role in Jewish History Traced

BY AMBASSADOR
CHAIM HERZOG

(Copyright 1976, JTA, Inc.)

(Editor's note: This arti-
cle is part of a letter which
Israeli Ambassador
Chaim Herzog presented
to United Nations Secret-
ary General Kurt Wal-
dheim on the situation in
Hebron. The letter and
this analysis were dated
Nov. 1 and appeared as an
official document of the
General Assembly and the
Security Council.)
Hebron, one of the old-
est known cities in the
world, derives its name
gi the root of the Heb-
_ Ar word for "compan-
ion." It has been the site
of almost continuous
Jewish settlement since
biblical times until the
present day, and contains
the Tomb of the Pat-
riarchs (the "Cave of
Machpela"), an ancient
Jewish shrine and holy
place.
In August 1929, 67 local
Jews were massacred by
an Arab mob incited by
their religious leaders.
After the war of 1967, the
Israeli authorities
opened the Tomb of the
Patriarchs for prayer to
worshippers of every
faith from all countries,
both friendly and hostile
to Israel. A Jewish com-
munity was also permit-
ted to re-establish itself,
not however in the town
of Hebron itself, but
nearby.
The Israel government
decided that the optimal
way to organize life in the
Hebron area was to allow
the Arab inhabitants to
develop their city as they
wished, in keeping with
their own way of life,
while a Jewish township
bearing the ancient name
of the "City of the Pat-
riarchs" —Kiryat Arba —
was set up outside the
municipal boundaries of
Hebron. Arab Hebron has
not been supplanted by
the Jewish town but the
two coexist, side by side,
with each growing and
developing in its own
way.
Hebron can be traced
back in Jewish history to
almost 2000 BCE, when
the Bible recounts how the
Hebrew Patriarch Ab-
raham, the founding
father of the Jewish people
and religion, settled there
(Genesis 13:18 and 18:1).
When Abraham's wife,
Sarah, died in "Kiryat
Arba — that is Hebron"
(Genesis 23:2), Abraham
bought a burial place for
400 shekels of silver from
Ephron the Hittite and
"buried Sarah his wife in
OP cave of the field of
hpela before Mamre
that is Hebron"
(Genesis 23:19). Later,
Genesis 49:23-31 relates
how the Patriarch Jacob,
also known as Israel,
asked to be buried with his
fathers in the Cave of
Machpela.
Hebron maintained its
importance throughout
the following centuries.
Under the Prophets of Is-
rael, Hebron became one
of the three cities of re-
fuge west of the Jordan,
the others being Kadesh
in Galilee and Shechem in
Mount Ephraim. Around

1110

1000 BCE, King David they were accustomed to
was born in Bethlehem, pray daily. Many of them
midway between Hebron also sought to be buried in
and Jerusalem. David is the vicinity of the tomb.
said to have asked the The Mameluke Sultan
Lord in II Samuel 2:1: Baybars prohibited the
"Shall I go up into any of Jews and Christians from
the cities of Judah? And praying within the area
God said, 'Go up . . . unto in the year 1267. Jews
Hebron.' " Here David were permitted to ascend
reigned as King of Judah five, later seven steps on
for 7 1/2 years, and here six the side of the eastern
of his sons were born. wall and to insert peti-
After David moved his tions into a hole opposite
capital to Jerusalem, the fourth step. This hole
Hebron's centrality de- pierces the entire thick-
clined, although it was ness of the wall, to a depth
still an important trading of 2.25 meters. It is first
center and road junction. mentioned in 1521, and it
Jews moved from the can almost certainly be
city with the First assumed to have been
(Babylonian) Exile (Sixth made at the request of the
Century BCE) but they Jews of Hebron, possibly
returned within half a on payment of a large
century, for Nehemia sum, so that their suppli-
11 :25 describes how cations would fall into the
"some of the children of cave situated under the
Judah dwelt at Kiryat floor of the area. The ex-
Arba, and in the villages tremity of the hole is
thereof." below the blocked open-
At the turn of the eras, ing in the mosque floor
Herod the Great, the and leads to the cave.
Jewish king and rebuilder
This prohibition was
of Jerusalem, reshaped strictly enforced until the
the Tomb of the Pat- 20th Century. Nonethe-
riarchs, and gave it its less, given the holiness of
present form. Above the the tomb and the signifi-
tomb in the Cave of cance of Hebron in Jewish
Machpela, he constructed history, the local commun-
a quadrangle measuring ity remained, and Jewish
60 by 34 meters, the en- pilgrims to the Holy Land
closing walls nearly three did not consider their pil-
meters thick, rising to a grimage complete without
height of over 12 meters. a visit to Hebron.
The ramparts are made of Under the Ottomans,
beautifully worked, huge the Jewish community in
bordered ashlars, some Hebron continued to de-
-over seven meters in velop, despite occasional
length, similar to those persecution and plunder.
used in the Herodian In 1659 a yeshiva
structures on the Temple (theological
college)
Mount in Jerusalem. named Hesed Le-
During the Jewish wars Avraham was estab-
against Rome, Hebron, lished, and it later be-
being an important Jewish came an important center
center, was burnt down by of scholarship and a
the Roman commander primary factor leading to
Cerealius (Josephus, "The the spiritual prominence
Jewish Wars," 4:554). of the local Jewish com-
Nonetheless, Jews con- munity. In the 19th Cen-
tinued to live there. It was tury the community de-
during the Byzantine veloped significantly and
period that a church was several Jewish public in-
erected over the Cave of stitutions, such as
Machpela and the building schools, alms houses and
was named the Church of a hospital, were set up.
In 1929, at the end of
St. Abraham. In the Sixth
Century CE the church the first decade of the
was divided into parts — British Mandate, a tragic
one for Jews and the other blow was dealt. to the
Jewish community of
for Christians.
Hebron. The Arab popu-
The Arabs conquered lation incited by their re-
Hebron in 638 CE, and in ligious leaders, launched
memory of the Hebrew a well-planned assault
Patriarch, renamed the with the obvious goal of
town Khalil Al-Rahman eliminating the Jewish
("the companion of (God) community. The mobs did
the Merciful — i.e. Ab- not spare women, ehil-
raham) or simply al- dren or the elderly; 67
Khalil. The Arabs allowed were massacred and 60
the Jews to be super- _ were wounded, the corn-
visors of the Cave of munity was destroyed,
Machpela, although part synagogues razed and
of it was used as a mosque Torah scrolls burned. The
— the Mosque of Ibrahim. centuries-old Jewish pre-
With the Crusader con- sence in Hebron came to a
quest in 1100 CE the Mos- virtual halt at the hands
que of Ibrahim once more of Arab rioters.
became the Church of St.
After the war of 1948,
Abraham, and both Mus- Transjordan occupied the
liras and Jews were expel- West Bank and later an-
led. However, Jewish pil- nexed it within the
grimS continued to visit Hashemite Kingdom of
Hebron and the site of the Jordan. During the years
Cave of Machpela, even 1948 to 1967 no Jews lived
though they were not al- in Hebron, and none were
lowed to enter the tomb allowed to visit the town
proper. or its holy places.
During the Mameluke
Despite Israeli appeals
rule, a small Jewish corn- transmitted to Jordan
munity lived in a closed- through the good offices of
off ghetto-like section of the United Nations, Jor-
Hebron. But Jews once dan chose to attack Israel
again had access to the on June 5, 1967. As a result
Cave of Machpela, where of that Jordanian aggres-

sion, Israel found itself in
control of Judaea and
Samaria (the West Bank),
including the town of Heb-
ron.
Returning to Hebron
for the first time in over
20 years, Israel disco-
vered the old Jewish
quarter totally de-
stroyed; the Avraham
Avinu Synagogue turned
into a public latrine and a
municipal warehouse;
and the ancient Jewish
cemetery of Hebron was
almost obliterated.
Immediately after the
war, the government of
Israel decided that the
holy places throughout
the territories should be
open to all worshippers of
all 'faiths. The govern-
ment proclaimed, on June
28, 1967, the Protection of
Holy Places Law, which
guaranteed to members
of all religions free access
to their respective holy
places. Thus for the first
time in exactly 700 years,
the Tomb of the Pat-
riarchs was opened to
members of all faiths and
in particular to the fol-
lowers of the three major
monotheistic religions —
Judaism, Christianity
and Islam.

Sieff Is Named
Weizmann Head

Friday, December 3, 1976 61

Jerusalem Quiz

A quiz testing your knowledge about
Jerusalem has been prepared by Tamar
Grand and Dr. A.P. Gannes in obser-
vance of the 10th anniversary of the
reunification of Jerusalem. This fea-
ture has been prepared for the member
papers of the American Jewish Press
Association by the Department of Edu-
cation and Hebrew Culture of the
American Section of the World Zionist
Organization.

1. Who provided Solomon with cedar wood and tech-
nical advice to build the Temple?
2. What Ethiopian queen came to visit this king in
Jerusalem?
3. What early historian wrote that it took 100 priests
and 10,000 workers more than nine years to build
the Temple 'area?
4. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom split in
two. Samaria was the capital of Israel. Of what was
Jerusalem the capital?
5. What happened to the Jews of Jerusalem in 586
BCE?
6. Complete the following quotations from the Bible:
"If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem, let my right hand

))

7. "For Zion's sake I will not hold my
and for
Jerusalem's sake I will not
8. When is the following recited: "How cloth the city
sit solitary, that was full of people. How has she
become a widow."
9. Complete the following: "Come, let us go up to the
of the Lord."
10. "For out of Zion shall go forth the
and the word
of the Lord from Jerusalem."
11. What are the three Pilgrimage holidays?
12. What solemn day of mourning commemorates the
destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem?
13. The massive stones at the bottom of the Wall are
the original stones. Who added the small stones at
the top of the Wall?
14. By what other name is the Western Wall called?
15. What do people sometimes place in the crevices of
the Western Wall?
16. What are two main shopping streets of Jerusalem?
17. What street is named for a veteran Zionist leader
and long time president of the Jewish National
Fund?
18. What boulevard is named after the founder of polit-
ical Zionism?
19. Jerusalem is holy to what three great religions?_
20. What is another name for the Mosque of Omar?

REHOVOT — Sir Mar-
cus Sieff, chairman of
Britain's Marks and
Spencer chain, was
elected chairman of the
Weizmann Institute's
board of governors at its
27th annual meeting.
The new chairman has
been associated with the
Weizmann Institute most
of his life. His parents, the
Quiz Answers
late Rebecca and Israel
(Lord) Sieff, who were
close personal friends of
VOIT alp. Jo atuola -og
Dr. and Mrs. Chaim
AvuupsIaLID ‘rusIu-epaturuutiow `tusIPnf '61
Weizmann, were respon-
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sible for the establish-
4aaJl.s UpILISISSfl .LT
ment of the pioneering
laaalS Itepnqa.A. uag pun FIVO'll EJJ'ef '91
Daniel Sieff Research In-
- warp uo
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grow.
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imping pun lonAngs `Ifosaci 'TT
Rehovot took place in
1934, when the Sieff In-
(8:3
'0I
(s:g
stitute was dedicated,
— ulnwnow •6
and scarcely a year has
aidtuaj, alp Jo uop
gone by since then with- -analsap aql sai.vioulatuuma tioTtiAk
utpu up •8
out his making one or
(T:g9 LIVIvsn 4sall !Baeaci 'L
(g:LsT uxinsd) 21quunD slt 49.2.rod •9
several additional visits
to the campus.
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JNF Pays Tribute
UgaLIS Jo uaano agy •g
aaAj, Jo 2utx `ure1III
to Mrs. Beame
NEW YORK — The
38th Maccabean Award
Dinner of the Jewish Na-
tional Fund will be held UAHC Acquires Music Company
Dec. 19 in the Waldorf-
NEW YORK — The the late Dr. Joseph Freu
Astoria Hotel, New York Union of American He- denthal, includes in its
City, it was announced by brew Congregations, Na- catalogue selections for
Rabbi Herschel Schacter, tional Congregational the cantor, choir, soloist,
dinner chairman.
Body of Reform Judaism the organ, college choirs,
Mrs. Abraham D. Be- in the U.S. and Canada, and instrumental music,
ame, wife of the mayor of has acquired the coun- synagogue services,
New York, will receive try's only Jewish music scores for chamber en-
the Maccabean Award publishing house, Trans- sembles, string or-
"for her devotion to her continental Music Pub- chestra, chamber or-
people and to the land of lishing Co., and will chestra and full sym-
Israel." The JNF will also henceforth operate the phony.
establish the Mayor and company as part of the
The company was pre-
Mrs. Abraham D. Beame UAHC's publishing divi- sented to the UAHC as a
Forest in the American sion.
gift by the founder's
Bicentennial Park
Transcontinental Mu- widow, Mari Freudent-
southwest of Jerusalem.
sic, founded in 1938 by
hal.

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