THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
FOCUS
Friday, April 20, 1984
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Elijah
local boy made good
BY CARL ALPERT
Special to The Jewish News
Haifa — We in Haifa take
a special interest in Elijah,
for he made his home here
for many years. He has
sometimes been likened to
Santa Claus, so prominent
in Christian consciousness •
at Christmas time. Prof. Sol
Liptzin notes, however, that
unlike Santa Claus, "Elijah
does not have to steal into
homes through chimneys,
even when bringing gifts.
For Elijah, the front door is
opened, the cup of wine is
filled, and warm hospitality
is extended, even if he
enters as a beggar, and
brings no gifts."
When we first came to
live in Haifa, I used to take
our children for walks
across the Carmel, which in
effect meant our back yard.
The little ones were deeply
impressed when I pointed
out that the stones they
were kicking out of their
path might have been the
very ones which Elijah the
Prophet had also kicked
aside when he lived here.
Though Elijah is gener-
ally accepted as the legen-
dary patron of Haifa, the
only civic facility which
bears his name is a very
modest stone-stepped alley,
leading from Abbas Street
to Stella Maris Road. Better
known, of course, is Elijah's
' Cave, but the local resident
will at once ask which one
you mean. There are two of
them.
That recognized by the
Christians is the cave over
which the Carmelite
Monastery is built on top of
the mountain. It is a rather
small excavation in the
rock, located just behind the
church altar. The other
Cave of Elijah, situated al-
most at the foot of the Car-
mel, where the mountain
comes closest to the sea, is
accepted by Jews and Mos-
lems as the genuine site.
Tens of thousands of "be-
lievers" come here each
year seeking miracles to
solve some of their personal
problems. Some of the
supplicants camp out in the
area.
Perhaps the highest peak
of the Carmel range is
known by its Arab name,
Mukhreka, the place of the
burning. Legend marks this
as the site of Elijah's famous
duel with the false prophets
of Baal.
We visit the place often.
Today a paved road leads all
the way to the top, where
another Carmelite Monas-
tery is located. This one is
truly isolated. Its only
water supply is what is
saved from the winter rainsp
or trucked up the moun-
tainside. It generates its
own electricity. There is no
telephone.
The view from here is
magnificent, commanding
almost all of northern Is-
rael. One of the guide books
reports that the heroic
statue of Elijah located in
the monastery courtyard is
new, since the original one
had been destroyed by
militant Arab forces in Is-
rael's War of Independece.
The Arabs believed that the
Jewish prophet was defend-
ing his people, and they
were taking no chances.
We queried Bishara
Suida, who has for many
years been the caretaker of
the monastery. He had a
different story. The old
statue had been made of
plaster, and after some 75
years of weathering the
tourist assaults, it had sim-
ply crumbled away.
One of the loveliest of the
Elijah legends (and there
are many) tells of the hot
summer day the Prophet
went out for a walk on the
Carmel. He became thirsty,
and seeing a field of ripe,
juicy melons, he asked the
farmer if he could have one.
Replied the farmer: "Me-
lons? Those are just rocks!"
"Very well," said Elijah.
"Let them be rocks," and on
the spot all the melons were
transformed into rocks.
Legend? Well, on our
walks around the Carmel
we have come across
melon-shaped rocks which,
when split open, look
exactly like fossilized me-
•ions inside. Scientists tell us
that these are geodes, de-
fined as hollow stones lined
with crystals.
Maybe! To us they are
Elijah's melons, and we
shall be happy to show them
to visitors.
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