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Oct 4, 2010
The people of Hebron
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach wrote an article on AOL News about the residents of Hebron and how the Hebron settlements are scuttling the chances for peace.
Boteach writes:
The first thing you discover about the residents of Hebron, whom the world derisively describes as settlers -- as if Jews living in their own ancient capital are newcomers -- is their warmth, friendliness and hospitality. I arrived with 20 guests, and our host, a wise and dedicated communal activist named Yigal, prepared a feast fit for a king. We ate in his sukkah, surrounded by a tranquility and quiet that I, in my busy life, rarely experience. The night air was cool and enervating.
All around us, children were playing, utterly carefree, on pristine playgrounds. So many Jews in Hebron have been killed in terror attacks over the years, yet the residents in general, and the children in particular, live unafraid. They are also liberated from hatred. When their friends die -- as did the four two weeks ago -- they mourn them, bury them, commemorate them and get on with their lives. There are no calls for revenge attacks, there are no mass demonstrations braying for Arab blood. Their response, rather, is to demonstrate, in the most peaceful manner, that they are there to stay.
[...]
The streets of Hebron were alive with joyous residents dancing to the music of a Jewish mystical hippie band whose flowing locks and mesmerizing music brought gladness to my heart. I was uplifted and joyous to be dancing in a city that in 1929 saw the massacre of 67 Jews and the destruction of nearly all the synagogues and Jewish buildings. I felt alive and utterly free of fear.
Could it really be that a community that simply wishes to live beside the earthly remains of Abraham and Sara, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah, is an obstacle to peace? Are 800 Jews in Hebron such a criminal incitement to the 100,000 Palestinians who surround them? And is it fair to characterize religious individuals who have a love for children and large families, and who live without material extravagance or opulence, as irritants?
But don't take my word for it. The next time you're in Israel, come and immerse yourself in the city chosen by Abraham as the eternal resting place for a wife he so loved, to forever rest in peace.
I completely agree with Rabbi Boteach on this.
My experience in Hebron, and I have been there many times, has been very similar to the way Rabbi B describes it. For example, on Sukkos, I went with some friends to daven vasikin in Hebron. I don't remember what time it was exactly, but it was in the range of about 9 AM on Hoshana Raba - erev yom tov. We stopped in by someone's house - one of the people in the group knew her from a while back. Knocked and walked in to the response in Hebrew called out from beyond - "Enter!".
The group of us, 4 adults and 2 children, enter this woman's house. She is on the phone and continues her conversation while we look around her living room. She finishes her call, and invites us down to her sukka to have some drinks and cake.
We sit with her in her sukka chatting and eating. We sat there for about 45 minutes enjoying her hospitality and friendliness before we moved on.
And that has been my experience every time, whether it is being invited into someone's house, offered food and drink, just conversation or general friendliness. The people of Hebron are wonderful people.
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Israel's big mistake was to allow the Arabs to return to Hebron in the aftermath of the Six Day War. It should have barred them and made the Holy City a Jewish city.
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of timid leadership does Israel have that it is afraid of expanding the Jewish presence in the City Of The Patriarchs and the first capital of Israel? Its long overdue.