Hundreds of Jews traveled to the village of Kifl Haris in Samaria on Tuesday night, in order to pray at the gravesites of Yehoshua Bin Nun and Kalev Ben Yefuneh.
The visit was held in honor of Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, and was one of the regular group visits organized by the Samaria Regional Council to the two gravesites as well as to Kever Yosef, accompanied by the IDF.
Among those joining the visit was Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan.
“It’s very exciting, very emotional to be here,” Dagan said, “at the gravesites of Yehoshua Bin Nun and Kalev Ben Yefuneh, two leaders who knew how to stand up against a majority of the leadership in their time and insist: ‘The Land is very good’ – we must go up and settle it with G-d’s help.
“Living in Samaria is not just a privilege – it is also a duty,” Dagan added. “It is our duty to protect the holy sites here, sites that are holy to the Jewish People, places where we have the deepest roots. Just a few days ago, in the Haftarah on Simchat Torah, we read of the transfer of leadership from Moshe Rabbeinu to Yehoshua Bin Nun, who would lead the Jewish People into the Land of Israel. The reason why Yehoshua merited this was that he, along with Kalev Ben Yefuneh knew how to stand up against a majority of the leadership at that time and insist that the Land is very, very good. And I call on the government of Israel of today to learn from their courage and say again: The Land is very, very good, and we will build here.
“If this does not happen, we will fight for it,” he said. “The Jewish People today are waiting to see the government bring about a construction boom in Judea and Samaria, to establish new communities all over the country, and not to be afraid of what other countries say about it. As for us, we will continue to bring people to pray here – religious, secular, and traditional alike – because this is our Land.”
Dagan then thanked the Ephraim Brigade under Brig.-Gen. Mordi Weiss, the Border Police, and Israel Police officers, for securing the visit, and also the administration of Kever Yosef and the Samaria holy sites, for assisting with the planning and organization.