Some 20,000 visitors from all over Israel spent the Sabbath in Hevron this week. They came in honor of the annual reading of the Torah portion recounting Abraham\'s purchase of the Machpelah Cave and Field from the Hittites. Veteran Hevron resident and spokesman Noam Arnon told Arutz-7 today that it was the largest crowd of Shabbat visitors that had ever come to Hevron, \"despite the dangers of the past months, weeks, and days. It was a tremendously uplifting feeling to see the crowds filling the streets of Hevron and participating in the joyous prayer services in and out of the Machpelah Cave.\"
Some hopeful visitors were unable to arrive because of a shortage of bulletproof buses, although the Egged Bus Company made a special effort in this regard: It carried hundreds of passengers from the Jerusalem Bus Station to Gilo in regular buses, thus freeing up the \"safer\" vehicles for the remainder of the trip from Gilo to Hevron.
The Shabbat joy was marred only by Thursday\'s destruction - by the Israeli Civil Administration - of a small two-hut playground that the children of the Admot Yeshai (Tel Romeida) neighborhood had built for themselves. Hevron spokesmen said that accusations by one of the soldiers that Jewish children had assaulted him were totally unfounded, \"although, in their great hurt, some children did yell at him.\" The Tel Romeida complex is very limited, and the children \"showed initiative\" by building two booths, swings, and a doghouse.
Some hopeful visitors were unable to arrive because of a shortage of bulletproof buses, although the Egged Bus Company made a special effort in this regard: It carried hundreds of passengers from the Jerusalem Bus Station to Gilo in regular buses, thus freeing up the \"safer\" vehicles for the remainder of the trip from Gilo to Hevron.
The Shabbat joy was marred only by Thursday\'s destruction - by the Israeli Civil Administration - of a small two-hut playground that the children of the Admot Yeshai (Tel Romeida) neighborhood had built for themselves. Hevron spokesmen said that accusations by one of the soldiers that Jewish children had assaulted him were totally unfounded, \"although, in their great hurt, some children did yell at him.\" The Tel Romeida complex is very limited, and the children \"showed initiative\" by building two booths, swings, and a doghouse.