Grassroots efforts on behalf of Rachel\'s Tomb - including an encampment and bus service - continue non-stop, even after four and a half months of activity. Hevron resident Shelly Karzen is one of the leaders of the winter-long encampment she and others established a few hundred meters from the holy site.
\"When we established this encampment [in November 2000],\" she told Arutz-7 yesterday, \"Rachel\'s Tomb had been totally closed to the Jewish public for some weeks. Arabs kept threatening the site, and even tried to overrun it... We demanded that the army reopen it quickly, fearing that what had happened at Joseph\'s Tomb in Shechem would also occur here.\" It will be recalled that after several harsh battles over Joseph\'s Tomb at the beginning of the Rosh HaShanah Arab Assault, in which one IDF soldier was killed, the Israelis suddenly decided to evacuate the site. Within hours, local Arabs had destroyed the yeshiva that had operated there for some 20 years, and turned the site into a mosque.
\"In principle,\" Karzen said, \"Rachel\'s Tomb is open to Jewish worship 24 hours a day. The problem is that the army allows Jews to get there only in bulletproof vehicles. Practically speaking, then, hardly anybody can come. A private organization named Yesh Sachar LiF\'ulotech [\"Your Efforts Will Be Rewarded,\" the prophet\'s promise to the Matriarch Rachel] has organized bulletproof buses three hours every morning, from 9-12. We call upon the public to use these buses!\"
When asked if it was not dangerous to go to Rachel\'s Tomb to pray, Karzen replied, \"It\'s dangerous *not* to go there; Rachel is our connection with the Land of Israel [see Jer. 31, 14-16]. But in addition, the site is located only 400 meters from Jerusalem city line, opposite an army camp, and it is built as a fortress... We can keep on demanding more free entry - and we have even noticed a small positive change in the authorities\' attitude of late - but in truth it\'s up to the public. If the public doesn\'t come, and doesn\'t show that it values Rachel\'s Tomb, this weakens the claims of our local group here. We need the public to come to the site and demand to get in, and this will strengthen our hold here...\"
\"When we established this encampment [in November 2000],\" she told Arutz-7 yesterday, \"Rachel\'s Tomb had been totally closed to the Jewish public for some weeks. Arabs kept threatening the site, and even tried to overrun it... We demanded that the army reopen it quickly, fearing that what had happened at Joseph\'s Tomb in Shechem would also occur here.\" It will be recalled that after several harsh battles over Joseph\'s Tomb at the beginning of the Rosh HaShanah Arab Assault, in which one IDF soldier was killed, the Israelis suddenly decided to evacuate the site. Within hours, local Arabs had destroyed the yeshiva that had operated there for some 20 years, and turned the site into a mosque.
\"In principle,\" Karzen said, \"Rachel\'s Tomb is open to Jewish worship 24 hours a day. The problem is that the army allows Jews to get there only in bulletproof vehicles. Practically speaking, then, hardly anybody can come. A private organization named Yesh Sachar LiF\'ulotech [\"Your Efforts Will Be Rewarded,\" the prophet\'s promise to the Matriarch Rachel] has organized bulletproof buses three hours every morning, from 9-12. We call upon the public to use these buses!\"
When asked if it was not dangerous to go to Rachel\'s Tomb to pray, Karzen replied, \"It\'s dangerous *not* to go there; Rachel is our connection with the Land of Israel [see Jer. 31, 14-16]. But in addition, the site is located only 400 meters from Jerusalem city line, opposite an army camp, and it is built as a fortress... We can keep on demanding more free entry - and we have even noticed a small positive change in the authorities\' attitude of late - but in truth it\'s up to the public. If the public doesn\'t come, and doesn\'t show that it values Rachel\'s Tomb, this weakens the claims of our local group here. We need the public to come to the site and demand to get in, and this will strengthen our hold here...\"