Barely half a year has gone by since I spent the most magical Shabbos in Hevron.
There had been some pre-Shabbos jostling around, because the guest house was overflowing with guests and I was the overflow. But sure enough, when it was time to light candles, everything worked out and everything was Shabbosdik. The city of Avraham Avinu, who taught us Hachnoses Orchim, welcoming guests, welcomed my family and me, and made us comfortable.
As darkness fell, I strolled to the plaza of Maaras HaMachpela. The streets were quiet, with soldiers stationed on each corner answering ?Shabbat Shalom? to the passers-by. I davened together with the women and girls gathered not far from the Carlebach minyan. The evening air was refreshing after a hot day. The indirect lighting on the plaza shed a peaceful glow. The girls glided by in their white, flowing, Hevron-style Shabbos dresses. The men in the minyan danced and sang in unison, expressing a sincere desire to connect to their creator.
As the prayers ended, I was amazed to see the hundreds of Jews walking up the path to Kiryat Arba. What a miracle.
As I watched, I knew it was a miracle for the Jews to be walking undisturbed up that road, with all its curves and steep inclines, lined on both sides by Arab houses and insufficient lighting. But how much of a miracle, I did not yet know. Now, after how many Friday night attacks in the Hevron area, some on that very road, reality has turned out to be uglier than I could have imagined.
I was speaking with Leah Hochbaum, who has lived in Hevron for eight years. She said that when she sees something horrible, she thinks she has seen the worst, and then something even worse happens: ?In early summer 2001, when we were traveling to the funeral of Gilad Zar, we saw someone shot and killed. We thought that was the worst. When we suffered all that summer under direct gunfire into our neighborhood, we thought that was the worst. These past few weeks, the terror attacks have been incredibly intense, and then we had the first infiltration into Kiryat Arba, that was the worst. But now the tragedy of the two Jews being mistaken for terrorists? I can?t believe it can get worse than this.?
When I spoke to Leah she had just returned from making a shiva call to the home of the Horowitz?s, the couple who were gunned down while seated at their Shabbos table, on Shabbos Pekudei. I was amazed at what Leah told me: ?Despite everything people are hopeful. No one was devastated. No one was giving up hope. Such a personal tragedy to happen in such a way? but the children were saying that their parents did not die for nothing. They gave their lives for a reason.?
A few doors away from the Hochbaum?s apartment in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, is the home of Danny and Batsheva Cohen, Chabad shluchim (emissaries) to Hevron. ?The atmosphere has become increasingly tense,? Batsheva told me, ?We are afraid even in our own homes. We have to stock up on basics, because we do not know when the road to Kiryat Arba will be closed and for how long.?
Batsheva told me that some of her guests, for the Shabbos following the Kiryat Arba infiltration, have cancelled, but not all. The many girls and 20 buchorim (male students) who are scheduled to help out with the Chabad activities on Purim have all confirmed that they are coming. The girls will be giving Shalach Monos to the women security personnel in the neighborhood and the boys will be going to army bases to read Megilla and distribute Shalach Monos to the soldiers.
I reached Danny on his cellular phone, on his way to make a shiva call in Yerushalim, together with Hevron activist Boruch Marzel. Danny had some good news to share with me: ?Just this week we launched a new campaign in Hevron and the surrounding areas. In Tehilim it says: ?When the nations of the world will see how Hashem?s name is upon you, this will cast fear upon them.? The Gemara explains that this is referring to Tefilin. The Lubavitcher Rebbe was very emphatic that all Jewish men, especially soldiers, should put on Tefillin each day.?
Then Marzel interrupted, ?For years, when Rabbi Leibel Groner, the Rebbe?s secretary, would visit Hevron, he would always be pushing me to see that the soldiers in Hevron are putting on Tefilin. Finally a few months ago, on Shabbos Parshas Chaya Sara, two friends from Los Angeles, Ami Pikovsky and Larry Siegel, committed themselves to donating 18 pairs of Tefillin for the soldiers in and around Hevron and to have storage boxes made to make the Tefillin available.?
?Thanks to these two men,? continued Danny, ?we now have three stations set up for the soldiers to put on Tefillin, and soon we will have more. From my experience, I see that in these days, soldiers feel very good about putting on Tefillin. Our soldiers in Hevron have a tough job. If the Gemara says that putting on Tefillin will help them against the enemy, then I am here to help them put on Tefillin.?
As I was finishing this article and had given up hope of reaching Simcha Hochbaum, Leah?s husband, the phone rang. Simcha had just returned home from Yerushalaim, where he attended the funeral of one of the boys who died because of the confusion caused by enemies disguising themselves as Jews. It is 2:30am in Eretz Yisroel.
Simcha is a popular tour guide in Hevron. He is even better known for initiating and leading Carlebach minyonim. I remember how he inspired his congregation last summer. I was wondering how he would find strength to carry on his important mission in these trying times.
Hevron was King David?s first capital city. It is no wonder that just like Danny, in his explanation, Simcha quoted Tehilim. ?In Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin?s stories on Parshas Sh?mini, there is a lesson told in the name of Reb Shlomo of Radomsk,? Simcha told me, ?When Aharon HaCohen lost his sons, he remained silent. This is a very high level. But King David surpassed him, as it says in Tehilim: ?In order that my soul may sing praise to You, and not remain silent.? For even in times of distress Dovid HaMelech would still sing G-d?s praises.
?In this period now,? continued Simcha, ?when I just returned home from a funeral of the son of a friend, while my wife was making a shiva call to comfort the children of our colleagues, our response is not only to cry. We are here to continue what these holy people began and are unable to complete. It is not a time to be weak. We must strengthen ourselves so that we can be their voices and sing their songs.?
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Aliza Karp writes about issues of concern to the Jewish world, including the Lubavitcher Rebbe's perspective on defending Israel, with special focus on the Jewish community of Hebron.
************
Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.
There had been some pre-Shabbos jostling around, because the guest house was overflowing with guests and I was the overflow. But sure enough, when it was time to light candles, everything worked out and everything was Shabbosdik. The city of Avraham Avinu, who taught us Hachnoses Orchim, welcoming guests, welcomed my family and me, and made us comfortable.
As darkness fell, I strolled to the plaza of Maaras HaMachpela. The streets were quiet, with soldiers stationed on each corner answering ?Shabbat Shalom? to the passers-by. I davened together with the women and girls gathered not far from the Carlebach minyan. The evening air was refreshing after a hot day. The indirect lighting on the plaza shed a peaceful glow. The girls glided by in their white, flowing, Hevron-style Shabbos dresses. The men in the minyan danced and sang in unison, expressing a sincere desire to connect to their creator.
As the prayers ended, I was amazed to see the hundreds of Jews walking up the path to Kiryat Arba. What a miracle.
As I watched, I knew it was a miracle for the Jews to be walking undisturbed up that road, with all its curves and steep inclines, lined on both sides by Arab houses and insufficient lighting. But how much of a miracle, I did not yet know. Now, after how many Friday night attacks in the Hevron area, some on that very road, reality has turned out to be uglier than I could have imagined.
I was speaking with Leah Hochbaum, who has lived in Hevron for eight years. She said that when she sees something horrible, she thinks she has seen the worst, and then something even worse happens: ?In early summer 2001, when we were traveling to the funeral of Gilad Zar, we saw someone shot and killed. We thought that was the worst. When we suffered all that summer under direct gunfire into our neighborhood, we thought that was the worst. These past few weeks, the terror attacks have been incredibly intense, and then we had the first infiltration into Kiryat Arba, that was the worst. But now the tragedy of the two Jews being mistaken for terrorists? I can?t believe it can get worse than this.?
When I spoke to Leah she had just returned from making a shiva call to the home of the Horowitz?s, the couple who were gunned down while seated at their Shabbos table, on Shabbos Pekudei. I was amazed at what Leah told me: ?Despite everything people are hopeful. No one was devastated. No one was giving up hope. Such a personal tragedy to happen in such a way? but the children were saying that their parents did not die for nothing. They gave their lives for a reason.?
A few doors away from the Hochbaum?s apartment in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, is the home of Danny and Batsheva Cohen, Chabad shluchim (emissaries) to Hevron. ?The atmosphere has become increasingly tense,? Batsheva told me, ?We are afraid even in our own homes. We have to stock up on basics, because we do not know when the road to Kiryat Arba will be closed and for how long.?
Batsheva told me that some of her guests, for the Shabbos following the Kiryat Arba infiltration, have cancelled, but not all. The many girls and 20 buchorim (male students) who are scheduled to help out with the Chabad activities on Purim have all confirmed that they are coming. The girls will be giving Shalach Monos to the women security personnel in the neighborhood and the boys will be going to army bases to read Megilla and distribute Shalach Monos to the soldiers.
I reached Danny on his cellular phone, on his way to make a shiva call in Yerushalim, together with Hevron activist Boruch Marzel. Danny had some good news to share with me: ?Just this week we launched a new campaign in Hevron and the surrounding areas. In Tehilim it says: ?When the nations of the world will see how Hashem?s name is upon you, this will cast fear upon them.? The Gemara explains that this is referring to Tefilin. The Lubavitcher Rebbe was very emphatic that all Jewish men, especially soldiers, should put on Tefillin each day.?
Then Marzel interrupted, ?For years, when Rabbi Leibel Groner, the Rebbe?s secretary, would visit Hevron, he would always be pushing me to see that the soldiers in Hevron are putting on Tefilin. Finally a few months ago, on Shabbos Parshas Chaya Sara, two friends from Los Angeles, Ami Pikovsky and Larry Siegel, committed themselves to donating 18 pairs of Tefillin for the soldiers in and around Hevron and to have storage boxes made to make the Tefillin available.?
?Thanks to these two men,? continued Danny, ?we now have three stations set up for the soldiers to put on Tefillin, and soon we will have more. From my experience, I see that in these days, soldiers feel very good about putting on Tefillin. Our soldiers in Hevron have a tough job. If the Gemara says that putting on Tefillin will help them against the enemy, then I am here to help them put on Tefillin.?
As I was finishing this article and had given up hope of reaching Simcha Hochbaum, Leah?s husband, the phone rang. Simcha had just returned home from Yerushalaim, where he attended the funeral of one of the boys who died because of the confusion caused by enemies disguising themselves as Jews. It is 2:30am in Eretz Yisroel.
Simcha is a popular tour guide in Hevron. He is even better known for initiating and leading Carlebach minyonim. I remember how he inspired his congregation last summer. I was wondering how he would find strength to carry on his important mission in these trying times.
Hevron was King David?s first capital city. It is no wonder that just like Danny, in his explanation, Simcha quoted Tehilim. ?In Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin?s stories on Parshas Sh?mini, there is a lesson told in the name of Reb Shlomo of Radomsk,? Simcha told me, ?When Aharon HaCohen lost his sons, he remained silent. This is a very high level. But King David surpassed him, as it says in Tehilim: ?In order that my soul may sing praise to You, and not remain silent.? For even in times of distress Dovid HaMelech would still sing G-d?s praises.
?In this period now,? continued Simcha, ?when I just returned home from a funeral of the son of a friend, while my wife was making a shiva call to comfort the children of our colleagues, our response is not only to cry. We are here to continue what these holy people began and are unable to complete. It is not a time to be weak. We must strengthen ourselves so that we can be their voices and sing their songs.?
--------------------------------------------------------
Aliza Karp writes about issues of concern to the Jewish world, including the Lubavitcher Rebbe's perspective on defending Israel, with special focus on the Jewish community of Hebron.
************
Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.