Today, Election Day in Israel, is only a few days before the yahrzeit of the Matriarch Rachel, whose tomb outside Bethlehem is nearly always full of supplicants, most of them women, and draws thousands who pour out their hearts there all through the year.
Today, before going to vote, women active in Right wing parties started their day together at the tomb of Mother Rachel, or Mameh Rochel, as she is called in Yiddish.. They prayed for a better future, for the strengthening of the Jewish identity of the State of Israel and for the success of the Right wing camp. A large group of women from nearby Gush Etzion came to join them in prayer..
The joint prayer session was the initiative of Oshrit Sitbon, Chairperson of the Council of Women's Organizations in Israel, who is a candidate for the position of President of Emunah Israel, the Religious Zionist Women's Movement. Joining her was former MK Shuli Mualem. The women prayed for nearly an hour and then went their separate ways to vote and try to convince others to go out and do the same.
"This past year has made us all realize how significant and harmful distancing the country from its identity and roots can be," said Sitbon. "Today, just before our Mother Rachel's yahrzeit, we women of the nationalist camp have come here to pray for our Matriarch to go before the Master of the Universe, Ribbono shel Olam, and pray for the success of the Jewish People and the Land of Israel."
Former MK Mualem, a member of the Likud, added: "We are in a national emergency, on one side is the bloc that is loyal to the Land and its values, and on the other those who attempt to endanger the Jewish identity of the State. We began the day with prayers to Ribbono shel Olam at Mameh Rochel's tomb in the hope that we will succeed in strengthening the Jewish character of the State. With G-d's help we will go forward and succeed!" she ended.
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