A gala celebration will be held at Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem tomorrow, celebrating five years since a Torah scroll was brought to the site by the Rachel's Children Reclamation Foundation. Gilo Chief Rabbi Schlesinger, Rabbanit Tzvia Goren - the widow of former Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren - and other prominent guests were honored at the ceremony five years ago, and hundreds of people attended. Tomorrow's ceremony will be held at 5 PM, and buses will depart from the Israel Center on Keren HaYesod St. and from the Gilo-Bethlehem junction.
Israel's national bus company, Egged, has agreed to expand its bus service to Rachel's Tomb, and Rachel's Tomb supporters are calling upon the public to demonstrate their connection with Matriarch Rachel - and to encourage Egged in its new decision - by filling the buses.
Joseph's Tomb in Shechem is also in the news today. The IDF allowed a group of 100 Jews to pray at the compound this morning, after several months during which Jews were not permitted to enter the holy site. Seventeen Breslover Hassidim in the group were detained for not following the rules of the permit, but they will not be indicted.
Joseph, son of Patriarch Jacob and Matriarch Rachel, was buried outside the Biblical city of Shechem, and his gravesite remained outside the city for about 3,500 years. However, creeping Arab construction in the past three decades gradually led to the creation of an Arab neighborhood in Shechem around the site. Despite this, a yeshiva - Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai - was founded and operated there with dozens of students until almost three years ago.
Israeli rights to enter the small compound were guaranteed under the Oslo Accords, even though Shechem was to be under control of the PA. However, in a battle during the first days of the Oslo War, in October 2000, the IDF retreated from the site - and has not been in control since. Border Guard policeman Madhat Yusuf bled to death during that battle, leading to accusations that the IDF had abandoned a wounded soldier.