The annual memorial ceremony for IDF soldiers who have not yet been brought to proper burial was held today at Mt. Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem. The ceremony is held every year on the 7th of Adar, the anniversary of the birth and death of Moses, whose burial place remains unknown. The Defense Minister, Chief of Staff, Chief IDF Rabbi and other notables were in attendance.
Tzfat (Safed) Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu notes that since the Torah records that Moses' exact burial place is unknown, a long-standing custom has developed of praying at the Mt. Meiron gravesite of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai instead. According to Jewish sources, this great Mishnaic sage possessed "a spark of the soul" of Moses, such that praying next to his grave is considered akin to entreaties at Moses' burial site. Some 25,000 people prayed there last night, and another estimated 10,000 arrived today.
Some 200 Jews arrived this morning for the same purpose at the Machpelah Cave in Hevron, and sources there said that more buses were scheduled to arrive this afternoon.
About 30 yeshiva students, mostly from Yeshivat HaShalom in Jerusalem and led by Rabbi Yehoshua Ben-Shushan, traveled to the old border crossing to Jordan today to pray opposite Mt. Nevo, Moses' traditional place of death. The mountain, in Jordan, can be clearly seen from the area north of the Dead Sea. The students recited special prayers for the welfare of the People of Israel.
Tzfat (Safed) Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu notes that since the Torah records that Moses' exact burial place is unknown, a long-standing custom has developed of praying at the Mt. Meiron gravesite of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai instead. According to Jewish sources, this great Mishnaic sage possessed "a spark of the soul" of Moses, such that praying next to his grave is considered akin to entreaties at Moses' burial site. Some 25,000 people prayed there last night, and another estimated 10,000 arrived today.
Some 200 Jews arrived this morning for the same purpose at the Machpelah Cave in Hevron, and sources there said that more buses were scheduled to arrive this afternoon.
About 30 yeshiva students, mostly from Yeshivat HaShalom in Jerusalem and led by Rabbi Yehoshua Ben-Shushan, traveled to the old border crossing to Jordan today to pray opposite Mt. Nevo, Moses' traditional place of death. The mountain, in Jordan, can be clearly seen from the area north of the Dead Sea. The students recited special prayers for the welfare of the People of Israel.