8/14/2019 5TJT Kever Yosef

1/226 October 16, 2009 5 TOWNS JEWISH TIMES

B Y S A M U E L S O K O L ,

S H E C H E M

On Wednesday, October 7, hundreds of

pilgrims made their way into the ancient

city of Shechem, known to the Arabs as

Nablus, to pray at the gravesite of the

Biblical figure YosefhaTzaddik.

The visit was timed to coincide with

the fifth night of Sukkos. According to tra-

dition, seven Biblical figures, known as

the ushpizin, come to visit the sukkos of

those observing the holiday, with Yosef

arriving on the fifth night.

Groups of pilgrims come monthly,

escorted by Israeli security forces in heav-

ily armored bulletproof buses. According

to the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian

Authority is required to grant Jews free

access to the site. However, in 2000, after

years of repeated attacks on worshippersand attempts by Fatah terrorists to take

over the tomb, then Prime Minister Ehud

Barak ordered a withdrawal and surren-

dered the holy site to the PA.

After the withdrawal, Arabs burned

Kever Yosef, destroying the adjacent Od

Yosef Chai Yeshiva complex and smash-

ing the dome above the gravesite.

Currently, visits must be coordinated

with the army, which secures the area by

imposing a curfew and escorts buses of

pilgrims to the shattered structure. Only

three buses are allowed in at a time. Due

to the volume of worshippers, the army

escorts people into the tomb in shifts.

Members of the Shomron municipal

council set up a sukkah next to the kever,

serving refreshments for those who came

to pray. In the courtyard of what was

once the yeshiva, several meters away

from the tomb itself, a musician played

traditional Jewish melodies while a mix

of worshippers, from Chassidim to casu-

ally dressed settlers, danced together in a

circle, singing holiday songs.

TheFive Towns Jewish Times spoke with

David Haivri of the Samaria Liaison Office

regarding the visit. He stated, On the one

hand, were very glad that we have the

opportunity to visitKeverYosefabout once

a month. We are very grateful to the IDF

command for facilitating this visit and, as

we can see, thousands of people from

around the country are eager to take part in

the prayers at Kever Yosef. On the other

hand, the situation is still very disgraceful.

KeverYosefis standing in ruins. It has been

terribly desecrated by the Arabs in

Shechem. We need to cause a situation

where we can renovate and show our hon-

ors to Yosef, to G-d, and to the Jewish peo-

ple. We must reclaim Kever Yoseffor the

Jewish people in order to reestablish the

yeshiva, and open upKeverYosefto Jewish

visitors at any time during the day,

throughout the week.

In November 2007, Gershon Mesika was

elected as mayor of the Shomron regional

council and immediately petitioned the

local military command to allow him and

his staff to visitKeverYosefin order to hold

a special thanksgiving prayer session. Afterwards, Mesika negotiated with the

army to allow for monthly pilgrimages to

the tomb. Every month, thousands of peo-

ple rush to register for one of several hun-

dred highly prized seats on specially char-

tered buses. This was a welcome change

for the Jewish community, after seven

years without access to the holy site.

Mesika commented that while almost

a thousand people came to Kever Yosef

over the holiday, thousands more would

Why Make The Ushpizin Come To You?Pilgrims Bring Sukkah To Kever Yosef

Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, son of Shas party spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, leading prayers atKever Yosef in Shechem.

PhotoBySamuelSokol

8/14/2019 5TJT Kever Yosef

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certainly come were the IDF to permit it.

The mayor decried that fact that Jews are

forced to visit one of their holiest sites

like thieves in the night.

Currently, the Israeli Defense Forces

only allow pilgrims access to the site after

dark when the area is easier to secure.

The route leading to the tomb complex is

lined with Palestinian Authority flags and

posters of terrorists belonging to the Arab

militias that operate in the area.

Mesika quoted an ancient tradition

that states thatKever Yosefis one of the

three places where the non-Jews cannotdeceive the Jewish People by saying that

they stole it from them due to it being

recorded in scripture that the area was

purchased by the Jewish people.

The Palestinian Authority has claimed

that Kever Yosef is in fact not a Jewish

shrine, but rather the burial place of a

Muslim sheikh. However, the PA has a his-

tory of denying the historical connections

between the Jewish people and holy sites.

The Palestinian Authority has denied

that the Temple ever existed in Jerusalem.

The Palestinian authority has recently

incited riots in order to defend the Al-

Aqsa Mosque. Adnan Husseini of the

Waqf, the Islamic trust responsible for

overseeing the mount, has called Jews

who ascend to the Temple Mount

extremists and blamed the recent vio-

lence on their presence.

Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, former Knesset

member and son of Shas spiritual leader

Rav Ovadia Yosef, attended the festivities

at the tomb. As he led prayers, peoplecrowded around him, jostling to snap

pictures. He commented on the signifi-

cance of visitingKever Yosefon the night

in which Yosef is said to visit the sukkos

of Jews all over the world. We remind

ourselves of Yosef, not just in theory

when we invite him into our sukkos, but

we visit him in his place so that [the

merit] ofYosef haTzaddik will guard over

all of Israel.

When asked if he believed that Jews

would soon be able to visit the tomb dur-

ing the day, the rabbi responded, We

hope that today Mashiach will arrive and

redeem us and we will arrive here during

the day as we once did, without fear. O

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