Rachel's grave

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Bernardino Amico: Trattato delle Piante & Immagini de Sacri EdIERTi di Terra Santa
Historical photography, between 1890 and 1900

The Rachel grave ( Hebrew קבר רחל Ḳever Raḥel ) is a holy site near Bethlehem . The traditional Arabic name isقبة راحيل / Qubbat Rāḥīl  / 'Rachel's Dome'. For political reasons, the Palestinians have been using the name Bilal Mosque ( Arabic مسجد بلال, DMG Masǧid Bilāl , after Bilāl ibn Rabāh , a companion of the Prophet Mohammed).

There are four places in the West Bank that are considered sacred by Muslims and Jews, two of particular importance (the patriarchal tombs in Hebron and the tomb of Rachel) and two less important (Joseph's tomb in Nablus and Nebi Samuel north of Jerusalem).

Biblical Rahel burial traditions

The Hebrew Bible knows two locations for the tomb of Matriarch Rachel , one south and one north of Jerusalem. Rachel's grave, which is venerated today, corresponds to the southern tradition.

In the Erzelternerzählung Gen 35.16 to 20  EU describes that Rachel at the birth of her second son Benjamin died. Jacob , her husband, then buried her "on the road to Efrata, which is now called Bethlehem" and placed a memorial stone for her . The same localization is repeated again in Gen 48.7  EU from Jacob looking back at his life.

The northern tradition locates a grave of Rachel near Rama ( 1 Sam 10.2–5  EU , Jer 31.15  EU ).

The quote from Jeremiah is understood in the Gospel of Matthew in the sense of the southern tradition and cited as evidence in writing in connection with the murder of Herod ( Mt 2 : 17-18  EU ).

Late antique and medieval Rachel grave

About the worship of the Holy Innocents in Bethlehem a relationship was indirectly the Rachel Tomb with the Christian pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The oldest localization of Rachel's tomb at the current location dates back to the 4th century AD. The pilgrim from Bordeaux saw the tomb of Rachel four miles south of Jerusalem on the right side of the road. Arkulf described it as a stone pyramid in the 7th century.

As early as the 12th century, several travelers ( Al-Idrisi , Benjamin von Tudela , Johannes von Würzburg ) described the grave as Bernardino Amico saw it in 1610: a dome supported by four pillars rose above the grave. The mystical interpretation of Jer 31.15  EU in the Zohar contributed to the great importance of Rachel's grave in Judaism . Rachel weeping for her children was understood as a form of compassionate divine presence ( Shechina ) with his people.

Jewish pilgrimage destination and Muslim cemetery

Muslim Taamireh Bedouins laid in the 18./19. Century around the Rahelgrab their cemetery. A mosque at this site is attested in 1820. Various sources from the 18th and 19th centuries agree that Jewish pilgrims and the Sephardic Jewish community in Jerusalem were forced to pay money or gifts for access to Rachel's tomb.

Moses Montefiore had the facility completely renovated in 1841. Since then, there have been two vestibules through which the visitor can access the domed room in which Rachel's cenotaph is located. Titus Tobler described the complex as it can be seen in pictures and photographs from the 19th century: “A small, low, square, bricked-up and whitewashed building with a dome.” In the north, a simple vestibule with a flat roof was added. The central room was completely empty except for one pot in 1851, and the cenotaph was therefore “modern”.

Around 1850 Tobler saw a place that was visited by pilgrims from several religions: “The place is very revered by all, Jews, Christians and Mohammedans, and there are frequent pilgrimages there.” He praised that the Muslims, “which honored Rachel's grave ... with a mosque, were able to decide a few years ago to cede their sanctuary to the Jews, to whom it certainly belongs most appropriately, “at least the Jewish community had the key since the renovation of Montefiore.

In the first of the two vestibules built by Montefiore, a mihrab was added later .

Around 1900 the situation was as follows: “The grave dome, built entirely in the style of the Muslim Welis, offers nothing interesting, the modern sarcophagus is whitewashed. ... Muslims, Christians and Jews hold the grave in great veneration; the latter in particular flock here in droves; Bedouins bring their dead there for burial. The walls are inscribed with the names of pilgrims. "

Since the founding of the state of Israel

Israeli soldiers secure the entrance to Rachel's tomb ("Tomb of our mother Rachel"), 1978
Interior with cenotaph, 2008
Rahel tomb protective structure and Muslim graves, view from the west, 2018

After the Palestine War, Rachel's grave was under Jordanian control and was not accessible to Jewish visitors until 1967.

In 1995 it became known that Yitzchak Rabin wanted to transfer control of Rachel's grave to the Palestinian Authority (Zone A). This led to emotional protests, for example by rabbis Ovadja Yosef , Israel Meir Lau and Menachem Porusch and the Knesset members Abraham Rawitz , Chanan Porat and Avraham Verdiger . Chanan Porat headed a movement to found a yeshiva at Rachel's tomb (Yeshivat Neḥamat Raḥel), which was inaugurated in July 1995.

On July 17, 1995, a meeting between members of the government and representatives of the military took place in the Prime Minister's office. It was decided that the Israeli military should be solely responsible for the security of Rachel's grave, the access road should secure a mixed Israeli-Palestinian patrol. For national religious critics, this did not go far enough. They demanded sole Israeli jurisdiction over the access road as well. But this was one of the main streets of Bethlehem. The construction of a new access road to the Rahel grave would only have been possible by expropriating land.

Yasser Arafat finally agreed to the change Israel wanted: The enclave Rachel's Tomb and the access road should continue to be controlled by the Israeli military. With this restriction, on December 1, 1995, control of Bethlehem was transferred to the Palestinian Authority.

In September 1996, after the opening of a new exit to the Western Wall Tunnel in Jerusalem, a group of Palestinian militants attacked the Israeli soldiers stationed at Rachel's Tomb and were driven away with gunshots and stun grenades. Since the outbreak of the Second Intifada in late 2000, there have been multiple clashes.

Originally, Rachel's grave was outside the planned Israeli barrier. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon then declared that Rachel's tomb was precious to the Jewish people and that a situation would be unbearable in which Jewish visitors would not have free access to the site.

An Israeli government resolution of September 11, 2002 regulated that Rachel's grave should be enclosed by the Israeli barrier . This practically included it in the city of Jerusalem. The changed course of the barrier cut through the properties of the residents of Bethlehem. On February 3, 2005, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an application by the Mayor of Bethlehem to correct the course of the barrier. The court ruled that the planning of the barrier should take into account the freedom of religious worship and the freedom of movement of residents.

In 2010, the Israeli government announced that the Tomb of Rachel and the Patriarchal Tombs in Hebron would be placed on the Israeli National Heritage List. They thus benefited from the National Heritage Plan, which provided funds to expand their infrastructure.

The exterior view of the small domed building, which is often shown on historical photos and works of art, is no longer comprehensible today because it is covered by military installations.

Web links

literature

  • Elazar Barkan: Choreographing upheaval: The politics of sacred sites in the West Bank. In: Elazar Barkan, Karen Barkey (Eds.): Choreographies of Shared Sacred Sites: Religion, Politics, and Conflict Resolution. Columbia University Press, New York 2014. ISBN 978-0-231-16994-3 . Pp. 235-269.
  • Lion Lehrs: Political holiness: negotiating holy places in Eretz Israel / Palestine 1937–2003 . In: Marshall J. Breger, Yitzhak Reiter, Leonard Hammer: Sacred Space in Israel and Palestine: Religion and Politics. Routledge, London / New York 2012. ISBN 978-0-415-78315-6 . Pp. 228-250.
  • Othmar Keel, Max Küchler: Places and landscapes of the Bible. A handbook and study guide to the Holy Land. Volume 2: The South. Göttingen 1982. ISBN 3-525-50167-6 . Pp. 606-611.
  • Frederick M. Strickert: Rachel Weeping: Jews, Christians, and Muslims at the Fortress Tomb. Liturgical Press, Collegeville / Minnesota 2007. ISBN 978-0-8146-5987-8 .
  • Titus Tobler: Two books Topography of Jerusalem and its surroundings. Volume 2: The Environments. Berlin 1854. pp. 782-791.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Elazar Barkan: Choreographing upheaval: The politics of sacred sites in the West Bank . S. 237 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Othmar Keel, Max Küchler: Othmar Keel, Max Küchler . S. 610 .
  3. ↑ a b Nadav Shragai: Until 1996, nobody called Rachel's Tomb a mosque. November 8, 2010, accessed December 25, 2018 .
  4. ^ A b Titus Tobler: The surroundings . S. 791 .
  5. ^ A b Titus Tobler: The surroundings . S. 783 .
  6. ↑ Titus Tobler: The surroundings . S. 784-785 .
  7. ^ Karl Baedeker (ed.): Palestine and Syria: Handbook for travelers . 5th edition. Leipzig 1900, p. 118 .
  8. ^ A b Lion Lehrs: Political holiness: negotiating holy places in Eretz Israel / Palestine 1937–2003 . S. 236 .
  9. ^ A b Lion Lehrs: Political holiness: negotiating holy places in Eretz Israel / Palestine 1937–2003 . S. 237 .
  10. ^ A b Lion Lehrs: Political holiness: negotiating holy places in Eretz Israel / Palestine 1937–2003. S. 241 .
  11. ↑ Elazar Barkan: Choreographing upheaval: The politics of sacred sites in the West Bank . S. 245 .