I think that the first spot to visit in Israel is the Kotel. Chevron is my second choice. I know not everyone agrees with this order, but it's my personal preference.
When planning this trip with Sheindy, we focused on what she wanted to do. She told me in no uncertain terms that she did NOT want to dragged around to a bunch of graves. I said OK with the exception of Meoras Hamachpaila, Kever Rochel, and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. So today I dragged her up to the Avos.
My wonderful daughter-in-law Zahava was kind enough to walk me to the post office to pick up a package (which was a whole experience in and of itself - - postal workers are the same everywhere it seems!). She then walked us to the hotel to meet our tour. Our first stop was at Kever Rochel.
I was able to say my tehillim that I had planned to say. However, my class's tehillim list is sadly so long that I wasn't able to complete it all. I figured I finish it at Maoras Hamachpaila. Chevron gives me the chills. The Jews who have chosen to live in this city seeping with kiddusha is just mind blowing! The day was cold and dreary with heavy threats of thunderstorms coming. I learned some interesting facts about Meoras Hamachpaila. It started drizzling, so we headed inside.
Now, just so you know, these are not the actual graves, but more like symbolic markers. The cave is 100% beneath the building. The question is, where is it exactly? People have tried to find out, and it's very interesting if you ever want to Google it. The only "graves" we couldn't visit was Yitzchok and Rivkah. They are under Arab control, and Jews are only allowed in there about 10 days a year.
The palm tree is supposed to be where Adam and Chava are buried.
Last up was Yaakov & Leah. (Hey, three guesses who walked into the men's shul while they were davening trying to get to Leah's spot? Said person didn't realize it was set up as a shul because the last time she was there it wasn't. Big hint - - she doesn't look good in the picture but is willing to post it anyway because of the meaning behind it.)
Next stop in our tour was supposed to be to the Rebbitzen Menucha Rochel. However, there were workers on the road who were blocking it.
Sheindy (and Chanie) were both born on her yartzeit. I was able to get a picture of Sheindy next to a plaque dedicated to her.
We stopped at the hospital that a bunch of women were holed up in. It houses that gorgeous museum inside. Last time I was so overtaken with the beauty of the walls that contrasts the horrors of what had happened there that I took no pictures. I wanted to rectify it. Our tour guide spoke to the group outside while Sheindy and I ran through there. We had 5 mins. I grabbed as many as I could. It's still on my list to come back to get again on my next trip to try and combine the two opposites in one visit.
That was our last stop, and we headed back to Yerushalayim. I think I'll write a separate post about after the trip. Ttfn
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