Getting to Kever Rachel was a bit of an eye opener - you travel on a narrow road and the massive concrete barrier fence runs along each side of the road. It feels like a tight squeeze, and perhaps even more claustrophobic than a tunnel. Kever Rachel is a beautiful complex at the end of that road - surrounded by the barrier wall and army checkpoint towers.
After that we travelled to the Maarat Hamachpela. It was pretty much a new experience for all of us - seeing the tombs of the p/matriarchs (with Arab writing around them and covering them!) - and was of course very special and the girls definitely understood the significance. In fact, to the girls credit (inc. Hannah) during our 1.5hrs at the tomb they were very mature and solemn and didn't play up at all (I didn't realise that until now...). Anyway, we lit memorial candles, we davened mincha in the courtyard in between the kevers, we said a tehillim, said a bracha for the Maarat, gave a donation, and took photos.
It was a good day, and of course most incredible when we reflected that today we had stood literally beside Abraham,Isaac,Jacob,Sarah,Rivka,Rachel&Leah(and don't forget Adam&Eve and Esav's head!)... It's not just words from a book anymore.
Tomorrow we get packed up to drive to Amirim (tzafon-north) for a week.
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The Steinbergs
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