During the holiday of Passover, Jewish people were able to access the closed-off tombs of Izaac and Rebecca, for the first time in a while. This section is only open to Jewish worshippers during a specific 10 days out of the year.
The burials are within the Cave of the Patriarchs, one of the oldest and most historically significant sites to the Jewish people and all Abrahamic faiths. The site is called the “Machpelah” in Hebrew and houses tombs where Judaism’s founding fathers like Abraham, Izaac, and Jacob are buried along with Judaism’s founding mothers including Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah. The complex is located in a city called Hebron, 19 miles outside of Jerusalem. Abraham, the founding father of Judaism, purchased the plot of land more than 3,700 years ago in a big display that he made for the elders of the city, which was then recorded in the bible. Today people come from all around the world to pray at this site. Some call it the first real estate deal of all time.
It’s a controversial place where Jews and Arabs live side by side – and not always in peace. Ten days out of the year, Jews fully control the site and ten days out of the year, Muslims fully control the site. Muslims, too, see Abraham as one of their founding fathers. The rest of the days are mixed with high levels of security. The city of Hebron is referenced in the bible 72 times.
The tombs are under the foundation of the building, but their memorial monuments are visible on the first floor. This sacred site is a mosque on one side and a synagogue on the other. During the ten days of Jewish control over the cave, Muslim Palestinians have to keep off the major street that leads to the site. The army heavily patrols the area.
Jews and Muslims shared the cave area until it was separated in 1994 after a radical Jewish man named Baruch Goldstein killed 29 Muslims and wounded approximately 125 others during a shooting spree at the Cave of the Patriarchs on February 25, 1994.
The general region of Judea and Samaria, also called the West Bank, is typically divided into three sections: A- which is under full Palestinian Authority control, B- which is under Palestinian Municipal control with Israeli security control, and C- which is under the Israeli municipality and security systems. Hebron is a unique city. It is divided into H1 and H2. 80% is H1 under full Palestinian Authority control, 20% is Israeli control and 3% of that 20% is where the Jews are allowed to live. Jews cannot set foot into the rest of the areas.
While there’s a lot of tension and focus on differences between Jews and Muslims when it comes to the shared space, there’s one thing that all Abrahamic religions can agree on Jews, Christians and Muslims all agree that the forefathers and mothers of modern society are all buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs inside of the ancient city of Hebron.
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