Rachel’s Tomb (Kever Rochel)
Rachel's Tomb (Kever Rochel)
Over the years, Rachel’s Tomb has been a place of pilgrimage for Jews, especially Jewish women unable to give birth. Many come to visit on the 11th of the Jewish month of Cheshvan, the anniversary of her death.
According to the Bible, on the outskirts of Canaan, Rachel, wife of Jacob, went into a difficult labour with her second son, Benjamin. She died during childbirth on Cheshvan 11. The Bible records the event:
“And Rachel died, and was buried on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day.” — Genesis 35:19-20
The tomb site in Bethlehem consists of a rock with 11 stones upon it, one for each of the 11 sons of Jacob who were alive when Rachel died in childbirth. Over the centuries, the rock was covered by a dome supported by four arches.
Jewish tradition teaches that Rachel weeps for her children and that when the Jews were taken into exile, she wept as they passed by her grave on the way to Babylonia.
In 1864, the Sefardi Jews of Bombay donated the necessary money to dig a well. Although Rachel’s Tomb is only an hour and a half walk from the Old City of Jerusalem, many pilgrims found themselves very thirsty and unable to obtain fresh water.
Sir Moses Montefiore and Judith, Lady Montefiore visited the Land of Israel seven times. Lady Montefiore first saw Rachel’s Tomb on their first visit, in 1828. The couple were childless, and Lady Montefiore was deeply moved by the tomb, which was in good condition at that time. Before the couple’s next visit, in 1839, the Galilee earthquake of 1837 had heavily damaged the tomb.[2] The Montifiore’s paid for the building to be restored.
The Torah Ark Rachel’s Tomb is covered with a curtain (Hebrew: parokhet) made from the wedding gown of Nava Applebaum, a young Israeli woman who was killed by Palestinian terrorists in a suicide bombing at Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem on the eve of her wedding.
