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Rachel’s Tomb

Our matriarch’s tomb looks tragically different today. Security walls, cameras and barbed wire guard the site from terrorism.

 Rachel's Tomb circa 1895 Rachel’s Tomb circa 1895

Wow. I just found this newly released photochrom print in the Prints & Photographs Division of the Library of Congress.

Rachel’s Tomb looks tragically different now. Security walls, cameras, and barbed wire guard the road because there’s been so much violence in the area.

This image from 1895 recalls how the location – a place of healing according to our tradition – appeared for thousands of years.

As we read in the Torah:

“Rachel died, and she was buried on the road to Ephrat, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob erected a monument on her grave; that is the tombstone of Rachel until this day.”
– Genesis 35:19

May we soon see a day when security walls are no longer needed, and peace fills the Holy Land.

 Rachel's Tomb today Rachel’s Tomb today

And let us say Amen.

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