Leon's No News Bulletin 82 Sat 19th July 08

Shalom everyone,

The other night I happened to stay at Kfar Veradim, one of the most beautiful places in Israel, deep in the forests of Upper Galilee in the most northern part of Israel, between Naharaya on the coast and the mystic city of Safed, inland in the heart of Upper Galillee. Naturally this was all in a days work of conducting a tour of the Galilee for a wonderful family from Mexico.

Sitting on the balcony, with Yehudit, our hostess, and owner of the establishment, waiting for our little group to gently rouse themselves from their peaceful slumbers to join us for breakfast, I looked out over the deep green tops of pine and oak trees gently swaying far below us, on the slopes of the high hills on which the village stands. I felt at peace with the world and wondered if the ruin which I could see on the mountain opposite was once a crusader castle or perhaps the home of one of those solitary meditating rabbis who lived here in the times of the Mishna when there was a thriving Jewish population.

We stayed in very comfortable, even luxurious rooms in a very large house, specially built so that the owners would be able to entertain visitors as a way of augmenting their earnings from their main occupation of working in the high tech industrial park of Tefen next to their village.

You can find details of this accommodation in the list of recommended accommodation on my website.

We came there quite late at night because we were having such a good time, chatting and eating a magnificent meal in a restaurant virtually on the beach in Nahariya with small waves breaking gently at our feet, that we only left Nahariya at about 11 O'clock.

Yesterday I had my usual Monday morning walking tour of the Old City. One of my tourists said he was considering visiting Rachel's Tomb or the Tomb of the Forefathers in Hebron. I naturally encouraged him to do this and decided that this would be a good opportunity to see if anything had changed in the arrangements for visiting these important Jewish holy places, so I accompanied him.

The government of Israel has done a wonderful job of ensuring the security of any Israeli who wishes to visit Rachel's Tomb. They've built a fortified wall which protects the street leading to Rachel's Tomb and only the public bus, Egged, can enter this street. One can travel to the gate at the entrance of the street in one's private car and then take the bus to enter the gate.

At first the bus was empty because we got on at its first stop, then it went through neighborhoods like Mea Shearim, Geula, the Old City near the Jaffa Gate, places where people interested in visiting Rachel's Tomb would likely be waiting for the bus.

My friend and I were the only men on the bus; even the little baby in front of us was female. Naturally, Rachel being the mother of the Jewish People has a special meaning for women, especially mothers.

The baby's mother, from Flatbush, now living in Jerusalem was excited about the visit and specially pointed out to me that prayers made at Rachel's Tomb were more appealing to the Lord than prayers made elsewhere.

This reminded me of the two opposite attitudes regarding the purpose of prayers and the purpose of observing Jewish customs and laws in Judaism in general.

These two attitudes are represented by Maimonides and Nahmanides, two great Jewish scholars who lived in Spain in the 12^th and 13^th centuries respectively. According to Maimonides the observance of the laws of the Torah is for the improvement of the individual personality and the maintenance of law and order in the society.

Nahmanides, on the other hand sees the observance of laws and prayer as man's way of lifting up his spirit towards God in Heaven. His spirit then moves God and causes the spirit of God to come down upon him, giving him energy that usually resides only in the sphere of God. In fact Nahmanides regards the bringing down of spiritual energy from Heaven through prayer and observance of laws as so important that it maintains the stability of the whole world.

Both scholars recognize the necessity of prayer and religious observance but each one considers the effect achieved by such observance and prayer to be different.

This dichotomy is important when one tries to understand Judaism. Both Jews who follow Maimonides' rational approach and Jews who follow the mystic ideas of Nahmanides.are necessary for the continuity and growth of Judaism

But what then is the point of someone like me who follows the ideas of Maimonides in going to Rachel's Tomb or the Tomb of the Forefathers or the Western Wall or other similar "holy places"? We could just as well pray anywhere in the world, even in the open field, far from any "holy place".

One might not consider that prayers go up to heaven and instead consider like Maimonides that they're just a way of bringing about self improvement in the individual; through prayer he gets to know who God is, he gets to know the history of his nation, learning about the wonderful historic events that made the Jewish Nation into the kind of nation it is, or will ideally become in the future. Through prayer the individual Jew learns about the heritage of his homeland, Israel. All of these things are important but they can be learned by praying anywhere. So why go to Western Wall or why go to Rachel's Tomb etc?

The visit to Rachel's tomb, however, would have value even if one didn't pray there.  The visit is always worthwhile because being in the presence of mother Rachel who was the mother of Joseph who had suffered the agony of seeing the man she loved (Jacob) marry her sister (Leah) and then suffered by being childless and then died in childbirth is enough to arouse the most hard hearted Jew to prayer. Then when he prays his prayer will induce him to sympathy and love for his people and ultimately to understand and appreciate God.

Through prayer and meditation on his prayer he'll become more identified with his nation. Just the thought that he and all the Jews praying with him are descended from the same great lady who suffered so much is enough to make him into a better person. Perhaps he'll be motivated to play a more important role in his nation and its development, especially in the light of the ever greater challenges facing his nation.

Busses to Rachel's Tomb and to the Tomb of the Forefathers run regularly from the Central Bus Station. If you'd like further details please visit the page of "prices and itineraries" on my website jerusalemwalks.com

Wishing you a great no news day

Yours truly

Leon Gork