Protecting Jewish Heritage Sites Worldwide

The recent announcement by Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that the government has added the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem to Israel’s list of national heritage sites has raised a storm of protest in the Palestinian community that is both worrying and disappointing.

On Tuesday of this week Ismail Hanieyh of Hamas urged Palestinians in the West Bank to rise up against Israeli forces in response to the decision which Palestinian Authority President Abbas has warned may trigger another “intifada” against the Jews.

The worrying aspect of the response clearly relates to our right as a people to be concerned for the long term welfare of sites worldwide that reflect our history and traditions. Most countries in the world, even those not counted among our friends, recognize this right and even respect it. So, in countries where we have good diplomatic relations, such as Poland, the government there has no qualms whatsoever about our paying to rehabilitate synagogues, cemeteries and other community buildings whose existence is testimony to our long history in that particular place. In Egypt the central government itself is paying for the restoration of a historic synagogue in Cairo because they recognize the importance of the structure in the history of that country. Even in Lebanon, where Hizbollah dominates the political scene, work is now under way to bring the historic Magen-Avraham Synagogue in downtown Beirut to its former glory.

As for the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb, of course we should be worried about their long term well being, given where they are located, in territory which most likely will end up in the hands of a Palestinian government when and if a state is created. After all, was it not in October 2000 after Israel gave over Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus to Palestinian control that the site was ransacked and torched and then closed to further visits by Jews? Should we not be afraid that when and if sites such as the Cave of the Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb end up under Palestinian control that they might suffer the same fate as Jacob’s Tomb? And why wouldn’t the Palestinian Authority welcome the contribution of funds from Israel to assist in the upkeep of these sites? Does it make any sense otherwise?

The disappointing side of the response of our “cousins” is that, once again, a recognition by Israel of the importance to us, as Jews, of the burial place of our patriarchs and their wives, is used to encourage anger, resistance and political discomfort rather than applauding the decision for what it is…a statement about our concern for the long term well being of two of the most important sites in the history of the Jewish people.

The story is told that in 1967 when then Defense Minister Moshe Dayan arrived in Hebron to accept the Arab surrender, he was given the keys to the Cave of the Patriarchs and, after touring the inside of the structure, he returned the keys to the Arabs at the site. Later, Rabbi Goren, the Chief Rabbi of the IDF, brought a Torah Scroll and Holy Ark into the Herodian-era structure and hung an Israeli flag outside. The next day he received a telegram from Dayan containing the following orders: “1. Remove the Torah and Ark; 2. Lower the flag; 3. Anyone entering the building must take off his shoes, because it is a mosque.” Rabbi Goren responded by telegram with the following response: “1.The Torah is holy - it stays. 2. The flag means to me what it means to you - if you want to take it down, you do it. I'm not touching it.” Dayan sent an officer into Hebron to remove the flag. On his way back to Jerusalem, the unfortunate man was killed in an auto accident. Dayan then rescinded the other orders he had originally given.

The Roman Senator, Cicero, in his first oration against Cataline began with the Latin words “O tempora, O mores” which translates to “Oh what times, oh what customs” as he bemoaned the viciousness and corruption of the Roman Empire. Today, we might utter the very same words as we listen to the viciousness of the response to seemingly everything we do and, more often than not, by entities which themselves are corrupt as well.

We dare not back down and, in retrospect, perhaps Moshe Dayan really made a mistake in giving up those keys so easily. We should learn a lesson from history.

Sherwin Pomerantz
Jerusalem
February 24, 2010