There's Plenty Of Room At Tel Shiloh

Today I traveled to Kever Rachel (Rachel's Tomb) in a super-packed, overloaded bus, filled with women, children and a couple of men. The driver was freaking out, because we more more than the maximum allowed.

When we got to Kever Rachel, it was really mobbed. We wondered if it had anything to do with the stories of a Rachel warning soldiers about booby-trapped houses in Gaza during the recent war. Some people believe the story, considering the woman Rachel Imenu, Our Matriarch Rachel, and others consider it impossible. Whatever, whoever, however the soldiers were warned, it was a miracle, and that's good enough for me.

Civilian buildings were used to camouflage missile launchers, like this reporter admits. (Hat tip, Boris) Read the subtitles:




Thousands of Jews go to Kever Rachel every week, or every day. Now it's a little easier to get there, since you don't need to travel in a bullet-proof vehicle. There is regular bus service and a parking lot for private cars.

Our regional council subsidizes a bus every month, the day before Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the Jewish month, according to the lunar calendar. I go every couple of months, if it fits my schedule.

For a long time, I've been wondering why people go to Kever Rachel and not to Tel Shiloh. Personally, I feel much closer to G-d when I pray at Tel Shiloh. Maybe it's the "hyper" in me, finding it hard to concentrate when there are so many people crowded together.

That's why just over a year ago, I started inviting women to come to Tel Shiloh on Rosh Chodesh to pray.

I don't like praying at graves and tombs, focusing on dead people, even great, righteous people.

I feel more attached to the Land, the sites where great things happened to the Jewish Nation.

Shiloh is one of the most important places in Biblical Jewish History. It was the Capital of the Jewish Nation for 369 years, from the time that Joshua conquored Our Land until Shmuel (Samuel) The Prophet took over from Eli the HIgh Priest.

It was in Shiloh where Chana, Shmuel's mother after sufferng from being barren many years, prayed for a son who would be dedicated to doing G-d's work. Shmuel was that son.

So what could be better as a place of prayer than Shiloh?

תפילת נשים
ראש חדש שבט בתל שילה
26-1 יום ב' 9:30
נא להזמין משפחה וחברות
Rosh Chodesh Shvat
at Tel Shiloh
Monday, 26-1, 9:30am
Please invite family and friends to join us

One can visit any time. Contact the Tel Shiloh office:

02-994-4019

telshilo@gmail.com