Jews from all over the world pour out their hearts at the resting place of Mama Rachel (credit: Yossi Mizrahi).
Rachel’s Tomb is located in the city of Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem. For centuries, it lay on a deserted roadside, and Rachel’s descendents would come here to pour out their hearts to her—the mother who dwells in a lonely wayside grave in order to be there for her suffering children. Rachel is a continuous source of comfort to her children—praying for her children and eliciting the divine promise of her children’s return to their Promised Land.
Why Rachel’s Tomb Is Special
When Rachel died, Jacob and his family were only a short distance from Bethlehem. Yet he did not bring his most beloved wife Rachel into that town to be buried, nor did he bring her home with him to Hebron, but he buried her in the middle of nowhere, on the side of the road.
Why?
Jacob foresaw that in the future, following the destruction of the First Temple in 423 BCE, the Jews would be driven from their homes and forced into exile in Babylon. On their dispirited march, they would pass on this very road and cry to Rachel. They would take courage from her presence, and she would beseech G‑d on their behalf.
The prophet Jeremiah, who lived through those events, describes what happened (Jeremiah 31:14):
A voice is heard on high,
Wailing, bitterly crying.
Rachel weeps for her children
She refuses to be consoled
For they are gone.
Jeremiah also tells us G‑d’s response:
“Restrain your voice from weeping,
“Hold back your eyes from their tears.
“For your work has its reward and your children shall return to their border.”
According to the Midrash, at that time the other patriarchs, matriarchs and Moses, too, begged for mercy. But G‑d remained silent. Then Rachel lifted her voice and elicited the promise of redemption.
“O Lord of the Universe,” she argued. “Consider what I did for my sister Leah. All the work that Jacob did for my father was only so that he could marry me; however, when the time came for me to enter the nuptial canopy, they brought my sister instead. Not only did I keep my silence, but I gave her the secret password which Jacob and I had agreed on (which we had arranged specifically to prevent any other bride from being brought in my place). You, too, if Your children have brought Your rival into Your house, keep Your silence.” Immediately, G‑d’s mercy was aroused and He responded: “For you, Rachel, I will bring Israel back to their place.” (See also Rachel’s Amazing Secret)
The Midrash explains the "work" for which Rachel was rewarded with G‑d's assurance that her children would return to Israel: After the Jews were exiled to Babylon, the Patriarchs, Matriarchs and Moses went to appease G‑d, attempting to evoke Divine mercy on their children's behalf. G‑d answered Rachel: "You have defended your children well. There is reward for your deed and for your righteousness."Each one invoked the various great deeds which he or she had performed, requesting that G‑d reciprocate by having compassion on the Jews. But G‑d was not swayed. Then Rachel entered and stated, "O Lord of the Universe, consider what I did for my sister Leah. All the work that Jacob worked for my father was only for me, however when I came to enter the nuptial canopy, they brought my sister instead. Not only did I keep my silence, but I gave her the secret password which Jacob and I had prearranged (which was intended to prevent any wedding night bridal switch). You, too, if Your children have brought Your rival into Your house, keep Your silence for them." G‑d answered her: "You have defended them well. There is reward for your deed and for your righteousness. Refrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for there is reward for your work, says the L-rd, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. And there is hope for your future, says the L-rd, and the children shall return to their own border.""As for me, [Jacob], when I came from Padan, Rachel died on me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still a stretch of land to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem" —Genesis 48:7.And I did not take her even to Bethlehem to bring her into the [inhabited region of the Holy] Land…but you should know that I buried her there by divine command, so that she would be of assistance to her children. When [the Babylonian general] Nebuzaradan exiles [the Israelites] and they pass by there, Rachel will emerge from her grave and weep and beg mercy for them, as it is said: "A voice is heard on high, lamentation, bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children." And the Holy One, blessed be He, answers her, "'There is reward for your work... and the children shall return to their own border.'" (Jeremiah 31:14-16) – Rashi's commentary on the verse, from Pesikta Rabbati ch. 3.
Why, indeed, was Rachel's deed so much more precious in G‑d's eyes than the accomplishments of all the other petitioners? Why was her gallant act dearer than Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son or Moses' forty years of selfless leadership of the relentlessly belligerent Israelites?
Perhaps this question can be answered by examining the legitimacy of Jacob's marriage to Rachel and Leah. How was Jacob able to marry them both when the Torah explicitly forbids one man from marrying two sisters? Nachmanides explains that since the Patriarchs lived before the observance of the mitzvot became mandatory at Mount Sinai, they observed the laws of the Torah only whilst in the Land of Israel. Therefore, Jacob was "allowed" to marry two sisters while residing in Padan Aram.
Following this line of reasoning, Nachmanides explains Jacob's real, but unstated, reason for not burying his favorite and most beloved wife Rachel in the Cave of Machpela, opting instead to reserve the resting place beside him for Leah. Simply put, Jacob was embarrassed to bring his second wife, the wife whom he married "illegally," to the family plot. What would Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebecca say about his deed? Furthermore, Nachmanides states, this is also the true reason why Rachel died immediately upon Jacob's arrival in Israel—the holy air of Israel could not tolerate Jacob's second wife Rachel was a prophetess as well as a very learned and wise woman. When she agreed to give Leah the password which would allow her sister to become Jacob's first – and only "legitimate" – wife, she was fully cognizant of the extent of her sacrifice. She realized that – even if Jacob would agree to take her as a second wife – she wouldn't be able to live with her cherished husband when he inevitably would return to the land of his fathers. Her children would be raised by her maidservant Bilha and she would not live to see her grandchildren. And to top it all off, she wouldn't rest in her rightful burial plot, alongside Jacob and her holy in-laws. Instead, for thousands of years she would lie alone on the side of a remote road, awaiting the Redemption and the Resurrection of the Dead. Surrendering one's physical life pales in comparison to this mind-numbing sacrifice. Rachel sacrificed everything – both her physical and spiritual future – for her sister's sake..
The Patriarchs and Moses were magnificent. But they had nothing which even remotely rivaled such mind-blowing sacrifice.
Mother Rachel cried for us and G‑d heard her pleas. It is certain that despite G‑d's request that she "refrain her voice from weeping and her eyes from tears" she continues to cry until she sees the realization of G‑d's promise. But perhaps G‑d is waiting for her children to behave in Rachel-like fashion. One more totally selfless act on behalf of a Jewish brother or sister will finally cause Rachel to smile.
She gave up her place next to her husband a second time when, instead of a burial spot in the family plot in Hebron, she accepted a lonely burial, on the side of a deserted road. She did this in order to be there for her children, who would live tens of centuries later.
Rachel is the quintessential Jewish mother, sacrificing for our well-being and security. This feeling of limitless love and motherly concern is what draws people to her tomb to this day.
In addition, Rachel herself was childless for many years before she was granted children. Women who are suffering from infertility, in particular, travel to her tomb to pray.
Kever Rachel History
In 2208 (1553 BCE), Jacob was bringing his family home to Hebron, after spending 20 years working for his father-in-law in Charan (on the modern-day Syrian-Turkish border). While they were traveling, Rachel gave birth to her second son, Benjamin, and died in childbirth on the road to Bethlehem (Efrat. Instead of bringing her to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Jacob buried h“And Jacob erected a monument on her grave.” Each of Jacob’s 11 sons (excepting the newborn infant Benjamin) placed a stone on Rachel’s grave, and Jacob placed a stone on top.
ael
Rachel’s Tomb (Kever Rachel)
Jews from all over the world pour out their hearts at the resting place of Mama Rachel (credit: Yossi Mizrahi).
Why Rachel’s Tomb Is Special
When Rachel died, Jacob and his family were only a short distance from Bethlehem. Yet he did not bring his most beloved wife Rachel into that town to be buried, nor did he bring her home with him to Hebron, but he buried her in the middle of nowhere, on the side of the road.Why?
Jacob foresaw that in the future, following the destruction of the First Temple in 423 BCE, the Jews would be driven from their homes and forced into exile in Babylon. On their dispirited march, they would pass on this very road and cry to Rachel. They would take courage from her presence, and she would beseech G‑d on their behalf.
The prophet Jeremiah, who lived through those events, describes what happened (Jeremiah 31:14):
A voice is heard on high,Jeremiah also tells us G‑d’s response:
Wailing, bitterly crying.
Rachel weeps for her children
She refuses to be consoled
For they are gone.
“Restrain your voice from weeping,According to the Midrash, at that time the other patriarchs, matriarchs and Moses, too, begged for mercy. But G‑d remained silent. Then Rachel lifted her voice and elicited the promise of redemption.
“Hold back your eyes from their tears.
“For your work has its reward and your children shall return to their border.”
“O Lord of the Universe,” she argued. “Consider what I did for my sister Leah. All the work that Jacob did for my father was only so that he could marry me; however, when the time came for me to enter the nuptial canopy, they brought my sister instead. Not only did I keep my silence, but I gave her the secret password which Jacob and I had agreed on (which we had arranged specifically to prevent any other bride from being brought in my place). You, too, if Your children have brought Your rival into Your house, keep Your silence.” Immediately, G‑d’s mercy was aroused and He responded: “For you, Rachel, I will bring Israel back to their place.” (See also Rachel’s Amazing Secret)
Kever Rachel as it appeared in 1912.
Rachel is the quintessential Jewish mother, sacrificing for our well-being and security. This feeling of limitless love and motherly concern is what draws people to her tomb to this day.
In addition, Rachel herself was childless for many years before she was granted children. Women who are suffering from infertility, in particular, travel to her tomb to pray.
Kever Rachel History
In 2208 (1553 BCE), Jacob was bringing his family home to Hebron, after spending 20 years working for his father-in-law in Charan (on the modern-day Syrian-Turkish border). While they were traveling, Rachel gave birth to her second son, Benjamin, and died in childbirth. Instead of bringing her to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Jacob buried her on the spot, on the road to Bethlehem (Efrat).“And Jacob erected a monument on her grave.” Each of Jacob’s 11 sons (excepting the newborn infant Benjamin) placed a stone on Rachel’s grave, and Jacob placed a stone on top.
According to the Midrash, the first person to pray at Rachel’s tomb was her eldest son, Joseph, who was only 7 when his mother died. When he was 17, his brothers sold him into slavery. As he was being carried away to Egypt, he broke away from his captors, ran to his mother’s grave and cried to her: “Mother, my mother who gave birth to me, wake up, arise and see my suffering.” “Do not fear,” he heard his mother answer. “Go with them, and G‑d will be with you.”
From the fifth century CE until the mid-1800s, Rachel’s tomb was marked by a tiny dome upheld by four beams. In 1841, Sir Moses Montefiore and his wife (who, like Rachel, was childless) added walls to the dome, and added a long room where visitors could find shelter from the weather, rest or have a bite to eat. The image of Rachel’s tomb that has been popularized in art and photos is of this structure.
In 1948, the Jordanians took control of the area and Jews were no longer allowed to pray at the tomb. Until then, Rachel’s Tomb had remained in an open area on the side of the road, but at that time, the Arabs built their own cemetery around the tomb, and Bethlehem expanded so that the tomb was now in the center of town.
After Israel’s Six-Day War victory in 1967, the tomb was reopened to Rachel’s children. For the next 30 years, Jews frequented it, making the short drive from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, praying at the site. A popular song of the time promised: “Your sons have come back to you, Mother Rachel, at their head Benjamin and Joseph . . . We will never go away from here again, Rachel.”
Kever Rachel is now surrounded by a protective complex (credit: Irit Levy).
Visiting Rachel’s Tomb Today
Rachel’s Tomb is only a short drive from Jerusalem. It is completely walled in, and only bullet-proof buses and vans are allowed to pass between the 15-foot high concrete barriers that lead to the Tomb. Every few hours, a bulletproof Egged bus arrives at the checkpoint leading into Bethlehem and is then given an army escort. Two minutes later, the bus arrives at the tomb’s compound and discharges its passengers within the completely enclosed structure.Inside the fortress, the ancient small domed room, dominated by the large cloth-covered monument, retains a nurturing atmosphere. Men and women, on separate sides of the room, huddle up to the cloth-covered monument and whisper out their secret pain to “Mother Rachel.”
Note: According to most halachic authorities, Kohanim are forbidden to enter the complex that houses the gravesite.
Interesting Facts
- When Jacob buried Rachel, each of his sons took a stone and placed it on her grave. Yaakov then took a large stone and placed it on top of all the other stones. Thus was formed the first monument on her grave. This is one of the reasons for the custom of placing a stone upon a grave after visiting it.
- When Sir Moses Montefiore remodeled the tomb, the iron lock on the door was made with unique keys. These keys were said to help with difficult childbirths, and laboring women, both Jews and Arabs, would put them under their pillows. After the tomb was liberated in 1967, the chief rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Goren, arrived on the scene. An Arab came out and gave one of the keys to Rabbi Goren, and it remains in his family until today.
- Chaim Silberstein from Arutz Sheva told the story of how Rachel’s Tomb was saved from the clutches of the Palestinians:
“During the Rabin administration, Rachel’s Tomb was slated to fall into ‘Area A,’ that is, under full Arab civil and military control. Upon seeing this, Knesset Member Chanan Porat decided that he must speak with Rabin in the hopes of changing his mind. As Porat was walking to Rabin’s office, Knesset Member Rabbi Menachem Porush asked him where he was going. Hearing that Porat was about to fight for Rachel’s Tomb, Porush asked to join in the meeting. At Rabin’s office, Porat was diligently explaining the ins and outs of the security situation at the Tomb and making rational arguments that did not seem to move Rabin.
“Suddenly, Rabin looked at Porush and saw that he was crying. Porush held Rabin’s hands and with tears streaming down his face, said: ‘Yitzchak, it’s Mamma Rachel, Mamma Rachel.’ At that moment Rabin’s heart opened, and he altered the map so that Rachel’s Tomb would remain in Jewish hands.” - When Sir Moses Montefiore’s wife, Judith, died, he built a mausoleum which is a replica of Rachel’s Tomb. Located in Ramsgate, in the south of England, where they lived, it now contains both of their graves.
Sir Moses Montefiore built a mausoleum for his wife and himself that resembles the structure he built over Rachel’s tomb.- The matriarch Rachel died in childbirth on the 11th of Cheshvan of the year 2208 from creation (1553 BCE) while giving birth to her second son, Benjamin.Rachel was born in Aram (Mesopotamia) approximately 1585 BCE. Her father was Laban, the brother of Jacob's mother, Rebecca. Jacob came to Laban's home in 1576 BCE, fleeing the wrath of his brother Esau. He fell in love with Rachel and worked for seven years tending Laban's sheep in return for her hand in marriage. But Laban deceived his nephew, and on the morning after the wedding Jacob discovered that he had married Rachel's elder sister, Leah. Laban agreed to give him Rachel as a wife as well in return for another seven years' labor.Rachel was childless for many years, while her elder sister and rival gave birth to six sons and a daughter in succession. Finally, in 1562 BCE, she gave birth to Joseph. Nine years later, while Jacob and his family were on the road to Jacob's ancestral home in Hebron (after a 22-year absence), she gave birth to a second son, but died in childbirth. Jacob buried her by the roadside, in Bethlehem; there, "Rachel weeps over her children, for they are gone [in exile]" (Jeremiah 31:14). Her tomb has served as a place of prayer for Jews for more than 35 centuries.
Kever Rachel Linkshttps://www.chabad.org/search/keyword_cdo/kid/2283/jewish/Rachel.htm
- https://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/1044440/jewish/Why-Jacob-Loved-Rachel.htm
- https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/602502/jewish/Rachels-Tomb-Kever-Rachel.htm
Rachel's Tears
As an eighteen year-old college student, I had only begun to wade in the waters of Jewish observance when I made my first visit to Israel in 1972. Coming with my Bnai Brith Youth background, I was ready to see a living Israel and gave little thought to the Torah side of the country. Still, once I had visited the Western Wall and did all the hikes and museums that were part of my summer tour, I felt drawn to Rachel's Tomb. Why Rachel's burial spot and not Leah's, I really couldn't say. Perhaps it was the lithograph of Rachel's Tomb hanging on my grandmother's wall that I had grown up with. Maybe it was the Sunday school notion of poor Rachel, Jacob's beloved, who had her happiness sacrificed by wicked Lavan. Whatever the reason, I decided I would see her Tomb, so one day a friend and I took the bus to Bethlehem.I don't know what I had expected from the visit, but it certainly wasn't what I found. My grandmother's picture had prepared me for the small, domed building surrounded by trees where Rachel's grave stood. I expected the tall, stone tomb covered with a velvet tapestry inside the building. What I did not expect at all, though, was all the elderly women gathered around the tomb.What did one do at the burial spot of a holy person? Looking back, I wonder how old they really were, forty, fifty, sixty? From my youthful viewpoint they seemed ancient and all of them seemed to have come to Rachel full of heartache. Why else did each and every one of them pour out their hearts, voices full of sobs, faces full of tears, hands clutching handkerchiefs and prayer books?My friend and I had entered the room gingerly, tiptoeing and quiet, not sure what to do with ourselves. What did one do at the burial spot of a holy person? Reciting Psalms was certainly not for us. We looked at the women as if for guidance, and finding none, we looked at each other. Suddenly, without warning, we both simultaneously burst into giggles. Both of us tried to swallow them, and if we had been alone, we probably could have succeeded. Every time we looked at each other, the laughter bubbled to the surface and escaped out of our mouths as if it controlled us.Now it is hard to understand just exactly what struck us as funny. Growing up with a sentimental mother and a European father, tears were not uncommon in my house. We cried, believe me, we cried. We always took handkerchiefs to Bar Mitzvahs and weddings, going away to parties and graduations, to tear-jerking movies, and the like. Our tears, for the most part, were quiet, well-mannered tears. Sobs of prayer or despair were reserved for the privacy of our own home. I never heard anyone cry out loud while praying in a synagogue.Here, at Rachel's Tomb, these women seemed totally devoid of inhibition. They were acting at her graveside the way I would behave only in my own room, on my bed, all alone.These women had an entirely different culture and I guess it was the contrast that did us in. We did have enough manners to feel embarrassed and finally, we managed to pull each other aside. Collapsing on the stone bench, we gave way to hysterics, and although we received sympathetic glances from a bus load of tourists, the guard looked at us as if he was scandalized. Not wanting to offend anyone, we dragged each other out of the enclosure and to the bus stop across the road.So ended my first visit to Rachel's Tomb. I returned not long afterwards to America, dove deeper into the waters of Judaism, and married. Fourteen years later, with five children, I made aliya (moved to Israel) and settled in Shilo, where the biblical Tabernacle had once stood. For various reasons, I never managed to return to Rachel's Tomb until Passover 1992.It had not been an easy winter. I struggled with my faith every time I or a loved one had to travel Like every year, we had our hands full with normal family crisis. What had made this year so hard was the intensification of the Intifada. Rocks and firebombs had become passe, and our Arab neighbors had begun using firearms against us. Five months earlier, a bus full of friends and neighbors was attacked, and Raquela Druke was murdered. Not only did I mourn her but I became terrorized. I struggled with my faith every time I or a loved one had to travel.No longer could I casually load up my family and food into our van and enjoy a day's outing. Still, it was the middle of the Passover week and hope of springtime was in the air. All of us deserved a good time and I was determined that we would have one. Swallowing my fears, we made our way south to picnic, sightsee, and to visit the burial sites of our fathers and mothers. Rachel's Tomb was our first stop and I was eager to step inside. In spite of everything that had happened, I had much to be thankful for.We emptied out of the car, groggy from the long, hot drive. My husband took the boys to the men's side of the Tomb, and I took the two girls. I entered Rachel's Tomb, my girls' hands in mine, and suddenly the tears started.Just like the laughter twenty years earlier, I could not stop the tears. It was as if they controlled me."Why are you crying, Mommy?"I could only shake my head at my three-year-old's question. Had I tried to speak, the silent tears would have turned into heartrending sobs. Besides, what could I have answered? Was I crying for our biblical mother Rachel who had died in childbirth so many years ago? Were my tears for my neighbor, Raquela, who had left behind her seven children and, in my eyes, was a symbol of all Jewish women today? Or were my tears for myself as part of the Jewish people who were still waiting, after such a long time, for the Children to return to their Borders?Unable to talk I squeezed my daughters' hands tighter. My tears continued to flow unchecked, and in my imagination I envisioned two college coeds, dressed in clothing of the seventies, staring at me and trying to control their laughter. Was I now so comfortable in a synagogue or holy site that I could let my private feelings show? How had the "me" I had been twenty years earlier changed so much? Thankful for the metamorphosis I had undergone, I suddenly felt a sense of hope and healing that I had not felt in all the time since Raquela's murder. Surely if G‑d had changed me from the giggling teen-ager I had been into the weeping mother I am, He could change the violent world that we live in to one of peace and redemption.
- https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/602502/jewish/Rachels-Tomb-Kever-Rachel.htm
A lifelong student, Nechama Golding has earned a BA in Judaic Studies from the Blitstein Institute of Hebrew Theological College and a Master's in Education from Loyola University. She has written and edited on a variety of Judaic and social topics for Chabad.org and N’shei Chabad Newsletter. Nechama Golding lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and children. When it is too hot to go outside, she whiles away the hours by editing and writing.
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