By David Tzam

In September of 2005 I set out to explore the world.  I had finished my undergrad degree the previous April and I was determined to see as much as I could.  After nearly four months and twenty-four countries in Europe I flew from Athens, Greece to Ben Gurion Airport, just outside of Tel Aviv.

This was not my first time in Israel. I went on birthright in 2002 and had visited several times before that.  When I traveled there in the past I was with family or part of an organized tour (as was the case with birthright). This time, after the obligatory week of seeing family, I was determined to go off alone and explore Israel.

In September of 2005 I set out to explore the world. I had finished my undergrad degree the previous April and I was determined to see as much as I could. After nearly four months and twenty-four countries in Europe I flew from Athens, Greece to Ben GurionAirport, just outside of Tel Aviv.

This was not my first time in Israel. I went on birthright in 2002 and had visited several times before that. When I traveled there in the past I was with family or part of an organized tour (as was the case with birthright). This time, after the obligatory week of seeing family, I was determined to go off alone and explore Israel.

After spending four months backpacking in Europe, several day trips to different parts of Israel (I was using my cousin’s place in Bat Yam as my base) were very straightforward. First, I went to Tel Aviv, Haifa, Acre (Akko) and Jerusalem. However, this time I added a city which I had never visited in any of my previous trips to the Holy Land -Hebron.

The summer before I met up with a friend who had just returned from doing the Magen David Adom (the Israeli equivalent to the Red Cross) program that summer; he told me of his trip and his experiences in Israel and the places he visited. He also told me that he went to Hebron. At first I was shocked. I asked him if it was safe and he assured me that it was – just find a good tour.

When I got to Israel, I googled tours of Hebron and came across the website of the Jewish community of Hebron. I called them up and booked a tour. I met up with the others who signed up for the English tour at a hotel in Jerusalem. When we all boarded the bus the tour guide, a charismatic rabbi originally from New Jersey, asked us if we were all comfortable. But before we could respond he answered for us: “when you have 60 Jews in a bus everyone is not comfortable, someone is always too cold, too hot, too cramped, etc.” We all got a good laugh out of that one.

The first stop on the tour was Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Soon after the tour began I noticed that I was the only one who was secular – everyone else was Orthodox. However, that was not odd for me and the people on the tour were very helpful and explained things to me.

When we got to Hebron we went to a building that was a Jewish-run hospital for both Jews and Arabs until 1929. In late August 1929 there was a massacre perpetrated against the Jewish community there by Arabs who were incited by false rumors. The hospital treated both Jews and Arabs alike, yet this did not save the hospital or the people in it from the massacre. The hospital has been turned into a museum of the Jewish community of Hebron. Displayed on its walls are pictures of the Tomb of the Patriarchs and all the victims of the 1929 massacre.

There are many horrific stories from the 1929 pogrom. Several of the victims were children. In addition, some of the pictures were of the staff of the hospital – nurses and doctors who served Jews and Arabs equally. One picture that really stuck out for me was that of a nurse who was now among the wounded and dying. She looked completely devoid of life and like she was simply waiting for death. Even though the photo was in black and white and taken 80 years ago, it was still very haunting.

That year, 1929, was marked by anti-Jewish riots throughout the Holy Land. The trigger for the 1929 disturbances, not unlike the Arab revolts from 1936-1939, was Mohammed Amin al-Husayni.[1] The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem had circulated pamphlets falsely claiming that the Jews were planning on taking over the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Arab riots of 1929, similar to the riots that occurred throughout the British mandate, were fundamentally caused by Arab anger and resentment over Jewish immigration.

Our tour leader emphasized that Jews had lived in Hebron prior to 1967 (the Six-Day War). In fact, Jews lived in Hebron continuously since Biblical times. It was not until the massacre of 1929 that Hebron became Judenrein.[2] After the massacre the British evacuated the surviving Jews (67 Jews had been killed). The Jewish property was seized by Arabs residents. It was only after 1967, when Israel gained control of the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), that Jews returned to Hebron.

After the museum we went to the homes of several Jews who lived in Hebron. These people live in constant fear of snipers. There were signs commemorating a young Jewish baby girl who was shot and killed in 2001. What struck me about these residents was their resilience and determination. They are committed to a Jewish presence in the second holiest city in Judaism – and determined not to share the fate of the 1929 Hebron Jews, particularly now that there is a Jewish army protecting them.

We also visited a synagogue. There the tour guide told us a touching story. During the massacre in 1929, a Jewish man risked his life to save a Sefer Torah (Torah scroll). This was no ordinary Torah scroll, but one that actually originated from Spain prior to the expulsion of the Jews in 1492. The guide went onto explain that when Hebron returned to Jewish control in 1967, this man, now elderly and barely walking, came back to Hebron with the Sefer Torah and put it back in the synagogue, in its once and future home.

The last stop in the tour was the Tomb of the Patriarchs. This site is holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians alike. It is the supposed resting place of Abraham, Sarah, Issac, Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. Today Jews are allowed to visit and pray at the site (during Jordanian rule 1948-1967 Jews were barred from the Tomb of the Patriarchs). However, the majority of the site (81%) is under the control of the waqf (Islamic trust). This is particularly evident when, during the middle of the Jewish prayer service there, the muezzin called Muslims to prayer – through a loudspeaker. Interestingly, from the Tomb of the Patriarchs Muslims pray with their back toward Jerusalem.

Hebron, along with Jerusalem, Safed, and Tiberius make up the four holy cities to Judaism. Hebron unquestionably is a significant city to Jews on both a religious and historical level. It is the city where the patriarchs lived and are buried. It is worth noting that Hebron was the capital of Israel before King David moved it to Jerusalem. Furthermore, Hebron is located in the middle of Judea (southern West Bank). This region, along with Samaria (northern West Bank) contains much history and religious significance. It was the Jewish heartland of Israel prior to the Jews’ expulsion by the Romans during the first two centuries of the Common Era.

Judea and Samaria are now popularly known as the “West Bank.” In actuality “West Bank” was originally a geographic term, meaning on the west bank of the Jordan River. Judea and Samaria, like the rest of Israel after the failed rebellions against the Romans, had their Jewish populations severely reduced and other peoples settled in the region. Currently the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria are known as “Jewish settlements” in the “West Bank” and this often carries a very negative connotation. However, as Hebron illustrates, Judea and Samaria have much Jewish history to them and are linked to the Jewish people. Moreover, Hebron had a continuous Jewish presence until 1929, when Arab rioters killed 67 Jews and forced the surviving ones out. To separate Jews from Judea and Samaria is historically inaccurate and ignores the Jewish people’s ties to their ancestral heartland.

Just before the tour ended and we were to return to Jerusalem, I walked around the area outside the Tomb of the Patriarchs, particularly the steps – as I was not allowed to wander too far away from the secured area, and took pictures. There were Israeli soldiers there, protecting the Jewish pilgrims. I asked two of them if they wanted to be in a picture with me, they happily replied that they did. In that picture there was an Ashkenazi Jew (of Eastern European decent) on my right and an Ethiopian Jew on my left.

That picture has a lot of significance to me. It makes me feel proud to know that Jews have returned, not just to Hebron, but to Israel itself, from all corners of the world. The tour was a really interesting and meaningful experience for me – at the end of the tour the guide told me I was welcome to come and stay with his family for Shabat (the Jewish Sabbath). I did not know what to expect when I began the tour (I just hoped I would not be shot at) but in the end I knew I had connected with my heritage and my people.

[2] Several families did return to Hebron in 1931. However, due to the ever-present danger from the Arab population Jews did not remain for very long. By 1947, there was only a single Jewish family in Hebron (they fled prior to the outbreak of the Israeli War of Independence the
next year).