Page 29 - Discover Israel Magazine - 2017 edition

A young visitor awaits his moment By Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
in the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Photos: Yael Ilan
Yochai on Mount Meron
An ancient legend relates that
Galilee when Moses sent the twelve
spies off to check out the land
of Israel, the two “good spies”
were late getting back because they stopped
to pray at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in
Hebron. By the Middle Ages, it was believed
that prayer at the tomb of a righteous
person, a tzaddik, has special value – the
tzaddik’s soul channels prayers straight to
the Almighty. Over time, the tombs of the
tzaddikim became “problem-specific” – each
one answering prayers in a particular area
of concern. Putting some of these tombs
on your itinerary adds an interesting slice of
Israel, and enables you to steep yourself in an
ancient tradition. Here are a few of the best-
known tombs in the Galilee.

The rainmaker

We know that our ancestors faced at least
one problem that continues to trouble Israel
to this very day: rain, or rather the lack
of it. The Talmud tells of a righteous man
who knew just what to do to change the
situation: “It once happened that the people
turned to Honi and asked him to pray for
rain. He prayed, but no rain fell. What did
he do? He drew a circle and stood within
it and exclaimed, ‘Master of the Universe,
Your children have turned to me because
they believe me to be like a member of Your
household. I swear by Your great name that I
will not move from here until You have mercy
upon Your children.’ Rain then began to fall.”
To this day, the grave of Honi Hame’aggel
(Honi the Circle-Drawer), in the western part
of Hazor in the Hula Valley, attracts Israelis
petitioning for precipitation.

Pennies from heaven
If you’re of the view that prayers for
parnosseh (financial sustenance) couldn’t
hurt, you’ll want to head for the tomb of
Rabbi Yehuda Bar Ilai off Route 89, between
Safed and Meron. Stories of financial miracles
started to abound after it was said that Israel’s
former Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Mordechai
Eliyahu sent a friend of his who had lost
everything to Rabbi Yehuda’s tomb to pray,
and the man’s broker called him, while he
was at prayer, to report that his millions

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