On Tuesday the often embattled Jewish community in the city of the Patriarchs, Hebron, received a helping hand. An anonymous donor from the United States delivered one hundred duffel bags filled with high end military equipment to one of the army bases in Hebron.
Soldiers stationed in Hebron are doing work that is on par with what is going on in Gaza, and executing an intensive search for the two kidnappers and murderers of three Israeli youth Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frenkel, and Gilad Shaar.
The Hebron Fund was happy to take the donor on a tour of the city and show him how life in the once capital of Judea works. The Jewish community of Hebron is home to 91 Jewish families who live in the various neighbourhoods scattered around the major holy sites. There are under 1,000 Jews in Hebron in total.
The city, however, has an enormous Palestinian population which can make living there quite challenging. In order to protect the Jewish residents the IDF has numerous permanent bases set up throughout the city and keeps constant guard in and around the Jewish quarter. However, skirmishes and attacks like the one that occurred last week on Friday are all to common.
The Hebron Fund works very closely with the military and the close knit community has a very warm relationship with the soldiers on duty there. Among other things that the community does for the soldiers is provide each of the soldiers stationed there with weekly gift packages that include food, some basic necessities, and a teaching from the weekly torah portion. These little tokens of appreciation are handed out on Friday afternoons in honor of the Sabbath.
The community also holds special events for the soldiers such as BBQ’s and often supplies them with extra socks or underwear that they may be lacking. Recently, as many of the men in the community were off fighting in Gaza as part of the military reserves, some of the soldiers stationed in Hebron performed the Sabbath ceremony of blessing the day over a cup of wine (Kiddush) for the wives who were without their husbands. The wives in turn provided a traditional Sabbath meal for the soldiers.
“We give donors who come to Hebron a tour of the city and explain to them why it is important for the army to be here in Hebron,” says Rabbi Dan Rosenstein, Executive Director of the Hebron Fund. “We emphasize the connection that all of Israel has to the City of the Patriarchs. That it is our roots and our home. The very first transaction by a Jew in Israel took place right here by Abraham our forefather when he bought the cave that would later be the burial place of the Patriarchs. King David began his reign over Judea and Israel here as well.”
While the Hebron Fund is dedicated to creating and facilitating projects in and around the community in order to strengthen the Jewish presence in the city, they also aim to help the soldiers so that they can perform their duties more effectively. “We hope that by helping the soldiers, boosting their morale and giving them more support, that they will be able to more effectively do their jobs knowing that the community supports them. We hope to help them bring justice to the kidnappers and murderers of the three teens,” said Rosenstein.
Currently the Hebron Fund has two initiatives underway which can allow people from all over the world to show their support and help out – their annual calendar campaign, as well as the ‘honorary citizen’ sponsorship. In spite of the current unrest,the Hebron Fund is continuing to to push ahead with their plans to entertain over 50,000 people over the Feast of Tabernacles.
Rosenstein told Breaking Israel News why helping the Hebron Fund is so important right now: “People who partner with Hebron are helping continue the Jewish tradition in the city that has had a Jewish presence since the time when Abraham bought the Cave of the Patriarchs. The more that people can partner with us and support us, the more help we can provide, and I believe that they will in turn receive a tremendous amount of blessings for that help.”
