An Urgent Word from the Director
of the Committee for Rachel's Tomb
Arafat has won a battle but not the war -- for the first time in 33 years Jews have been denied the right to pray at Rachel's Tomb on her yahrzeit 11 Heshvan.
"Thus says HaShem:  A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children..."
We all know why she's weeping today.  At the last minute the army announced because of the threat of an Arab attack Rachel's tomb would be closed today.  The Israeli government did not allow the army to effectively secure the area so instead of solving the problem of terrorist attacks they punished the victims -- Jews who just wanted to pray at her Tomb.  If we would have reasonable Jewish pride the army would have evacuated the area around Rachel's Tomb to insure the security & safety of all Jewish visitors.  At least on two occasions during this present mini-war the Israel Defense Forces have positioned tanks near Arab neighborhoods and told the inhabitants to leave their homes temporarily, so that they would not be in the way should the army be required to respond.  For on those occasions the IDF threatened to use our tanks to level any building that would be used to attack Jews -- and the result was that there was no trouble at all.  We did this  successfully twice before same could easily have been once again.

The Israeli government has bent over backwards to insure that Muslim worshipers may pray at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem every day, yet our government displayed weakness and caved into terrorist threats and prevented Jews from praying at our third most important holy site on this once-a-year event.  The IDF has the ability to protect Jews at Rachel's Tomb but the government has hobbled the army and prevented it from acting in a reasonable fashion to allow Jews access to our holy site.  This is a case where a Jewish government works overtime to allow Muslims,  many of whom seek to destroy the State of Israel, free access to their holy sites but wouldn't do the same for their own people!

At present we are starting plans for a new Jewish community to link rachel's Tomb and the nearby neighborhood of Gilo in Jerusalem's southernmost area.  This will guarantee a continuous Jewish presence at Rachel's Tomb. If we don't have Jews living  very near the Tomb it will mean that the government will easily succumb to pressures to abandon our holy site to the PLO terrorists.  Strategically placing vibrant Jewish communities is one answer to terrorist threats.

The PLO has announced that they will do unto Rachel's Tomb just as they did unto Joseph's Tomb:

The war between Jews and the Arabs has clearly escalated since the beginning of the new year.  Many of the strongest proponents of the alleged "peace" process have realized that our "partners" are really our enemies.  An Israeli soldier was wounded at Joseph's Tomb in Shechem and bled to death because the army was apparently unable to rescue him in time.  Soon afterwards a decision was made to abandon this Jewish holy place.  No sooner had our troops retreated when the PLO began work to build a new mosque over the Tomb of Joseph.

At the present time our troops have retaken Bethlehem.  Our only presence in this Jewish city is by the Tomb of Joseph's mother, Rachel.  The PLO would like to do to Joseph's mother what they did to her son.  They would like to drive the Jews out of Bethlehem altogether and to build a new mosque atop the Tomb of Rachel.

Joseph's Tomb is situated in a place which is completely surrounded by murderous terrorists.  Rachel's Tomb is at the border with Jerusalem. It is far easier for the IDF to defend our holy site here than it was in Shechem, although our leadership could have opted to push the PLO out of at least the area of Joseph's Tomb.

Rachel's Tomb is still in our hands.  There have already been days when the IDF closed it to visitors.  If they follow the pattern of surrender which they have already established, they may even choose to abandon Mother Rachel to Arafat!

You can help stop this from happening.  Your generous donation to The Committee for Rachel's Tomb, will help us maintain a daily Jewish presence at our holy site.  By supporting the yeshiva you enable dedicated Jews to learn Torah by the grave of Rachel.  This elevates the kedusha of this place and gives the IDF an additional advantage over our enemies. Our constant presence at Rachel's Tomb will give our leadership further motivation to keep this site open for visitors.  It may well make the difference between abandoning our Mother, G-d forbid, or holding the line against our enemies.  Your participation in this holy effort has never been more vital.

Thank you,

Dale Baranowski
Director
The Committee for Rachel's Tomb