Joseph's Tomb in Nablus (Shchem) (Chatham University Archives, circa 1880)

Last night's visit to Kever Yosef in Shechem

Last night I was fortunate to join a couple thousand other people who got permission to pay a visit to the kever of Yosef HaTzaddik. Last nights visit is the traditional visit during sefirat ha'Omer on the 41st day. The day is associated with the kabbalistic count of Yesod she'b'Yesod, and that is associated with Yosef. I have no idea what any of that means, but that is what it is. So, in addition to the various other times of the year groups are allowed in to visit the kever of Yosef, the 41st day of the Omer is always one of those days.

I took 3 of my boys along, and it was fairly easy this time. There was a bus approved to go from Bet Shemesh, so at 11:00 PM we went to the meeting spot in Bet Shemesh, and got on the bus with everyone else..

There was a very high percentage of Breslavers, and they always seem to have a lot of energy. The way they were energetic in the middle of the night on the bus makes me wonder what a flight to Uman before Rosh Hashana might look like...

The bus went out to the staging grounds at the Tapuach Junction. This is right where the young father of 5 was killed last week. We had to wait there for the various cycles of buses to be routed in groups. It took a bit longer than expected.. While waiting at the Tapuach Junction, people milled about, smoked their joints (I watched a small group roll their joints) and cigarettes, danced and sang Breslav songs...

When getting back on the bus to finish the last 15 minutes of the ride out to Shchem, many more people were there trying to get onto buses. The police and army do not allow people to be standing on the bullet-proof buses. Everyone must have a seat. That means, nobody else can jump onto the bus, as all the buses come to Tapuach already full. Yet a lot of people somehow are at Tapuach trying to get spots on the buses. Maybe they come from yishuvim in the area or maybe they hitched rides to Tapuach from other areas. They all pile onto the buses and there ends up being  a lot of fighting because they cause further delays as the police/army do not allow the buses to continue with all these extra people on board. These [mostly] young men are very creative in finding ways to hide themselves, either laying under the feet of passengers with seats or, as you can see in these pictures, climbing into the back section of the bus which is closed off by a curtain (I dont know if that is a space for the engine or just storage). The police removed some extra people, but some people got away with it.

We finally arrived, somewhere around 3 am.

There was a massive crush of people going into the small room with the kever. I got in with my younger son, but the pushing was so bad I was worried he would get crushed so we quickly fought our way out and davened in the areas around the complex rather than right in. This is a view from the outside via a window to inside the room with the kever.

There was a kallah in her wedding dress davening at Kever Yosef. I assume it was after the wedding, but I did not ask her. if it was the night before the wedding I do not know why she would have been wearing her wedding dress...

They always serve free refreshments... this was the cholent and kugel being distributed. There was also a table of pastries. Drinks seemed to have been finished by the time we got there...

They only give each cycle of buses about a half an hour to be there and daven. They need to cycle through all the groups of buses and have everyone out by daybreak....

The army did a pretty good job. I remember times when things were so inefficient and unorganized and everything was a big balagan. Things are much better now, even if it takes a lot of time to get it all done with..

They said the next trip will be on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz, supposedly the yahrtzeit of Yosef, and they expect to have 2 buses from Bet Shemesh. I don't know if I will be on that trip, but contact me if you want the number of the local organizer...

בזכות יוסף הצדיק....

Spinka Rebbe Visiting Kever Yosef & The Shomron On Ushpiza D'Yosef - Sukkos 5773

Buried Treasure: Kever Yosef

Jerusalem Day Also Marks Return of Judea and Samaria

More than 5,000 people celebrated Jerusalem Day on Mount Grizim, overlooking Joseph’s Tomb (Kever Yosef) Tuesday night, where Shuli Rand, Ariel Zilber and other performers entertained.

Tuesday night and Wednesday mark not only the re-unification of all of Jerusalem but also the restoration of Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights to Israel. 

The event was dedicated to the memory of Ben Yosef Livnat, who was murdered by Palestinian Authority soldiers five weeks ago as he and more than a dozen other worshippers left Kever Yosef. The IDF has determined that the soldiers, officially known as “police,” shot to kill without provocation.

Benny Katzover, chairman of the Shomron (Samaria) Residents' Committee, told the crowd that he wrote Livnat’s mother, “We demand free daily access to Kever Yosef, without having to beg or apologize. Enough self-degradation.”

Briefing by Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon Regarding Shooting Near Joseph's Tomb

Funeral of Breslover Chasid Killed At Kever Yosef Thousands of people on Sunday Chol Hamoed Pesach April 24 attended the funeral of Ben Yosef Livnat, who was shot dead earlier in the day by a Palestinian policeman at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.

Murder at Tomb Illustrates the Future of Jewish Holy Sites in a Palestinian State

Today’s attack on Jewish worshippers at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus needs to be understood as something more significant than just another unfortunate instance of violence between Jews and Arabs. It is nothing less than a warning of what will happen once Palestinians achieve full sovereignty, as the Obama administration appears to be demanding, over all of the West Bank.

The incident occurred when a group of religious Jews, members of the Breslov hasidic sect visited the Jewish holy site this morning unaccompanied by Israeli soldiers. The tomb is located in the city of Nablus, a place that is completely under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Twice a month Israel coordinates a visit by those Israelis who wish to pray there but religious Jews believe, not without reason, that restricting Jewish worship at the site in this manner is wrong and often attempt to go on their own. But rather than merely accommodate the presence of a few Jews in an Arab city, the Palestinian Authority police attacked the group that arrived today, killing one and wounding two others.

That this crime was committed by a member of the Palestinian Authority’s own security forces — which have been trained and vouched for by the PA’s foreign donors such as the United States — is telling. Rather than keep the peace and root out the terrorists who are a threat to the safety of both Jews and Arabs, the PA police have yet again proven themselves to be a group that is willing to commit acts of terrorism themselves. There is, after all, a precedent for the PA police to act in this manner around Joseph’s Tomb. In 1996, six Israeli soldiers were killed during a Palestinian attack on the site. Four years later at the start of the second intifada in September 2000, PA policemen stormed the holy site that was at that time the home of a yeshiva. An Israeli soldier was killed in the assault after which a Palestinian mob sacked the Tomb, demolishing it and desecrating holy books and Torah scrolls.

Since then, the Tomb has been partially restored but Palestinian Authority leaders have continued to deny Judaism’s connection to the site in spite of the obviously Jewish nature of this historical site (for example, the Tomb is oriented north to south which is inconsistent with Muslim tombs that are located north of Mecca).

While foreign observers routinely refer to the PA and its security forces as being committed to peace, this incident illustrates the problem that Israel faces. With the PA itself continuing to allow its media to foment hatred of Jews and Israelis, it is little surprise that their policeman use the weapons they have been given to commit acts of violence rather than prevent them. The Jewish man who was murdered today happened to be the nephew of Limor Livnat, a minister in Israel’s current government. At his funeral she spoke the truth when she said that “He was murdered simply because he was Jewish.”

But his death is a tragedy that should remind us that future atrocities await Israel if the PA is allowed to become fully sovereign. It should be remembered that if the Obama administration has its way and Israel is forced to retreat to the 1949 armistice lines, even more Jewish holy places would be placed under their control. The PA’s clear policy is to deny the Jewish nature of virtually every sacred place in the country including the Temple Mount and Western Wall in Jerusalem. Those who believe that the PA can be trusted to guarantee free access and the right to worship in those areas where their police have unfettered control are kidding themselves. After all, although the West Bank is routinely referred to as being under Israeli occupation, today’s incident in Nablus highlights the fact that the PA police can murder Jews with impunity there with Israel being reduced to merely complaining about the crime after the fact.

Those who advocate the creation of more such no-go zones are setting Israel up not for a future of peace but one in which the Jewish heritage of the land will be erased and where blood will be spilled with impunity.

PA Spokesman Unapologetic for Murder, Says Settlers "Not Normal People"

Jewish settlers in Israel "are not normal people" and therefore there is no need to apologize for the murder of a Jew who prayed at Kever Yosef (Joseph's Tomb) Sunday morning, according to Palestinian Authority security forces' spokesman General Adnan Damiri.

He also claimed the victims of Kever Yosef attack may have been armed.

In an unusually provocative interview with Voice of Israel government radio, he said he could not confirm or deny eyewitness reports that Palestinian Authority policemen shot at five Jews who were on their way home from praying at Kever Yosef (Joseph's Tomb) early Sunday morning.

"We have not said they were or were not" PA policemen, Damiri said, contradicting all reports in both Arab and Israeli media, where the attackers were identified as PA policemen.

Asked if the PA will apologize for the murder of Ben Yosef Livnat, he answered, "You know that settlers are not normal people. Every day, they shoot at innocent Arabs." This, of course, is a blatant untruth, as the news anchor realized.

News anchor Estie Peres, who may agree with the usual Voice of Israel's criticism of Jewish presence in most of Judea and Samaria, responded that she could not agree with his statement that "settlers are not normal" and asked Damiri if there was justification in shooting at people who had been praying and were on their way home.

"Maybe they were armed," Damiri responded.

Further questioned if the PA will "make peace with settlers," he declared, "There is no room in the Palestinian Authority for settlers."

The Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency turned the story around and told its readers that "dozens of armed ultra-Orthodox settlers entered the Joseph's Tomb site..., pulled out their own guns and pointed them toward Palestinian officers. " This is the same agency that claimed that the Fogel family of Itamar were killed by a Thai worker, well knowing that the town of Itamar allows employment of Jewish workers only.

There was no indication from Israeli authorities that the worshippers were armed.

Responsiveness to Itamar Leads To Kever Yosef wedding

The people of Itamar are in a very unusual situation right now. Because of the grisly murder of the Fogel family, there is an outpouring of sympathy towards the people of Itamar. It also helps that they have responded so responsibly, for lack of a better word, and have not made calls for revenge, they have avoided the "price tag" policy of retribution that is fairly common among other similar yishuvim, but have showed a tremendous level of faith and commitment. Right now, they can ask for whatever they want, and Israel will rush to try to help with a sympathetic ear.

2 examples:
1. It turns out that the yishuv of Itamar has never received its final approval signature as a legal yishuv with construction approval, despite its being built by the government and in existence for 27 years! (source: Srugim)

During the shiva, with the rush of MKs visiting the shiva house, this was discussed, and many MKs were receptive and insistent on this being taken care of immediately. The final signature has to be given by the Defense Minister, because it is in the West Bank, and for some reason, no DM has granted his signature. This is actually why many of the yishuvim have illegal status, despite having been constructed and promoted for many years by the government - because of a technical situation of one signature being withheld.

2. A couple that was due to get married last night, in the yishuv, decided that they wanted to get married in Kever Yosef.

That is not an easy request to fulfill. Kever Yosef is a hot situation, and it requires a lot of coordination between the PA and the IDF. Until recently, visits to Kever Yosef were only approved very sparingly, though in the past half year it seems to have opened up a bit more.


So they made the request to move the wedding to Kever Yosef, and immediately all issues were resolved, and it was approved. They say it was the first wedding to take place in Kever Yosef in Shchem. The wedding took place, with a band, rabbis, and hundreds of guests, in the kever complex.