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A Roar for Hebron David WilderMarch 07, 2011 This past Shabbat afternoon, we held a special Sabbath luncheon. It was attended by Hebron executive director Menachem Livni, Mayor Avraham Ben Yosef, Rabbi Simcha Hochbaum, Noam Arnon and myself, and of course with our respective wives. However, the guests of honor were from out-of-town: Hebron Fund president Teddy Pollack and the […]

See photos and video at: http://goo.gl/3HXWw Hebron and Ma’arat HaMachpela have again sprung into the headlines. This time by the graces of Education minister Gideon Sa’ar. Visiting in Gush Etzion and Kiryat Arba, Sa’ar also paid his respects to his great grandparents. You know, Abraham and Sarah, who’ve been lying in eternal repose at the caves of Machpela for almost 4,000 […]

An unforgivable sacrilege David WilderFebruary 07, 2011 Several days ago Hebron’s police chief showed up at the home of Rabbi Dov Lior, Chief Rabbi of Hebron and Kiryat Arba. The officer informed Rabbi Lior that an arrest warrant had been issued, ordering his arrest. Should the Rabbi agree to be interrogated, the warrant would be cancelled. On the spot Rabbi Lior answered, […]

I know it may seem difficult to fathom, but there are certain elements of life in Hebron that have nothing to do with politics. At least, they shouldn’t. For example, Tel Hebron. This site was called, by a preeminent archeologist, the second most important archeological site in Israel, after Jerusalem. Excavations in the middle 1960s, during the Jordanian occupation, revealed […]

Provisional death certificates There’s a person I know with serious medical issues. He’s undergoing various treatments, which may, or may not succeed in healing him. The therapy is exceedingly difficult, and the doctors, despite their continuing efforts, are not optimistic. A few days ago a senior medical staff member at the hospital had a meeting with the patient’s family. The […]

A Righteous Man – Herb Zweibon z”l (of blessed memory) I don’t think that by chance Herb died on Tu BeShavat, known as the holiday of trees, and also the holiday of Eretz YisraelEarly this afternoon I had a few minutes before leaving the office to photograph kids planting trees and bushes here in Hebron. An envelope had been sitting […]

Tevet 27, 5771, 1/3/2011 Machpela miracles Over the past month, what I would consider to be three miracles have occurred in Hebron. I’d like to relate them.The first happened on the last night of Hanukkah. Every night, at Ma’arat HaMachpela, someone was honored toThis is the aura of Hebron, the spirit of Machpela, the Divine essence of this holy city. light […]

Kislev 7, 5771, 11/14/2010 Wonder Woman Years ago I discovered the bible. No, not the one that starts ‘In the beginning…’. Well, almost, but a little different.This bible begins, “It was not until this book was well under way that I reluctantly confronted the historical factors underlying the “Palestinian problem.’ The book was originally meant to be solely an investigation […]

This week Hebron’s Jewish Community received an unusually large number of greetings. Specifically, 14 ministers, five deputy ministers, and 24 MKs from both the coalition and the opposition (3 from Kadima), including Knesset speaker Ruby Rivlin, sent special messages of support to Hebron.  This, as part of an annual celebration,  as we read the weekly Torah portion, Chaye Sarah, in […]

Tishrei 23, 5771, 10/1/2010 The fourth leg  Jews celebrate three major holidays annually: Passover, Shavuot, and Succot. These three festive occasions celebrate our exodus from Egypt, receiving of the Torah, and the Divine presence watching over us for forty years in the desert.  These special times could be figuratively compared to a necessary injection, provided three times yearly, for a […]