Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz climbs the rough, rocky hills of Hebron
When the Meraglim came upon Chevron with its rocky, unhospitable terrain and population of giants, no wonder their hearts melted. But the strong of faith and spirit knew that in the zechus of the Avos, it would yet be an eternal inheritance. We’re still climbing
“Eretz Yisrael nikneis b’yissurim,”
Chazal tell us. Our country is only acquired with tribulations, with mesirus nefesh.
When I was a bochur in yeshivah, I thought it meant that you couldn’t get sour pickles or a decent pastrami sandwich here, and that they put chickpeas in the cholent. Today, baruch Hashem, we have it all, and yet for those of us privileged to live here with all the amenities Hashem has provided, there is still a desire to taste that mesirus nefesh of old, to connect to the sacrifices that are a necessary component of our precious yishuv. And the place I go to get that inspiration is the city of Chevron, the first city visited by the first Jewish tourists to Eretz Yisrael — the Twelve Spies we read about in parshas Shelach.
I like to start a tour of Chevron from the place where our collective Jewish life started. We’re standing at the top of the hill called Tel Chevron, in the Jewish neighborhood of Admot Yishai (Tel Rumeida), where we have an incredible overlook of this area. On all sides of us we see Arab houses — the Arab population here is about 250,000, while the Jewish population is about 800.
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