Hebron: This is our family's land

Jewish history in the promised land began in Hebron. As the biblical narrative that we read this Shabbat Chayei Sara recounts, Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah to be the burial site for his wife, Sara.

It was in Hebron that David became king of Israel, ruling for seven years before relocating his throne to Jerusalem. So it was that Hebron — the foundation of Jewish life in the Land of Israel — became deeply embedded in Jewish history and memory.

This is anything but “occupied” territory.

For millennia, a tiny and impoverished community of Hebron Jews endured; by the 19th century, they lived in a cramped ghetto, the frequent target of hostile local Arabs. Then in 1929, Arabs rampaging through the Jewish quarter slaughtered at least 68 Jews, after which the British compelled the survivors to abandon their ancient holy city.

Hebron became Arab-occupied territory, and Jews did not begin to return until the Jewish state’s stunning victory in the Six-Day War four decades later. In 1968, a group of Jews led by Rabbi Moshe Levinger returned to Hebron to celebrate Passover and restore the Jewish community.

Several hundred Jews now live in a decrepit neighborhood adjacent to a flourishing Arab Hebron that they are forbidden to enter; that larger city, whose sights and sounds can be experienced from the Jewish district, is home to 225,000 Palestinians.

Except on Jewish holy days, Jews have restricted access — enforced by the Israeli government — to the magnificent Isaac Hall which is the centerpiece of the Machpelah, where the patriarchs and matriarchs are interred.

A Hebrew University professor has described the return of Jews to Hebron as “a national disgrace, a genuine sin and crime.” Historian Howard Sachar described settlers as “fanatics” and “zealots.”

Political scientist Ehud Sprinzak insisted that the settlement movement combines “ultranationalism, militarism, ethnocentrism and religiosity” and is “incompatible with modern democratic principles.”

And so it is that Israel is relentlessly castigated for its illegal “occupation” of its biblical homeland.

This article is extracted from several columns by Jerold S. Auerbach, author of 12 books, including “Print to Fit: The New York Times, Zionism and Israel (1896-2016)” and “Israel 1896-2016.” To reach Auerbach, write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com

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