One visitor said, ‘It was pleasant and the people were singing–it didn’t feel tense at all. I sense the IDF really had the situation under control.’
By Shula Rosen
In the early hours of Thursday, leading up to Yom Kippur, 1400 Jews prayed a the tomb of Joseph on Nablus in relative and unusual quiet.
The visitors, who had been authorized to visit the holy site, were guarded by the IDF so they could engage in midnight prayer and say psalms and selichot, the prayers asking for mercy before and during the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
The grave of Joseph in Nablus, located in Samaria, is usually closed to visitors given the dire security situation in the area.
Nablus contains several densely populated refugee camps and is a hotbed of terrorism, necessitating many raids and arrests with the IDF often discovering ammunition, weapons and even suicide vests.
The visits to Joseph’s grave occur monthly and often involve only a few dozen visitors worshippers who need to be protected by soldiers from explosives thrown at the location by Palestinian terrorists.
However, the number of worshippers who visited the grave on Thursday night was a huge 1,400, and participants reported hearing just a few explosives, much less than on a typical visit.
Those who attended had waited patiently for the opportunity after signing up online, while others were soldiers stationed there and their family members, settlers from local communities, and a few Gold Star families who had lost their children in combat.
One attendee, whose relative is a soldier stationed in the area, said, “I always heard that going to Nablus was dangerous and I wasn’t sure to expect the first time.”
“However, it was pleasant and the people were singing–it didn’t feel tense at all. I sense the IDF really had the situation under control.”
Visits to Joseph’s tomb occur after midnight to avoid provoking a response from terrorists.
Earlier on Wednesday, Yammam special forces neutralized four terrorists who were planning to carry out terror attacks against Israelis.
The terrorists were seen armed moments before they were eliminated and were preparing to attack.
Issam a-Salaj, a commander of the Balata Battalion of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, was killed in the operation.
The operation followed a riot that broke out in Nablus on Wednesday that was quelled by the IDF.