Traveling notes

In the preface to his commentary on the tractate of Rosh Hashana he writes of his visit to Hebron.
"And on the first day of the week, the ninth day of the month of Heshvan, I left Jerusalem for Hebron to kiss the graves of my forefathers in the Cave of Machpela.

1967-The Israel Defense Forces liberate Hebron. Jews by the thousands stream daily to the Cave of Machpela. "Hundreds of men and women stand next to the grave markers in the Cave. They recite psalms and shed tears. It seems that all burdens of the heart find vent here, by the Fathers and Mothers of our nation. A group of Yemenite Jews with curled side-locks sway in enthusiastic prayer.

"And in the valley is the Cave of Machpela, if a Jew should pay the Ishmaelite watchman, he will open for him an iron gate. From there one descends stairs with a candle in hand. Upon reaching the third cave one will find six graves. These are the graves of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and opposite them, Sarah, Rebecca and Leah, And inside the cave are many barrels, filled with bones of Israelites who would bring the bones of their dead to the Cave in the age of Israel.

"The watchman led me down the stairs, with candles lit. In the middle of the cave is an opening in the ground. From the opening came a strong wind which extinguished the candles.

 “…I wasn’t in Jerusalem then, for I had gone to Hebron, and I lived there a long time, until I found living there almost more pleasing than living in Jerusalem. The Jews of Hebron were few but fine, without the negative traits of the Jerusalemites. There were about twenty householders living in one enclosed courtyard, and no impure Ishmaelite ever passed among them. There is also a tradition amongst all the country’s residents that burial in Hebron is better than burial in Jerusalem.