An emotional service is taking place at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Jerusalem with the participation of thousands of worshippers.
A festive prayer service was held on Wednesday at the Cave of the Patriarchs, with Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Tzfat, and a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council, and Rabbi Uriel Saied of Kiryat Ono.
Hundreds of worshippers arrived early in the morning at the entrance plaza of the cave, where the prayer is held to make space for the thousands arriving and the dances that take place every holiday in the traditional prayer. The congregation this year includes both soldiers and bereaved families.
Rabbi Uriel Saied led the prayer, which is the second of three such services. The third takes place tomorrow in Tzfat.
“This is something new,” explained Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu about the musical Hallel prayer. “This is how prayer was in ancient time. Only in our generation is this considered a novelty.”
Additionally, before the Passover holiday, Rabbi Saied published a new rendition of the Berdichev melody used in the prayer: “The purpose of the song is to allow listeners to connect to the experience of the upcoming Passover holiday, through receiving the lights of the mass singing in the Hallel prayer and gratitude for the miracles in war and in general.”
“It’s moving to see the roads to Hebron jammed with vehicles of thousands who came to pray here in this holy place”, said Nathaniel Sarusi, one of the worshippers. “We see the Jewish people arriving in droves, from all over the country, from the south to the north.”
The organizers noted that besides the thousands of worshippers from all over the country, worshippers also came to pray especially from abroad.
