“People see results,” said Benny Barzilai, who runs monthly trips to tombs. “That’s why this tour succeeds.” By TIA GOLDENBERG ADVERTISING Associated Press NETIVOT, Israel — One man prays to heal the legs he broke in a car accident. An
By TIA GOLDENBERG
Associated Press
NETIVOT, Israel — One man prays to heal the legs he broke in a car accident. An older woman pleads for grandchildren. Another visitor has come to see “God’s secretary.”
These believers are part of a growing phenomenon in Israel, where hundreds of thousands of people from starkly different backgrounds flock to the tombs of ancient Biblical figures or modern-day rabbis, seeking blessings and claiming they’ve witnessed miracles.
At many of these sites there is scant proof that any sage is actually buried there. Some are even believed to be co-opted Ottoman or Muslim burial places. But to the faithful, the lack of hard evidence is irrelevant. It’s the deep spiritual experience or, for some, the desperate desire to be blessed, that matters.
“Coming here is being able to speak to God’s secretary. It’s the closest you can get,” said Suzy Shaked, a 55-year-old teacher from central Israel who visited the tomb of Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, one of the most popular pilgrimage sites.
Shaked said she sees Abuhatzeira, better known as the Baba Sali, as God’s envoy. A visit to his tomb puts her requests in God’s earshot. She was praying at the Baba Sali’s tomb for her son to marry.
While there are no firm statistics on how many Israelis visit sites like the Baba Sali’s tomb, researchers say the number is growing.
They cite the rising power of religious political parties, the influence of Israelis of north African descent who traditionally practiced these kinds of pilgrimages, and a growing desire by even secular Jews to find meaning in their lives through a spiritual act. Prominent businessmen and politicians are known to make appearances at the sites.
“It’s hard for (people) to be satisfied with prayer in a synagogue to a God who is very abstract, who is unclear, who is not accessible,” said Doron Bar, a historical geographer who studies the sites. “I think visiting a grave like this gives believers a line through which demands can be made.”
Bar believes that the number of pilgrimage sites has grown into the hundreds.
The phenomenon has spawned a tourist trade, where busloads of faithful are ferried from one burial site to another to make a variety of wishes.
“People see results,” said Benny Barzilai, who runs monthly trips to tombs. “That’s why this tour succeeds.”
