Tomb of Maimonides
Encyclopedia
According to Jewish tradition, the Tomb of Maimonides ( translit.
Kever ha-Rambam) is located in central Tiberias, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee
, Israel
. Maimonides
died in Fustat, Egypt
on 20 December 1204, where it is believed that he was briefly buried before being reinterred in Tiberias.
The Tomb of Maimonides is one of the most important Jewish pilgrimage
sites in Israel, and one of Tiberias's most visited tourist attractions. The place of the tomb of Maimonides is also the burial place of Rabbis Isaiah Horowitz
and Yochanan ben Zakai
.
where he used to study and to heal strangers. While some believe his bones never left Egypt
, others believe that the permanent place of his burial was on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee
, where Tiberias is now sited. One legend has it that a band of Bedouin
s who were about to attack the funeral cortegé as it marched through the desert "hung their heads in shame" after realizing it was the funeral of the man who had attended themselves and their families for free, and instead formed a protective guard for the procession as it made its way to Palestine.
Another legend was told by Joseph ben Isaac Sambari, a Jewish-Egyptian chronicler of the seventeenth century, who lived probably between 1640 and 1703. In one of his books Sambari mentioned an oral anecdote about the people who carried his body to the Sea of Galilee for permanent burial mistakenly leaving one of his toes behind in the Maimonides synagogue, which at that time was called the synagogue of Western (Tunis
ian) Jews. Later one of the people who carried the body had a dream, in which a wise man of Egypt reminded him about the forgotten toe. The toe was recovered and buried next to the body.
originally purchased the lands around the tomb in 1920, and as a result the tomb was transferred to Jewish ownership.
At the end of 1955 the Religious Services Minister of Israel began the excavation work at the site of the tomb and soon many additional graves were discovered around the tomb of Maimonides. The employees of the Department of National Roads Company of Israel
continued to work despite the presence of graves.
One of the most prominent leaders of the Orthodox community then, Rabbi Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik, was shocked from the what he percevied as desecration of the dead's honor (חילול כבוד המת) at the site. He turned to the prominent rabbis of the ultra-Orthodox community and to the Neturei Karta
- Rabbi Amram Blau
and Rabbi Aaron Katsenelenbogen - and asked them to organize demonstrations and prevent the continuation of the work and desecration in the site. As a result, a large number of activists started protesting at the Maimonides Tomb. The protested eventually led to the suspension the work on the site temporarily.
After a period of time the work was resumed as well as the protests of the ultra-Orthodox activists which was also resumed. Neturei Karta activists has protestors physically protecting the graves throughout the day in shifts preventing the workers and archaeologists to approach the graves. Another group of ultra-Orthodox activists from Bnei Brak joined them later as well. The groups of protesters consisted of hundreds of people, and they also held demonstrations in the streets of Tiberias. Neturei Karta also claimed at the time that they are considering turning to the United Nations to intervene in this affair.
Later on, one of the tractors working at the site accidentally hit the nearby grave of Isaiah Horowitz
. Even though it happened accidentally, this event created a big rage among the protestors, and the tractor driver had to quickly flee from the area for his life. Following this incident and the uproar it initiated, it was eventually decided to suspend the work at Maimonides' tomb site. Representatives of the Religious Services Minister of Israel and the Chief Rabbinate pledged that no excavation work would be done in the site.
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
Kever ha-Rambam) is located in central Tiberias, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
died in Fustat, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
on 20 December 1204, where it is believed that he was briefly buried before being reinterred in Tiberias.
The Tomb of Maimonides is one of the most important Jewish pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
sites in Israel, and one of Tiberias's most visited tourist attractions. The place of the tomb of Maimonides is also the burial place of Rabbis Isaiah Horowitz
Isaiah Horowitz
Isaiah Horowitz, , also known as the Shelah ha-Kadosh after the title of his best-known work, was a prominent Levite rabbi and mystic.-Biography:...
and Yochanan ben Zakai
Yochanan ben Zakai
Johanan ben Zakai , also known as Johanan B. Zakkai was one of the tannaim, an important Jewish sage in the era of the Second Temple, and a primary contributor to the core text of Rabbinical Judaism, the Mishnah. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Jewish figures of his time...
.
Legends
Many legends are told about the burial of Maimonides. According to Jewish tradition, his bones were placed for a week in a small shrineShrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
where he used to study and to heal strangers. While some believe his bones never left Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, others believe that the permanent place of his burial was on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee, also Kinneret, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias , is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, and it is approximately in circumference, about long, and wide. The lake has a total area of , and a maximum depth of approximately 43 m...
, where Tiberias is now sited. One legend has it that a band of Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
s who were about to attack the funeral cortegé as it marched through the desert "hung their heads in shame" after realizing it was the funeral of the man who had attended themselves and their families for free, and instead formed a protective guard for the procession as it made its way to Palestine.
Another legend was told by Joseph ben Isaac Sambari, a Jewish-Egyptian chronicler of the seventeenth century, who lived probably between 1640 and 1703. In one of his books Sambari mentioned an oral anecdote about the people who carried his body to the Sea of Galilee for permanent burial mistakenly leaving one of his toes behind in the Maimonides synagogue, which at that time was called the synagogue of Western (Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
ian) Jews. Later one of the people who carried the body had a dream, in which a wise man of Egypt reminded him about the forgotten toe. The toe was recovered and buried next to the body.
Tiberias
Rabbi Ya'akov Moshe ToledanoYa'akov Moshe Toledano
Rabbi Ya'akov Moshe Toledano was an Israeli rabbi who served as Minister of Religions for two brief periods between 1958 and 1960. He also served as chief rabbi of Cairo, Alexandria and Tel Aviv....
originally purchased the lands around the tomb in 1920, and as a result the tomb was transferred to Jewish ownership.
At the end of 1955 the Religious Services Minister of Israel began the excavation work at the site of the tomb and soon many additional graves were discovered around the tomb of Maimonides. The employees of the Department of National Roads Company of Israel
National Roads Company of Israel
The National Roads Company of Israel , also called National Roads Authority, is a government-owned corporation, in charge of planning, construction and maintenance of most road infrastructure in Israel, including roads, bridges and interchanges....
continued to work despite the presence of graves.
One of the most prominent leaders of the Orthodox community then, Rabbi Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik, was shocked from the what he percevied as desecration of the dead's honor (חילול כבוד המת) at the site. He turned to the prominent rabbis of the ultra-Orthodox community and to the Neturei Karta
Neturei Karta
Neturei Karta is a Haredi Jewish group formally created in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine, in 1938, splitting off from Agudas Yisroel...
- Rabbi Amram Blau
Amram Blau
Amram Blau was a Haredi rabbi from the Hungarian community of Jerusalem. He was one of the founders of the fiercely Anti-Zionist Neturei Karta.Blau was born in Jerusalem, and grew up in the Meah Shearim neighbourhood...
and Rabbi Aaron Katsenelenbogen - and asked them to organize demonstrations and prevent the continuation of the work and desecration in the site. As a result, a large number of activists started protesting at the Maimonides Tomb. The protested eventually led to the suspension the work on the site temporarily.
After a period of time the work was resumed as well as the protests of the ultra-Orthodox activists which was also resumed. Neturei Karta activists has protestors physically protecting the graves throughout the day in shifts preventing the workers and archaeologists to approach the graves. Another group of ultra-Orthodox activists from Bnei Brak joined them later as well. The groups of protesters consisted of hundreds of people, and they also held demonstrations in the streets of Tiberias. Neturei Karta also claimed at the time that they are considering turning to the United Nations to intervene in this affair.
Later on, one of the tractors working at the site accidentally hit the nearby grave of Isaiah Horowitz
Isaiah Horowitz
Isaiah Horowitz, , also known as the Shelah ha-Kadosh after the title of his best-known work, was a prominent Levite rabbi and mystic.-Biography:...
. Even though it happened accidentally, this event created a big rage among the protestors, and the tractor driver had to quickly flee from the area for his life. Following this incident and the uproar it initiated, it was eventually decided to suspend the work at Maimonides' tomb site. Representatives of the Religious Services Minister of Israel and the Chief Rabbinate pledged that no excavation work would be done in the site.