Nearly 20,000 people visited Hebron last week (August 21, 2025) for the annual Rosh Hodesh Elul celebration of Hillulat HaAvot. The Maarat HaMachpela (Tomb of the Patriarchs & Matriarchs) was filled with the sounds of prayer and song from visitors from all over the country and the world.
This is one of the ten days a year that the Hall of Isaac and Rebecca is open. This area is the largest hall in the Machpela complex and usually reserved for Muslim prayers. It includes the memorial markers of the Biblical Isaac and Rebecca and the opening into the actual underground cave. When visitors hold their face or hand over the opening, they can feel the backdraft from the underground caverns. Many refer to it as the entrance to the Garden of Eden, as described in the writings of the Kabbalah.
This year because Rosh Hodesh fell on Shabbat, the celebration was held on Thursday.
Distinguished rabbis who visited Hebron on Rosh Hodesh Elul included Rabbi Benyahu Shmueli, the Rebbe of Pinsk-Karliner Rabbi Aryeh Rosenfeld, Rabbi Mordechai Gross, Rabbi Elimelech Biderman and others.
Outside, kosher food trucks from well-known Israeli restaurants such as Hummus Eliyahu and Falafel Hanasi distributed food sponsored by Chabad of Hebron.
Many participated in tours led by guides from Midreshet Hevron, a local college, to such historic sites as the Tel Hebron archaeological park and the Touching Eternity center at Beit Hadassah.
The month of Elul is the final month before the High Holiday season of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Succot. It is traditional to recite slichot and other prayers. As the hometown of the Biblical founding fathers and mothers, Hebron has been a place of pilgrimage for generations on the first of the month of Elul. The writer David Avisar from Hebron wrote the following in the early 1900’s about his memories of this time, during which Jews were forbidden from entering into the Machpela complex and only allowed to pray outside at the Seventh Step.
“The month of Elul in Hebron brought with it hundreds of visitors from afar. The first to arrive, by foot, would be the young men from Tsor, Sidon and Damascus. When the visitors would reach the outskirts of Hebron, the youngsters and community leaders, singing joyously, would go out to welcome them and accompany them to the community inn. The visit of the young men would bring great joy to the Hebron community. During the day the visitors would pray at the Cave of Machpela and other holy places in the city. At night they would dance and sing, and the entire community would come to the inn to participate in the festivities.”
Special thank you to the IDF Judea Brigade, the Cave of Machpela Border Police, the Judea Region police and Hebron Police Station, Magen David Adom medics, the fire department and all others who made sure this was a safe and peaceful event.
Thanks to all the organizations who partnered to make this day a success including the Hebron-Kiryat Arba Religious Council, the Cave of Machpela Administration, Chabad of Hebron, the committee of the Jewish Community of Hebron, the Hebron Local Council, the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority, the Kiryat Arba Local Council, the Hebron Guest House and Midreshet Hevron college.
See you throughout the month of Elul and looking forward to Tishrei!
