TODAY IS YOM CHEVRON: Today is Yom Chevron, the anniversary of the liberation of Chevron. Here is an article by David Wilder from May 2005:

Why Live in Hebron

Erev Yom Yerushalayim//Yom Hebron

"On the occasion of the thirty second anniversary of the renewal of the Jewish Community of Hebron, I am happy to convey to the entire community blessings of success and shalom. The right of Jews to live tranquilly in the city of the Forefathers securely, protected from all danger, is not disputed." So began former Prime Minister Ehud Barak's letter of good wishes to The Jewish Community of Hebron. (It should be noted that Ehud Barak is not a supporter of the Israeli right.)

Hebron is the first Jewish city in the land of Israel , home of our patriarchs and matriarchs — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Sarah, Rebecca and Leah. King David ruled from Hebron for more than seven years before moving the capital to Jerusalem.

Jews have lived in Hebron almost continuously for thousands of years. At Tel Hebron, commonly known as "Tel Rumeida," artifacts were discovered dating to the era of the Patriarch Abraham. "L'Melech" (King) seals, 2,700 years old, inscribed with the word "Hevron" in ancient Hebrew were uncovered there by archeologists. Our community offices are in a neighborhood founded in 1540 by Jews exiled from in 1492. Jewish presence in Hebron came to an abrupt end only in August 1929, when Arab riots led to the murder of 67 Jews and the wounding of 70. All survivors were exiled from the city by the ruling British.

Following the riots, massacre and exile in 1929, a small group of Jews returned to Hebron in 1931. About thirty families lived in the city until just after Passover, 1936, when they were expelled by the British. Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Jews again had access to the first Jewish city in . It must be clearly understood: when returned to Hebron in 1967, Jews did not occupy a foreign city; rather, they came back home.

In 1968 Jews officially came back to Hebron . The day before Passover in April, 1968 a group of families arrived at the Park Hotel in Hebron . The proprietor rented them half of the kitchen, which they promptly koshered. The women and children slept in the rooms; the men and boys slept in the lobby and on the floor. It was the first Jewish Pesach in Hebron in decades.

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Technorati Tag: Israel and Yom Hebron and Yom Chevron.