ohel (grave)

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Ohel ({{langx|he|אוהל}}; plural: {{transl|he|ohelim}}, literally, "tent"){{sfn|Steinmetz|2005|p=117}}{{sfn|Krajewska|1993|p=22}} is a structure built around a Jewish grave as a sign of prominence of the deceased. {{transl|he|Ohelim}} cover the graves of some (but not all) Hasidic Rebbes, important rabbis, tzadikim, prominent Jewish community leaders, and biblical figures. Typically a small masonry building, an {{transl|he|ohel}} may include room for visitors to pray, meditate, and light candles in honor of the deceased.

Source

According to Krajewska, the tradition of covering a grave with an {{transl|he|ohel}} may be based on the Cave of the Patriarchs, in which Abraham buried Sarah.{{sfn|Krajewska|1993|p=22}} Nolan Menachemson suggests that the Hasidic tradition of covering the graves of Rebbes with an {{transl|he|ohel}} derives from the {{transl|he|Ohel Moed}} ("Tent of Meeting") in which Moses communicated with God during the Israelites' travels in the desert.{{sfn|Menachemson|2007|p=41}}

Construction

{{transl|he|Ohelim}} are usually simple masonry structures. They may include one or two windows.{{sfn|Krajewska|1993|p=22}} In prewar Poland, the {{transl|he|ohel}} of a Rebbe was located close by the Hasidic court, and was big enough to accommodate a {{transl|he|minyan}} of ten men beside the grave.{{sfn|Biale|Assaf|Brown|Gellman|2017|p=426}}

The {{transl|he|ohel}} of the Lubavitcher Rebbes in Queens, New York, is unusual in that it does not have a roof. This allows {{transl|he|kohanim}} to visit the graves without coming into contact with impurity from the dead.{{cite web |url=http://shulchanaruchharav.com/halacha/kohanim/|title=Kohanim|first=Rabbi Yaakov|last=Goldstein|date=28 November 2016|access-date=2 April 2018|work=shulchanaruchharav.com}}

Use

In the case of a Hasidic Rebbe, the ohel is a place for visitors to pray, meditate, write kvitelekh (petitionary prayer notes) and light candles in honor of the deceased.{{sfn|Rabinowicz |1996|p=351}}{{cite web |url= https://sztetl.org.pl/en/tradition-and-jewish-culture/religion/cemeteries|title=Cemeteries|first=Jan |last=Jagielski|year=2017|access-date=2 April 2018|publisher=POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews}}{{sfn|Kadish|2006}} Ohelim of Hasidic Rebbes, as well as the tombs of tzadikim venerated by Moroccan Jews, serve as year-round pilgrimage sites, with the biggest influx of visitors coming on the rebbe or tzadik's yom hillula (anniversary of death).{{sfn|Miller|2014|p=414}}{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/pilgrimage-contemporary-jewish-pilgrimage|title= Pilgrimage: Contemporary Jewish Pilgrimage|first=Moshe|last=Shokeid|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Religion|year=2016|access-date=2 April 2018}}

Notable ohelim

One or more graves may be included in the same ohel. Notable ohelim include:

File:Jewish cemetery Ozarow IMGP5087.jpg, Poland]]

=Single-grave ohel=

Baba Sali, Netivot, Israel
Chida, Har HaMenuchot, Jerusalem
Yonatan ben Uziel, Amuka, Israel
Elimelech of Lizhensk, Leżajsk, Poland
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, leader of pre-war Eastern European Jewry
Nachman of Breslov, Uman, Ukraine
Nathan of Breslov, Breslov, Ukraine
Rachel, wife of Rabbi Akiva, Tiberias, Israel
Vilna Gaon, Vilnius, Lithuania

=Multiple-grave ohel=

Avraham Mordechai Alter and Pinchas Menachem Alter, the third and sixth rebbes of Ger, Jerusalem
Baal Shem Tov, Ze'ev Wolf Kitzes, the Degel Machaneh Ephraim, the Apter Rav, and Rabbi Boruch of Medzhybizh, Medzhybizh, Ukraine
Avrohom Bornsztain and his son Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain, Sochatchover Rebbes
Dov Ber of Mezeritch and Zusha of Anipoli
Shlomo Halberstam and Naftali Halberstam, the third and fourth Bobover Rebbes, New York
Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the sixth and seventh Lubavitcher Rebbes, Queens, New York
Joel Teitelbaum and Moses Teitelbaum, first and second Satmar Rebbes

= Biblical figures and Talmudic sages =

Biblical figures and Mishnaic and Talmudic sages are typically buried in ohelim:{{cn|date=April 2018}}

Benjamin (near Kfar Saba, Israel)
Esther and Mordechai, Hamadan, Iran
Habakkuk, northern Israel
Judah, Yehud, Israel
Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes (Rabbi Meir the miracle maker) was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna.
Rachel, near Bethlehem
Simeon bar Yochai, Meron, Israel is the site of a large annual Lag BaOmer celebration
Yose HaGelili, Dalton, Israel

Gallery

File:Rachel's Tomb c1910.jpg|Rachel's Tomb, covered by a distinctive, dome-shaped ohel, as it appeared circa 1910

File:Imrei Emes and Pnei Menachem graves.jpg|The graves of Avraham Mordechai Alter (right) and his son, Pinchas Menachem Alter (left) in an ohel adjacent to the Sfas Emes Yeshiva in downtown Jerusalem

File:Ohel Baal Shem Tov.jpg|Ohel of the Baal Shem Tov in Medzhybizh, Ukraine

File:אהל הרבי מליובאוויטש.JPG|Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbes in Queens, New York

File:BabaSaliTomb exterior.jpg|Tomb of the Baba Sali in Netivot, Israel

File:GraveOfJonathanBenUzziel.jpg|Ohel of Rabbi Jonathan ben Uzziel in Amuka, Israel

File:Shomrei Shabbos Cemetery 20161228 25.jpg|Ohel of the Vizhnitzer Rebbes in Bnei Brak

File:Tomb of Ester and Mordechai interior.jpg|Interior of ohel of Esther and Mordechai in Hamadan, Iran

References

Sources

{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_s4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA426 |title=Hasidim: A New History|author1-link=David Biale|last1=Biale |first1=David |first2=David |last2=Assaf |first3=Benjamin |last3=Brown |first4=Uriel |last4= Gellman |first5= Samuel |last5=Heilman |first6= Moshe |last6=Rosman |first7= Arthur |last7=Green |first8= Gadi |last8=Sagiv |first9= Marcin |last9=Wodziński|display-authors=etal|year=2017|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1400889198}}
{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fMMVAQAAIAAJ&q=ohelim|title=Jewish Heritage in England: An Architectural Guide|first=Sharman|last=Kadish|year=2006|publisher=English Heritage|isbn=190562428X}}
{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K5nXAAAAMAAJ&q=ohel |title=A Tribe of Stones: Jewish Cemeteries in Poland|first=Monika|last=Krajewska|year=1993|publisher=Polish Scientific Publishers|isbn=978-8301112318}}
{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MX4RAQAAIAAJ&q=ohel|title=A Practical Guide to Jewish Cemeteries|first=Nolan|last=Menachemson|publisher=Avotaynu|year=2007|isbn=978-1886223295}}
{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z8MNBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA414 |title=Turning Judaism Outward: A Biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe|first=Chaim|last=Miller|year=2014|publisher=Kol Menachem|isbn=978-1934152362}}
{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OprXAAAAMAAJ&q=ohel|title=The Encyclopedia of Hasidism|first=Tzvi|last=Rabinowicz|year=1996|publisher= Jason Aronson|isbn=1568211236}}
{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nk_RFL9LYg0C&pg=PA117 |title=Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms|first=Sol|last=Steinmetz|year=2005|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=0742543870}}