Hebron is marking 44 years since Rabbi Moshe Levinger gathered a number of people and moved into the Park Hotel, where a seder was held in 1968. It was shortly following the miracles of the June 1967 Six Day War, and Rabbi Levinger saw his mission, to rebuild the Jewish community of the Holy City, a project that has been his life’s work.

On the morning of erev Pesach the rabbi, his family and other selected individuals joined in as the first seder was planned. Eighty people sat around the seder table in what became a historical event.

Things were no easier then, and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan worked to oust the rav and his supporters after seder following their announced plan to remain and begin rebuilding the city. In the coming weeks the first group of pioneers moved in and with ongoing mesirus nefesh, fighting Israeli government after Israeli government, the Hebron community today is a reality, albeit one that is opposed by many members of Knesset.

In an article quoting Rebitzen Levinger on Hebron, she stated “We received Eretz Yisrael on a silver platter in 1967. It was an honor and a privilege to be among the first people to make the dream of return a reality.”

One of the participants in the first seder was Rabbi Chaim Druckman Shlita, who explains the Jews were compelled to leave Hebron following the horrific massacre in 1929, and he was privileged to be among those who returned to the Park Hotel seder in 1968. Ironically, Rabbi Druckman spoke to Kol Chai Radio minutes after Israeli police evicted 15 families from the Machpelah House, acting under orders of Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Rav Druckman recalls that when they arrived he recalls seeing the white flags that the Arabs placed outside their homes in 1967. “They understood that we are returning home. They understood then that it is our city and our home, and we are returning. Unfortunately many Jews do not understand this to this very day”.

He questioned how a Jew can even contemplate to oust Jews from Hebron of all cities, a city that is exclusively Jewish, a city that reflects Am Yisrael’s right to Eretz Yisrael.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)