In preparation for the Yartzheit of Rachel Imeinu, which takes place annually at Kever Rachel just south of Jerusalem, the Police in the capital, as well as United Hatzalah of Israel, are beefing up their teams in the city to welcome and safeguard the masses of expected to attend. The Yartzheit will begin on Motzei Shabbos and continue until sunset on Sunday.

Hundreds of police officers and border police officers, together with ushers and crowd control personnel will be spread across the southern tip of Jerusalem and inside the compound of the kever itself. The mission of the officers will be to control the crowds and protect the safety of the visitors. They will be directing traffic away from the area and the roads leading to the kever will be closed to all traffic, aside from shuttle busses that will be leaving from Teddy Stadium and taking the visitors to and from the Kever.

Police will be enforcing a limit on the maximum capacity of the people allowed inside the kever at any given time.

United Hatzalah, which has been tasked with providing medical security for the event, will be sending ambulances, and medical teams to the site and the surrounding area. Volunteers will be on high alert in the southern part of the city to provide coverage on the roads leading up to and around the Kever. According to President and Founder of United Hatzalah Eli Beer, “Volunteers, including EMTs, paramedics, and doctors, will be coming from all over the country to provide coverage for the event. Our ambulances will be there to transport anyone in need of medical care to the hospital in the quickest time possible. We will have teams both at the kever, on the roads, and at Teddy Stadium who will be active around the clock for the entirety of the event.”

Director of the site at Kever Rachel, Rabbi Shachar Frieman said: “This year, participants in the Hilulah will only be allowed entrance via the shuttle bus system that has been set up from Teddy Stadium. Even pedestrian walk-ins won’t be allowed. It is a great privilege for me to host the tens of thousands of people who come for the Hilulah each year, Together with the security teams and United Hatzalah, we are prepared to host the participants and protect their health and safety.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)