Israel Matzav

Yeshiva visits Aaron's tomb in Jordan

In the late 90's, there were wall posters in my neighborhood for a day trip to Aaron's tomb in Jordan. The trip left around midnight, drove all night, and returned late the following night, all by bus. It wasn't outrageously expensive, but it wasn't cheap and so... I put off going.

I haven't seen those signs in years, but maybe next year they'll be back, because this year a yeshiva went to the tomb of Aaron the High Priest in Jordan on the anniversary date of his death, the first day of the Jewish month of Av (which was last Friday).

Jordanian Arabs in their red and white checkered headscarfs stood next to Israeli yeshiva students with long payot, black pants and white button-down shirts during a visist to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The yeshiva came to pray at the Tomb of Aaron the High Priest, the brother of Moses. The hilltop location is referred to by the locals as Jabal Harun, or "Aaron's Mountain."

Leading the delegation was Rabbi Mordechai Motta Frank. The visit took place last week during the anniversary of the passing of Aaron as recorded in the Torah. Members of the group performed the ancient Priestly Blessing, known in Hebrew as Birkat Kohanim outside the tomb. The yshiva also visited the nearby city of Petra which was the home to the ancient Nabataean people. The Kikar HaShabbat website posted photos of the trip on Wednesday.

Hmmm.

Labels: Jordan, travel

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:49 AM