(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
The repair of what is traditionally known as Rachel’s tomb, located four miles from Jerusalem, was undertaken by the Palestine government, it was learned here today.
The news that these repairs were intrusted to an Arab contractor and carried out by Arab workers without the knowledge of the Jewish community caused much agitation here. The Chief Rabbinate of Palestine and the Jewish Community Council of Jerusalem submitted a protest today to the Governor of Jerusalem, declaring that Rachel’s Tomb is one of the Jewish Holy Sites in Palestine and according to the provisions of the Palestine mandate the care of this site is to be left to the Jewish community.
Cook’s travel handbook of Jerusalem and Judea describes Rachel’s Tomb in the following manner:
Four miles from Jerusalem on the road to Bethlehem is the Tomb of Rachel, a small modern building surmounted by a dome. This tomb has been an object of veneration to the Jews for over three thousand years. The crusaders erected upon it a building some 24 feet square which was formed by four columns bound each to each by arches 12 feet wide and 20 feet high. The whole was crowned by a cupulo. Since then the monument has been repeatedly restored. In 1841 Sir Moses Montefiore secured the key of the tomb for the use of the Jews and added a square vestibule with a Mihrab or praying place for Moslems. The tomb is alike revered by Moslems, Christians and Jews and is much visited by pilgrims.
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