By Moshe Weiss
Rochel mourns her children.
She refuses to be consoled because her children are no more (Yirmiyahu 31:15).
The Zohar (Vayechi 228b) writes, “Whenever the world needs mercy, Mother Rochel
achieves it for them more than anyone else.”
Every night at midnight,dozens of scholars from Yerushalayim and surrounding neighborhoods join Rochel Imeinu at her kever to mourn with her over the suffering of the Jewish people. Afterward, the scholars learn Torah at her graveside until morning.Their prayers and Torah study in this holy spot bring mercy and kindness on the entire Jewish nation, hastening the final redemption.
Rabbi Dovid Gabai, shlita,opened the kollel at KeverRochel in 5766/2006. Its members learn Torah for the second half of the night, beginning at 1 a.m. They start with Tikkun Chatzos, a prayer lamenting the tribulations of the Jewish nation,with whom the Shechinah is in exile. Their mourning in this
holy spot helps to hasten the final redemption, as the Talmud states, “Anyone who bewails the
destruction of Yerushalayim will merit to see its joy” (Taanis 30). The Navi Yirmiyahu concludes,“Thus says the L-rd: ‘The sorrow you have shown shall have its reward. They shall return from the enemy’s land. There is hope for your future... Your children shall return to their own borders.’”
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Kever Rochel is certainly the appropriate place, and midnight is the most favorable time to
bring about the geulah sheleimah. The Tikkunei Zohar and other sources teach that
Kever Rochel is the central resting place for the Shechinah in exile. It is therefore a wonderful
place to pray and to learn Torah after midnight, the time during which evil decrees are annulled.
Anyone who wishes can receive these benefits by making the kollel students his emissaries,
as Chazal teach, “Shelucho shel adam k’moso,” “the emissary is like the sender himself.” The
students accept requests for prayers and can be contacted at 1keverrochel@gmail.com.
The kollel at Kever Rochel has brought relief and pleasure to visitors with its new heating system
and large seating capacity.
The presence of the kollel has been the catalyst for the permission recently granted for private vehicles to come to Kever Rochel. Until recently, anyone who wanted to visit the kever had to travel in an armored bus, accompanied by an Israeli soldier, because of the Arabs who live in the vicinity. Long hourswaiting for the bus deterred many people from visiting the
kever, but when the kollel began learning there throughout the night, and in the merit of other
holy activities that take place there, the area has become safer, and the doors to Kever Rochel
are now open.
In the merit of the Torah and prayers at Kever Rochel, may we all merit the redemption and the
arrival of Moshiach tzidkeinu speedily in our day.
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