Ohel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ohel (Hebrew: אוהל; plural, ohalim, literally, "tent") refers to both an actual tent, a home, and a structure built over a grave as a sign of prominence of the person buried within.
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[edit] As a home
The word ohel is mentioned several times in Tanakh in the context of a home, such as the tent of Abraham in which he welcomed wayfarers (Gen. 18:2-8), or the tents in which Jacob and his wives lived and traveled (Gen. 31:33).
[edit] As a house of study
Ohel is also a synonym for a beth midrash, as the Torah describes the patriarch Jacob as "a simple man, dwelling in tents" (Gen. 25:27)—which Rashi explains refers to "the tents of Shem and Eber" in which Jacob learned Torah. Based on this interpretation, the word ohel is sometimes used in the naming of a synagogue, as the Ohel Rachel Synagogue in Shanghai[1] and the Ohel Leah Synagogue in Hong Kong.[2]
[edit] As a shelter for a gravesite
Many prominent Hasidic Rebbes and Jewish community leaders are buried in graves covered by a house-like structure called an ohel. These include: the Vilna Gaon; Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel (his gravesite is usually called by its Israeli place name, "Amuka"); the Sochatchover Rebbes, Rabbi Avrohom Bornsztain and his son Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain; Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, leader of pre-war Eastern European Jewry; and Grand Rabbis Avraham Mordechai Alter and Pinchas Menachem Alter, the third and sixth rebbes of Ger, to name just a few.
In Israel, Jewish prophets, Talmudic sages and major leaders are buried in distinctive ohalim, such as the dome-shaped ohel over Rachel's Tomb near Bethlehem, the turquoise-colored ohel over the grave of the prophet Habakkuk near Pardes Hanna, and the ohel sheltering the grave of the Chida in Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem.
[edit] As a proper name
Ohel is the name of the fourth son of Zerubbabel; his name is mentioned in the Book of Chronicles I, 3:20.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.chinajewish.org/JewishHistory.htm Shanghai Jewish History
- ^ http://www.ohelleah.org/ Ohel Leah Synagogue: Celebrating Our First Century (1902-2002)
[edit] External links
- http://www.thirdtemple.com/Amuka/gallery.htm Photos of the ohel over the grave of Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel at Amuka
