Shmuel

Everything is foreseen, yet free will is granted…the mystical side of Judaism and life

by Reb Akiva @ Mystical Paths

On a mountain top just north west of Jerusalem is the home town and holy burial place of the biblical prophet Samuel, Shmuel HaNavi.

A building has been built over the site (as you can see), and a mosque prayer tower attached.  Why are the muslims praying at a Jewish holy site, I have no idea.

The building is large, yet Jews and the general public are restricted to a small room in the basement (pictures of that later).

As you can see below, the entrance room is huge but unused and in general disrepair.

The sign there says it all, but still doesn’t make sense…

Prophet Samual Mosque.  There is no prophet samuel in Islam (as far as I know???)  Here’s the inside of their space, which is locked, gated, and chained (though I think there’s a person in there!)…

As you can see it’s a large and nicely architected space.  Unfortunately it’s reserved for muslim use only.  And that’s not why we stopped by.  We stopped by to daven (pray) at the Kever (holy tomb) of Shmuel HaNavi (the biblical prophet Samuel).  We pray that in the merit of the holy prophet, Hashem should open the gates of prayer to our requests…

If you go past the entrance way, down the hall, down the stairs and down the stairs again, you come to a little room open to for Jewish use and the general public.  (A non-Jewish tour group stopped by while I was there, having only access to the same area.)

As we leave, here’s a panoramic view of Jerusalem from Kever Shmuel…

And a view of the surrounding ruins of the ancient home town of Shmuel.

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