Ohel (grave)
Ohel is a structure built around a Jewish grave as a sign of prominence of the deceased. cover the graves of some Hasidic Rebbes, important rabbis, tzadikim, prominent Jewish community leaders, and biblical figures. Typically a small masonry building, an may include room for visitors to pray, meditate, and light candles in honor of the deceased.
Construction
are usually simple masonry structures. They may include one or two windows. In prewar Poland, the of a Rebbe was located close by the Hasidic court, and was big enough to accommodate a of ten men beside the grave.The of the Lubavitcher Rebbes in Queens, New York, is unusual in that it does not have a roof. This allows to visit the graves without coming into contact with impurity from the dead.
Use
In the case of a Hasidic Rebbe, the ohel is a place for visitors to pray, meditate, write kvitelekh and light candles in honor of the deceased. Ohelim of Hasidic Rebbes, as well as the tombs of tzadikim venerated by Moroccan Jews, serve as year-round pilgrimage sites, with the biggest influx of visitors coming on the rebbe or tzadik's yom hillula.Notable ohelim
One or more graves may be included in the same ohel. Notable ohelim include:Single-grave ohel
- Baba Sali, Netivot, Israel
- Chida, Har HaMenuchot, Jerusalem
- Yonatan ben Uziel, Amuka, Israel
- Elimelech of Lizhensk, Leżajsk, Poland
- Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, leader of pre-war Eastern European Jewry
- Nachman of Breslov, Uman, Ukraine
- Nathan of Breslov, Breslov, Ukraine
- Rachel, wife of Rabbi Akiva, Tiberias, Israel
- Vilna Gaon, Vilnius, Lithuania
Multiple-grave ohel
- Avraham [Mordechai Alter] and Pinchas Menachem Alter, the third and sixth rebbes of Ger, Jerusalem
- Baal Shem Tov, Ze'ev Wolf Kitzes, the Degel Machaneh Ephraim, the Apter Rav, and Rabbi Boruch of Medzhybizh, Medzhybizh, Ukraine
- Avrohom Bornsztain and his son Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain, Sochatchover Rebbes
- Dov Ber of Mezeritch and Zusha of Anipoli
- Bobover rebbe)|Shlomo Halberstam] and Naftali Halberstam, the third and fourth Bobover Rebbes, New York
- Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the sixth and seventh Lubavitcher Rebbes, Queens, New York
- Joel Teitelbaum and Moses Teitelbaum, first and second Satmar Rebbes
Biblical figures and Talmudic sages
Biblical figures and Mishnaic and Talmudic sages are typically buried in ohelim:- Benjamin
- Esther and Mordechai, Hamadan, Iran
- Habakkuk, northern Israel
- Judah, Yehud, Israel
- Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna.
- Rachel, near Bethlehem
- Simeon bar Yochai, Meron, Israel is the site of a large annual Lag BaOmer celebration
- Yose HaGelili, Dalton, Israel