We went to see Elijah's Cave, one of the few religious sites in Haifa. Nestled at the foot of Mount Carmel, next to the sea, it is in this cave that the Prophet Elijah came to pray before challenging the prophets of Baal and calling down fire from heaven. This cave is also said to be where the Prophet Elijah lived in hiding while fleeing from the wrath of King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel.
Like Elijah himself, the cave has been sacred to Christians, Druze and Muslims as well as Jews, and one wall inside is covered with ancient Greek inscriptions, and as well as some in Hebrew. Today the cave has become a synagogue of sorts, with an Ark hewn into the front wall for the Torah, a mechitza down the middle (separating the men from the women) and many spaces in the ceiling and walls where visitors insert prayer notes, like at the Kotel.
A courtyard outside the cave has several memorial altars where you can light candles, strangely like a Catholic church, and I decided to light in memory of Sasha, whose Hebrew name is Eliyahu (Elijah), so it seemed appropriate.
No comments:
Post a Comment