450 people entered the Cave of the 70 Elders tonight (Friday night) and the tomb of Itamar and Elazar, sons of Aaron the Priest, in the village of Awarta in Samaria - this is part of the regular entries that the Samaria Regional Council maintains, with the assistance of the Administration of Joseph's Tomb and the Holy Places and with the security and escort of the Samaria Brigade.
The entrance took place to mark the day of the passing of the 70 elders, which according to the Shulchan Aruch takes place on the 5th of Shvat, and to hold a celebration in their memory.
Among those who entered were also the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, his deputy, Davidi Ben Zion, the commander of the Samaria Brigade, Colonel Sagiv Dahan, the deputy commander of the Judea and Samaria Division, Major Elitzur Trabelsi, and worshippers and visitors from Israel and abroad.
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The prayer took place near the Tomb of the 70 Elders, which was recently renovated by the Samaria Regional Council and the Joseph's Tomb Administration.
Yossi Dagan: "We are happy to host here many hundreds of people, religious, ultra-Orthodox and secular from all over the country and the world, who have come here to pray and connect with the roots of our people. We come to the places of the greatest leaders of the people of Israel, the spiritual and political leaders who were partners with the people of Israel on their path, to the land and the heritage of the Land of Israel, the 70 elders who continued Joshua and who continued Moses, and passed on the Torah to the entire people of Israel. From this place we grow stronger, getting closer to our roots, and these are the things that give us the strength to build the Land of Israel.""
Dagan added: "A people that remembers its leaders even after 2,000 years will not abandon its country.".
From the words of the Nachshon Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. Liron Appleman: "On Thursday night, a secured entry was made by IDF forces to the village of Awarta to allow for an orderly and safe prayer at the graves of the seventy elders, Itamar and Elazar. The battalion's fighters operate every night to thwart and maintain the safety of the residents. We will continue to work around the clock, to protect during the day and thwart at night.".
