Thousands Visit Joseph’s Tomb for Holiday Prayers and Political Support Message

Thousands of worshippers entered Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus overnight Tuesday for the Rosh Chodesh Tammuz pilgrimage and the annual celebration marking Joseph the Righteous. The visit was organized with volunteers from the Samaria Regional Council’s Joseph’s Tomb and Holy Sites administration and was escorted by IDF forces.

Among those present were Rabbi Shalom Arush, the Yaniv family from Har Bracha, and groups of mothers of wounded soldiers led by Rabbi Rachel Bazeq. Esti and Shalom Yaniv, who lost their sons Hallel and Yigal Yaniv in the terror attack in Huwara, held a circumcision-related hair-cutting ceremony for their grandson, Yigal Menachem, at the site. The family said they chose Joseph’s Tomb to symbolize continuity, faith, and choosing life.

Also attending were senior security and religious figures, including Central Command’s home front officer Lt. Col. Elitzur Trebelsi, Samaria Brigade commander Col. Ariel Gonen, and Samaria Regional Council chief Yossi Dagan. The mothers of wounded soldiers prayed for the full recovery of their sons and of all wounded IDF troops.

Dagan said the crowd had come as representatives of the entire Jewish people and that they were praying for success for the IDF and security forces. He added that they were “strengthening” the Israeli government to draw strength from Joseph and stand firm before world powers, and called on it to “say the truth” and act in the spirit of Caleb and Joshua. In recent days, the Joseph’s Tomb administration also renovated a study hall near the shrine, and the adjacent Yeshivat Od Yosef Chai welcomed the move while urging Prime Minister to order the school’s permanent return to the site before the elections.