Over 3,000 people from all over the country entered Joseph's Tomb in Shechem (Nablus) last night (between Wednesday and Thursday) to pray in honor of Joseph's 'Ushpizin' day, which is celebrated today. Among those who entered were Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, his deputy Davidi Ben Zion, as well as the parents of the brothers Hillel and Yagel Yaniv, who were murdered in a shooting attack in Hawara less than a year ago.
The parents of Hillel and Yagel Yaniv returned 19 years after the chalakeh they did in this place for their son Hillel. Their cry at this difficult hour was for the unity of the people: 'Nineteen years ago, we came here in the middle of the night to celebrate the chalakeh for Hillel, and since then, we have come here a few more times like thieves in the night. We pray that the next time we enter in broad daylight, it is our natural right in the Land of Israel. Joseph said: "I seek my brothers," and in the end, we are all brothers, all one people, especially in this period: "We are brothers."
Their father, Rabbi Shalom Yaniv, added: "When we are here, we are specifically at the tomb of Joseph, who turned to his brothers:
אַתֶּ֕ם חֲשַׁבְתֶּ֥ם עָלַ֖י רָעָ֑ה אֱלֹהִים֙ חֲשָׁבָ֣הּ לְטֹבָ֔ה.
"'You intended evil against me, but God intended it for good.' We are here in this place precisely in the image of Joseph, the one who responds to his brothers and tells them: You may have thought evil thoughts, but God will think good thoughts for us.
"With God's help, we will pray that precisely on the day of Yosef's Ushpizin, that free love will break out and all the thoughts about the settlement, about the people of Israel, and about the Land of Israel, all the thoughts that are bad thoughts, will all be good thoughts because God will transfer them to good thoughts."
