Chol Hamoed Succot 2009, Day 4 TEL SHILO
You really have to give credit to the creativity produced by the residents of Shilo during Hagim. Of course, they have a perfect setting to stage their events, the ancient ruins where the Mishkan possibly stood now referred to as Tel Shilo; without doubt, modern Shilo is the region where the Tabernacle rested when the Israelites entered the Land from their wanderings in the desert. It is definitely the region of the footsteps of the Prophet Shmuel.
Today guests entered into the makeshift world of the ancient, and everyone got a wee-bit taste of the life of our ancestors. Numerous Succahs were erected and not one was lacking in participants who participated in the special activities. Each had its own artisans at work creating things which had to do with life and crafts during the time of the tabernacle: crushing the spices for the incense altar, basket-weaving , practicing on the drums and shofars, a wheel for making clay pots, weaving carpets or materials for clothing, bread-making, and designing tiles from bits of rock for the floors.
As I walked through the crowd, I thought how pleased Hashem must be to see Jews enjoying Succot, a reminder that this is only a practice run of the temporary dwellings and the best is yet to come. I can’t ever go to Tel Shilo with remembering the story of Hanna crying for Hashem to give her children. Not ever having had children, this is undoubtedly my favorite place on the Shomron. A reminder of the conflict of bareness, I often relate to Hanna’s plea for children and am always amazed when I remember that, after all her pleas and the ultimate merciful answer to her request, she gave the gift of her son, Shmuel, to the Lord’s service.
Metaphorically speaking: Hannah often represents the Mother Land of the Jews weeping for Hashem to give her children during years of barrenness. Just as Hashem heard the cries of Hannah and had mercy on her and gave her a son, so too, eventually, He heard the cry of the Mother Land and filled her house with children. And just as Hannah dedicated her son to the service of the Lord, the mothers of Israel are teaching their children to love and serve the Lord.
I often wonder if the modern Jews who have settled certain vicinities are not the direct descendants of those who were once uprooted from the area.
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