תקציר:

This paper explores the connections between two instances of contemporary Jewish saint worship, which have been developing in parallel in Israel since 2007. The first is the transformation of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu (1929-2010) from a prominent political figure into a popular saint, revered with all the familiar ritual trappings. The second form of saint worship is the change in the status of Rachel’s Tomb in the Israeli public since its annexation (de facto) in 2008 with the construction of the separation wall surrounding it. Analysis of folk narratives that were disseminated, in which Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu is presented as the agent of Rachel and thus as the patron of her tomb, demonstrates that these two processes are intertwined with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and express the underlying desires of the narrating society to exclude the Other from the shared space.