A Salute to Photographer Gershon Ellinson in the City of the Patriarchs - in the Machpela Visitors' Center

Sunday this week, the fifth light of Hanukkah, the exhibition of photographer Gershon Ellinson of the beginnings of the Jewish settlement in Kiryat Arba-Hebron, was opened in a gala event attended by some 300 people.

The exhibition, in the Machpela Visitors' Center at the foot of the Cave of Machpela, will remain open to the public in the coming months. Admission is free.

The exhibition contains historical photographs of the first steps in the return to the City of the Patriarchs after the Six Day War, beginning in the Park Hotel, continuing with the stay in the Military Administration building, the construction of Kiryat Arba, the uncovering of the Avraham Avinu synagogue, the women's entry to Beit Hadassah, and more.

Gershon Ellinson, who, at the time, was a student in the Kiriat Shmuel yeshivah, came to encourage the settlers in the Park Hotel on Passover 1968, was caught up in the great spirit, and stayed.

Gershon is always armed with his camera, and captured historical moments and chapters from the life in Hebron.

A look at the exhibition reveals the fist settlers - young, beautiful, filled with ideological fervor. Most continue with their activity to the present, including Rabbi Moshe Levinger - the father of the Jewish settlement in Hebron, Rabbi Eliezer Waldman - the head of the Nir yeshivah, Benny Katsover - afterwards one of the trailblazers to Samaria, Zvi Katsover - four-term head of the Kiriat Arba-Hebron Local Council, Eliakim Haetzni, Shimon Yitzhaki, and many others who continue to act vigorously to expand our possession of Eretz Israel.

The historical and moving event that was organized by the Machpela Visitors Center together with Women for Israel's Tomorrow (Women in Green), was graced by the presence of Rabbi Gideon Perl - the Gush Etzion regional rabbi, Geula Cohen - Israel Prize laureate, Professors for a Strong Israel, and many visitors from throughout Israel.

The organizers declared, "This isn't a retrospective and nostalgic exhibition summing up 43 years of settlement, but rather one of learning the way, an example of 'the acts of the fathers mark the way for the sons.'"

Looking from the side, one immediately spotted the veteran activists who identified themselves in the photographs and who related stories from those days, enveloped by a sense of satisfaction. They truly made history! The exhibition is a salute to them all.

One part of the exhibition brings the story, in pictures and in words, of what was then called "the Settlers restaurant" , today the "Machpela Visitors Center" at the foot of the Machpela Cave. Below is the summary of its history:

The Settlers’ Restaurant -- Today’s Machpela Visitors Center

During Av 5728 (August 1968), the first Jewish wedding was celebrated in Hebron following its liberation in the Six Day War. The groom, Benny Katsover, had been among Rav Levinger’s group of families and bachelors who had come to spend Passover in the Park Hotel in Hebron. After one month, the group moved to the compound that housed the IDF military headquarters in Hebron, and Benny had been living there since then. Now having found a bride, the couple decided to be married in the headquarters courtyard. A thousand guests were expected, and prior to the ceremony they planned to pray in the Cave of the Patriarchs.

A booth with drinks and sandwiches was set up for the visitors near the Cave. The booth was left standing after the wedding, and the next day it became an improvised kiosk justified by the claim that the masses of visitors streaming to the holy site needed to be able to purchase kosher food. The military governor demanded that the booth be disassembled, and when his demand was ignored, he personally overturned it and issued an eviction order against the three Jews who had manned it.

Government ministers Yigal Alon, Menachem Begin, and Zerach Verhaftig treated the eviction order as an opportunity to raise the matter of Jewish settlement in Hebron anew, and the government decided to approve the establishment of a restaurant, art gallery, and souvenir shop near the Cave. Yigal Alon was also given the task of looking into the possibility of establishing a large Jewish community in Hebron.

The restaurant eventually became one of the prominent symbols of the Jewish return to Hebron. It was the first Jewish wedge in ancient Hebron, built years before the events of Beit Hadassah that led to the establishment of a permanent community in the city. The Settlers’ Restaurant’s early days were eventful and in addition to the many visitors, included frequent “visits” by local Arabs in the form of demonstrations, arson, hidden explosives, and even grenades.

Gershon Ellinson was one of the workers at the restaurant from its earliest days, and he photographed these incidents and events as they unfolded. We have the privilege of presenting Mr. Ellinson’s exciting and historic pictures to the public for the first time.

The 18 photographs by Gershon Ellinson of the Settlers Restaurant depict the following scenes:

1) The first wedding in the Military Administration building in Hebron: Benny and Binah Katsover, August 1968

2) The stand with drinks near the Machpela that was set up for the guests and was overturned by the military governor

3)The Settlers' Restaurant, view from outside

4)The Settlers' Restaurant - patronized year-round by many visitors from Israel and abroad

5) . Affixing a mezuzah at the Settlers' Restaurant by Akele Geniram, 1969

6) Yigal Allon visits the Settlers' Restaurant, 1969

7) Amos Ben-Sheffer, Rabbi Moshe Levinger's right hand, at the entrance to the Settlers' Restaurant on its first day, 1969

8) Rabbi Levinger, Gershon Ellison, Dr. Simons, at the entrance to the restaurant 9) Arab demonstrators approaching the restaurant, 1976

10) Stone throwing by Arabs: smashed windows of the Settlers' Restaurant pickup truck, 1976

11) IDF soldiers preparing to disperse an Arab demonstration, 1976

12) Bomb explosion in the Settlers' Restaurant. Zvi Katsover, one of the restaurant's owners since 1971, points to the destruction and damages in the souvenir store, 1977

13) Bomb explosion damage

14) The response to the stone throwing and bombs: Zvi Katsover builds a second story to the restaurant

15) Gershon Ellinson pouring cement for the floor of the second story, 1983

16) Second story of the Settlers' Restaurant under construction

17)Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach visiting the Settlers' Restaurant.

18) The Belzer Rebbe visiting the souvenir store

In addition to the photographs of the history of "The Settlers Restaurant" , the exhibition has tens of additional pictures depicting the other chapters of the history of Kiryat Arba Hevron. Every visitor to this exhibition will be strengthened and imbued with the spirit of those who fought for the Jewish return to our G-d given Biblical Heartland. A must see for each and one of us, whether we live in Israel or abroad.