If Sderot is known as the Bomb Shelter Capital of the World (previous blog) Netivot, eight miles further south along the fraught border with Gaza, has been called the Varanasi of Israel, likened to Hinduism's holiest city because of its links to Jewish mysticism and miracles as home of one of the most revered Sephardi rabbinical dynasties.
Netivot has received its own share of Qassam rockets from Gaza, is endowed with its own reinforced concrete bomb shelters and has seen the coastal rail line extended here, currently the southern terminus, again as a mark of solidarity.
End of the rail line
But it is as the home of Rabbi Israel Abuhatzeira, known as Baba Sali (Father Sali, short for Israel), a leading Moroccan Sephardic rabbi and mystic credited with working miracles, that this pleasant leafy town of some 25,000 people in the semi-desert of the northern Negev, has gained status as a major pilgrimage site.
Baba Sali's tomb
It is Baba Sali's stern, lined face that stares down, like that of a wild desert sheik, as pilgrims armed with modern cell phones mill about the domed complex of his tomb on the edge of Netivot's cemetery - 600,000 of them annually. Up to 100,000 alone are estimated to descend on the shrine each year on the anniversary of his death.
Baba Sali
With his books on an outside wall
Advertising a book for 26 shekels
Many families celebrate their sons' bar mitzvah in the small synagogue attached to the tomb, just as others do at Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the last remnant of the second temple.
Inside the tomb
Attached synagogue
The centerpiece of the Baba Sali complex, resembling a little fort with battlements, is the white-domed tomb, divided into a men's and a women's section with their separate entrances.
Men's entrance
Women's entrance
Within, each sex prays on its side of the catafalque, covered in a dark blue cloth with gold writing and high enough to stop the genders catching a glimpse of each other, unless they're seven-foot-plus basketball leapers.
Signs on the wall warn against taking lighted candles within to avoid burning the place down. But on the anniversary of Baba Sali's death pilgrims cast armfuls of candles into a large fire away from the tomb near the women's section. They place everyday objects by the tomb to receive blessings, and women dance and sing to the rhythm of a drummer.
Warning not to light candles
In case you didn't get the message
Baba Sali's dynasty traces its line back to Rabbi Shmuel Abuhatzeira who was born in what is now Israel in the 16th century, moved to Damascus, and then to the Sahara oasis town of Tafilalt in Morocco, a major caravan halt. Here Baba Sali was born in 1889.
The family tree
He came to Israel when he was 70 and settled in Netivot, where he immersed himself in the study of Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah and is credited with healing the sick and performing other miracles until his death in 1984. His funeral was attended by an estimated 100,000 people.
Another interior view
Charity box
In contrast to other, more ancient rabbis' shrines elsewhere in Israel and North Africa, the sacred tradition in Netivot is a living one, continued by the rabbi's son, Baba Baruch.
The gift shop
Close up
I've come here from the train station by taxi, there's none now in sight and I have to walk the two or more miles back at noon in the middle of a sharav, a hamsin-type hot desert wind that is pushing the temperature over 92 degrees Fahrenheit. Once more I find myself doing a reprise of 'Mad dogs and Englishmen Go out in the midday sun.'
Town view
Another view
And another
The town spreads over quite a large area, with numbered air-raid shelters everywhere, especially near a little tots' playground. Flowering bushes and orange trees line many lanes of red roofed houses and bricked pavements. There are malls, too, with restaurants.
Tots' playground
Nearby public bomb shelter 67 and kindergarden
Public bomb shelter 64
Close up
But it's also a mini-boomtown with construction cranes and large new housing blocks, concrete and unattractive. It's a veritable melting pot, too, with Jews from North Africa, Iraq, Iran, Ethiopia and Russia among others living side by side - but virtually no Arabs.
Development
More development
Yet more
Just in case you might think that religion, pilgrimage and mysticism trumps all, there are three nightclubs here, attracting visitors from as far away as Ashkelon and Beersheba.
And while we're talking miracles, a little one befalls me right at the railway station - a free train ride: the lady clerk refuses to take any money for the ticket to Sderot.
Netivot railway station with its underground passageway reinforced as bomb shelter
______________
By the same author: Bussing The Amazon: On The Road With The Accidental Journalist, available with free excerpts on Kindle and in print version on Amazon.
Swimming With Fidel: The Toils Of An Accidental Journalist, available on Kindle, with free excerpts here, and in print version on Amazon in the U.S here.
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
The Wartime Updates You Need To Know
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
HuffPost is dedicated to covering the devastating war between Hamas and Israel. We've broken news on the famine in Gaza, the State Department's turmoil, as well as what Hamas is thinking now — and we're far from done. HuffPost is committed to bringing you the critical updates you need to know. Would you consider contributing as little as $2 to support our reporting? Thank you for your support.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.