Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes Tomb Mark, Tiberias
The Tomb Mark of Rabbi Meir – the miracle maker (In Hebrew: Baal Hanes) is a large complex in southern Tiberias, on a hill above Hamat Tiberias. By local tradition, it is the tomb of Rabbi Meir, and two of his students. The site is a popular destination among the Ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes and his Tomb
Rabbi Meir lived in the 2nd century and was the fourth generation (Tana’im) of Rabbinical sages in the Mishnah. The Babylonian Talmud stated that his wisdom was unsurpassed. Being a student of Rabbi Akiva, although he passed away in Asia Minor (today’s Turkey), tradition maintains that he was brought for burial in Tiberias, where Rabbi Akiva was buried.
Touring the Tomb Mark of Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes
Rabbi Meir tomb complex is the biggest of all tomb marks in Tiberias. It is open for all, every day of the week, and has two synagogues, Ashkenazi and Sepharadic, operating inside. Popular belief maintains that giving charity at the site and calling “God of Meir – Answer Me“, could lead to miraculous events. The Rabbis’s yahrzeit, 14th of Iyar, is marked in a big celebration (hilulah), in which the crowds pray in his memory and light hundreds of candles.
A tour of Rabbi Meir Ball Hanes tomb can be combined in a guided day tour of the Galilee.
