Fodor's Expert Review Rachel's Tomb

The Bible relates that the matriarch Rachel, second and favorite wife of Jacob, died in childbirth on the outskirts of Bethlehem, "and Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave" (Genesis 35:19–20). There is no trace of that pillar, but, for centuries Jews, Christians, and Muslims venerated the velvet-draped cenotaph inside the building as the site of Rachel's tomb. Palestinians call the site the Bilal Ben Rabah Mosque, and a Muslim cemetery lies beside it.

Today, the site is a concrete-enclosed Israeli enclave punched into Bethlehem and only accessible from the Israeli side. Visitors, especially Jewish women, come to pray for good health, fertility, and a safe birth. Some pilgrims wind a red thread seven times around the tomb, and wear snippets of it around their wrists as a talisman. Note that men and women are separated here and have different entrances. Superbus 163 runs from Jerusalem's Central Bus Station to the tomb.