This is a painting of what the building of Rachels' tomb looks like with the surrounding terrain, which can no longer be seen because of the walls.

 Jewish interpretations of some Old Testament scriptures that may apply to them, although the top scripture we think applies to the slaughter of the innocents at the time of Christ

 There has been some recent studying and some think that this may have been the location of where the temple flocks were kept anciently. It may have been near Rachel's tomb.  The place was anciently called Migdal Edar, where Jacob camped with his family after burying Rachel.  It is  about 2 miles from Bethlehem and about 3-4 miles south of Jerusalem

 The Jews seem to have taken up the Catholic practice of praying to various saints.  We have visited at least 3 "empty" tombs ; to Samuel, to king David and to Rachel, where the Jews come to seek solace and to pray.  It seems out of the ordinary

These may be the fields of the temple flocks.  They are more lush, somewhat flatter ground and not so many places for temple lambs to mar themselves as compared with the fields that are right in Bethlehem, that are actually very steep, and very rocky hillsides with little vegetation 

 Here is a little taste of the barrier walls that surround the West Bank.  Israel decided that they wanted to worship at Rachel's tomb which is on the way to Bethlehem and so they took it and surrounded it with a wall.  After all it is just a little piece. The people will never miss it

 complete with barbed wire

 The road in

 No scene is compete without the proverbial feral cat

The nearness of the West Bank neighborhoods