Ohel (Hebrew: אוהל; plural: ohalim, literally: 'tent') is a structure built over a Jewish grave as a sign of prominence of the person buried within. Ohalim range from small wooden, brick, or plaster structures to large buildings which include one or more graves and area for visitors to sit and meditate.
Landmark ohalim
The graves of some (but not all) prominent Hasidic Rebbes and Jewish community leaders in Europe, North Africa, America and Israel are covered by an ohel. One or more graves may be included in the same structure. Landmark ohalim include:
Baba Sali, Netivot, Israel
Chida, Har HaMenuchot, Jerusalem
Yonatan ben Uziel, Amuka, Israel
Elimelech of Lizhensk, Leżajsk, Poland
Chaim Ozer Grodzinski, leader of pre-war Eastern European Jewry
Nachman of Breslov, Uman, Ukraine
Nathan of Breslov, Breslov, Ukraine
Rachel, wife of Rabbi Akiva, Tiberias, Israel
Vilna Gaon, Vilnius, Lithuania
Avraham Mordechai Alter and Pinchas Menachem Alter, the third and sixth rebbes of Ger, Jerusalem
Baal Shem Tov, Ze'ev Wolf Kitzes, the Degel Machaneh Ephraim, the Apter Rav, and Rabbi Boruch of Medzhybizh, Medzhybizh, Ukraine
Avrohom Bornsztain and his son Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain, Sochatchover Rebbes
Dov Ber of Mezeritch and Zusha of Anipoli
Shlomo Halberstam and Naftali Halberstam, the third and fourth Bobover Rebbes, New York
Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the sixth and seventh Lubavitcher Rebbes, Queens, New York
Joel Teitelbaum and Moses Teitelbaum the first and second Satmar Rebbes
Biblical figures and Talmudic sages are typically buried in ohalim:
Benjamin (near Kfar Saba, Israel)
Esther and Mordechai, Hamedan, Iran
Habakkuk, northern Israel
Judah, Yehud, Israel
Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes (Rabbi Meir the miracle maker) was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna.
Rachel, near Bethlehem
Simeon bar Yochai, Meron, Israel is noted for its large annual Lag BaOmer celebration
Rabbi Yose HaGelili, Dalton, Israel
