Today, the 15th of Marheshvan, is the Hillula (anniversary of passing) of the Tzaddik (righteous person) Mattathias ben Johanan the High Priest. In his days, the wicked kingdom of Greece rose up against the People of Israel to make them forget the Torah and to force them to abandon their faith. Mattathias was the first Hasmonean to stand in the breach against the wicked kingdom, crying out, 'Whoever is for Hashem, come to me!' Through him, his five sons overcame the mighty and the arrogant.

Before you is a prayer from the Gaon and Tzaddik, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a (may he live long and good days), to be recited at his holy tziyun (gravesite) located at the Tombs of the Maccabees in the Ben Shemen Forest:

Master of the World, as I stand before You here at the holy and awesome tziyun (gravesite) of Mattathias ben Johanan the High Priest, who merited to bring down the holiness of a new festival for Your people Israel—please, Hashem, merit me to be sanctified with the holiness of our teacher Mattathias ben Johanan the High Priest. He performed miracles and wonders that had never been seen since the beginning of time, and in his merit, You delivered the mighty into the hands of the weak, and the many into the hands of the few. He merited to be the High Priest, entering the Holy of Holies, entering the place he entered and standing where he stood. He merited to bring the holiness of the festival of Hanukkah to the world for all eternity and for all generations—something that no one else, no other tzaddik in the world, merited to renew and sanctify: the holiness of the festival of Hanukkah, a holiness for all eternity and forever and ever!

The prayer is from the book 'Prayers for Journeys and Gravesites of Tzaddikim,' which is set to be published soon.

[caption id="attachment_63518" align="aligncenter" width="1616"] The tomb of Mattathias ben Johanan the High Priest after the establishment of the monument in the year 5755 - 1994[/caption]

Location of his grave:

At Hurvat HaGardi, in the heart of the pine forest - Ben Shemen - near the Tombs of the Maccabees (Area of Outpost 219), parallel to Route 443 Tel Aviv - Modi'in. For the exact location, click here.