The tomb of Sarajevo Rabbi Moshe Danon, a respected member of the Jewish community, is not only a national monument of BiH, but also occupies a significant place in the spiritual and material culture of the Jewish people. The grave is located on the road Mostar – Stolac in Krajšina at the entrance to Stolac. Rabbi Mosha Danon set out on foot for Palestine in 1830 to fulfill his vow, but was found dead near Stolac. He was buried at the place where he died, and the stone monument above his tomb symbolizes the tablets on which the Ten Commandments of God were written.
The journey of Moshe Danon to the Holy Land was preceded by the legendary events of 1819, when the Jew from Travnik, Moshe Haviljo, converted to Islam and began to incite Muslims against his former compatriots. After he was found dead, all prominent members of the Jewish community in Sarajevo were indicted and imprisoned. When word spread through the city that the prisoners would be killed, armed Sarajevans – Muslims surrounded the palace of Rushdie Pasha and released the captured Jews. Rabbi Danon vowed that if he escaped from prison, he would go to Palestine, and if he died on the way, he would be buried there.
Today, there is a Jewish cemetery in Krajina with only three monuments, which are located in a beautifully landscaped and fenced area. At the entrance there is a board with the inscription:
TOMB OF THE RIGHTEOUS RAV. MOŠE DANONA PILGRIMAGE OF JEWS OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
In the cemetery itself, the approach to the monument to Rabbi Moshe Danon is made in the shape of a Menorah, and the following text is engraved on the monument in Hebrew, the original text of which is:
THIS STONE WHICH WAS RAISED HERE
LET IT BE AS A SIGN AND MONUMENT
BURIAL OF ONE HOLY PERSON
WHOSE WORKS ARE WONDERFUL
IT CAN BE SAID ABOUT HIM
THAT HE WAS PIETY AND THE WORLD
RABIN MOŠE DANON
HE WAS OUR TEACHER AND RABBY
HIS GOOD DEEDS
LET US HELP US. AMEN.
HE SEPARATED FROM THIS WORLD
DAY 20.SIVANA 5590 / 1830g
Another monument in this area reads:
ALBERT SILBERSTEIN
GESTORBEN IN MAY 1889
Until the inscription on the third monument is recognizable, because the monument itself is quite damaged.
Within the space of this Jewish cemetery and place of pilgrimage, at a decent distance from the graves, there is also HAVRA, a house of prayer, a place of mourning, a place where pilgrims mourn the death of Rabbi Moshe Danon. The room has benches and a small niche, renovated in 2004.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments declared 2003. the tomb of Moshe Danon with the surrounding area and the havra in Krajina as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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