The iron chain

Since the Cave of the Patriarchs was in the hands of the Jews, the sun of the cave always carried with him, day and night, the large iron keys, which opened the iron gates of the cave, with a heavy iron chain.

And the sun's name is Yitzchak, and he is a poor and low-spirited widower, and he has an only daughter, whose name is Dinah. And Dina is kind-hearted and beautiful. Dina grew up in the house of her father Yitzchak, who loved her day by day and everything she saw.

And let it be today, and Dina will be married to the deceased, a young and good man, and joy will abound in the poor abode of Yitzchak the Sun. And Yitzchak toiled and collected all his pennies that he had saved and made beautiful and beautiful dresses for his beloved daughter for her wedding day. And it came to pass that he was able to prepare a great deal of baggage, and he grieved to his heart and went exhausted and depressed all the days, because he did not have a penny left to buy his only daughter a gold chain for her neck and for her hood.

And in those days there was a custom in Hebron, that on the day of her wedding, the bride would wear around her neck beads and chains of gold and silver, studded with precious stones, and the more the bride wore around her neck, the greater her henna and honor in the eyes of all the residents of Hebron. And if the bride did not manage to buy expensive beads for her wedding day, everyone knew that she was poor and came from the door of the people. And the poor brides would be ashamed on their wedding day and there were also those who ran away in shame from the wedding feast.

Yitzchak the Sun walked all the days and sorrow was gnawing at his heart like a worm, but he did not say anything to his only daughter, because he said: "Why should she also grieve in her heart before day one?"

One night, Dina dreamed that she was standing at the gate of the cave with the large iron keys hanging from the iron chain in her hand - as she had always done to help her father in his work. Odeh is standing and here an old woman comes towards her, dressed all in white and her face shines like the light of the sun. The old woman stood, placed her hand on Dina's head. She caressed her hair and said: "Look my daughter, here is the day of your wedding, and the chain of your crown will be this great iron chain, which is in your hand, and this chain will be a thousand times better for you than all the chains and strings of gold and silver set with precious stones and pearls in the world."

The old woman spoke and disappeared as quickly as she came. And Dina kept the matter in her heart and did not tell her father about the dream.

The wedding day has arrived. Yitzhak's face was gray as a sack and his eyes rose and Dina's face glowed and she was jubilant and happy. And Dina's friends wore the cutest clothes for her wedding day. And it came to pass that they were ready to dress, and Dina called her father into the room. And when they were alone she said to him:

"My father, give me the iron chain, which I will wear around my neck today, on the day of my marriage, and let this chain be for me as a king's witness."

Yitzchak brought the large iron chain and Dinah wore it around her neck, and the iron keys to the cave gates hang on the part of her embroidered dress. And when she came to the canopy and the entire congregation was stunned, they said: "Look, how great is the beauty of Dina, she is seven times more radiant with the iron chain than the brides who were wearing silver and gold necklaces set with precious stones."

From that day onward, the daughters of Israel in Hebron stopped wearing gold and silver necklaces set with precious stones around their necks on the day of their baptism and all of them, rich and poor alike, wore the heavy iron chain with the large iron keys for the cave gates.

And the daughters of the Ishmaelites will see that the iron chain is better than all the chains in the world, and they will be jealous of the daughters of Israel, until the day comes and the cave has passed into the hands of the Ishmaelites. From that day on, the daughters of the Ishmaelites were happy on their wedding day, when they wore the iron chain with the big keys to the cave. And from that time until this day it was a law in Hebron, that the daughters of Ishmael would wear a chain around their necks on their wedding day. Big iron.

(The book of Hebron according to 'Bamasholi Moledat' for Israel)