In Parshat VaEra, we read about the genealogy of the tribe of Levi.

In Shmot 6:11 we read: “Amram took his aunt Yocheved for his wife and she gave birth to Aharon and Moshe. The years of Amram’s life were 137 years.”

Rashi explains the word aunt to mean “Amram’s father’s sister” since she was Levi’s daughter, Kehat’s sister.

In Bamidbar 26:59 the Torah states that Miriam was Yocheved’s daughter: “The name of Amram’s wife was Yocheved, daughter of Levi whom (her mother) bore to Levi in Egypt. She bore to Amram: Aharon, Moshe and their sister Miriam.”

Rashi states that Yocheved was born in Egypt but she was not conceived in Egypt. As they entered the walls of Egypt, she bore her and completed the number of the 70 children of Israel who went down to Egypt (even though only 69 people were listed in the Torah as going down to Egypt).

In Otzar HaMidrashim, Yocheved is listed as one of the 23 most righteous women of Israel. The list includes Sara, Rivka, Rachel, Leah, Yocheved, Miriam, the five daughters of Zelophchad, Devora, the wife of Manoach (Shimshon’s mother), Chana and Avigail.

There is a tradition that Yocheved is buried in Tveriya (Tiberius) in a “Tomb of the Mothers” along with Tzipora (Moshe’s wife), Elisheva (Aharon’s wife), Bilha and Zilpa (Yaakov’s wives) and Aviagil (wife of King David). They are thought to be buried in the Kiryat Shmuel neighborhood of Tveriya.

Since we don’t have any evidence to the fact that they are for sure buried there, it could be that these graves were set up as a place for women to pray but are not where they were actually buried. Many women go to Tveriya to pray at their graves for fertility.

After all, it would make sense that Bilha, Zilpa and Avigail would be buried in the Land of Israel as they were living there but what about Yocheved, Tzipora and Elisheva? We don’t have any concrete information about whether they came in to the Land of Israel.

The fact that a grave was set up to honor these women (whether or not they are really buried there) shows how much they were looked up to by the entire Jewish nation.