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NEWS
Problems with Tel Aviv Chevra Kadisha
By A. Cohen
The management of chevra kadisha of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and
the surrounding area will be forced to stop burying the dead
in the Gush Dan area this week if a court order goes into
effect, warned Tel Aviv Chevra Kadisha Director Attorney Mr.
Ze'ev Rosenberg in alarming letters sent to the Prime
Minister, Interior Minister, Religious Affairs Minister (I
thought there no such thing), Health Minister, Attorney
General, several mayors and hospital directors in the Gush
Dan area.
The warning follows an order issued one month ago by the
Rishon Letzion District Court to cease burials and
development work at the Yarkon Cemetery. Signed by Mr. Shouki
Amrani, chairman of the Central Region's Committee for
Planning and Construction, the court order was issued
following an inspection by a building inspector sent by the
National Construction Unit. The order was cancelled and
another hearing was scheduled for this week based on a
request by the Interior Ministry.
Mr. Rosenberg explained that currently over 70% of the
deceased in Gush Dan are brought to the Yarkon Cemetery for
burial. Every day between 25 and 60 funerals are held at the
Yarkon, which is designated the central cemetery for the
entire Central Region. Since its initial setup over 150,000
people have been buried at the Yarkon and the area originally
developed for burial is completely full.
As a result of the lack of plots the Chevra Kadisha, with the
encouragement of government officials, purchased the land
adjacent to the approved cemetery based on plans to add tens
of thousands of additional graves. The Chevra Kadisha then
contacted all of the committees involved to ask them to
accelerate the bureaucratic procedures needed to approve the
expansion project. Surprisingly these licensing procedures
have been delayed for years despite repeated requests by the
Chevra Kadisha to speed up the process.
Approximately 8,500 people pass away in the Central Region
annually, a figure which has grown in recent years. Due to
the lack of space the Chevra Kadisha was forced to begin
developing the legally-purchased land while continuing to
press the National Committee for Planning and Construction to
complete the approval process. All of the land has been
marked for the cemetery's expansion and the burials on this
land were performed with the knowledge of the Ministerial
Committee for Burial Matters, Interior Ministry, Israel Land
Authority and all of the other official bodies involved in
burial.
Following the court order the Chevra Kadisha filed an appeal
demanding a hearing be held with both sides present. The
court agreed, suspending the order for a period of 30 days,
which ended Monday.
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