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IN-DEPTH FEATURES
The train station in York, located at the main rail junction,
served as the starting point for an interesting chain of
events that took place 20 years ago. A story filled with
revelations of siyata deShmaya from start to
finish.
An avreich talmid chochom from Gateshead wanted to
accompany his parents on the first leg of their journey home
following a visit to him. They lived in Copenhagen and the
return trip included a train ride of several hours from
Gateshead to Manchester before boarding a boat for Denmark.
The son wanted to accompany them all the way to Manchester,
but his parents did not want him to travel such a long
distance. The son was adamant. "It's bein hazmanim,"
he said, "and the mitzvah of kibbud av vo'eim does not
come my way every day."
Eventually they reached a compromise. He would join them
halfway to Manchester, getting off the train at York.
The son, Rav Yisroel Chaim Levine, has since passed away, but
before his untimely death he described the scene to us.
"I got off the train and went to the information counter to
inquire about a return train. It turned out I would have a
four-hour wait. I recalled that York had a history of Jewish
settlement, persecution and murder. I knew that holy Jews
such as the authors of the Tosafos and other greats
had lived in the city.
"So I went to the tourist information booth, the type found
in every corner of Great Britain, and asked whether there was
a Jewish cemetery in the city. No more than this could be
expected after 800 years. I figured I would make use of my
free time by visiting the cemetery. Perhaps some of the
authors of the Tosafos were buried there.
"The kindly clerk answered me in a whisper, like someone who
had recently discovered something. He said that several
months earlier digging had taken place at a certain location
in the city and an ancient Jewish cemetery had been
discovered. `Hundreds of skeletons extracted from the depths
of the earth are now in the basements of York's large
university,' the man added. He even directed me to the right
address, the archaeologists in possession of all the
`spoils.' I felt I had chanced upon a very valuable and
important piece of information. I went straight to the
address I had been given.
"At the site I didn't find a thing. The ground where the deep
digging took place was now empty. The adjoining area had not
yet been touched. `Who knows what lies within?' I thought. A
large sign announced that a major construction company was
making preparations to build a multi-story parking
structure."
Rav Yisroel refused to miss the opportunity that had come his
way and went straight to the university. There he presented
himself to the archaeologists as "a researcher of Jewish law"
who wanted to look into possible discoveries in the
excavations that could assist him in his research. As an
avreich delving into the gemora Rav Yisroel was
clearly "researching Jewish law."
Jewbury Street
The archaeologists began to tell him about the excavations
and discoveries. The phone rang, interrupting their
conversation. On the other end of the line was the professor
in charge of excavations and research. Hearing about the
visitor, he said he would be glad to meet with him right
away. Within a short time, Rav Yisroel realized why he was so
quick to respond.
British law requires every organization digging in a cemetery
to obtain permission from the owner or the spiritual
authority associated with it for every bit of digging and
scratching. (Meanwhile Israel's policy is not as
considerate.) The company that wanted to build the parking
lot did contact the Chief Rabbi of London and request
permission to dig, since researchers believed an ancient
Jewish cemetery was located on the site. Among the evidence
supporting their conjecture: one of the adjacent streets had
been called Jewbury Street for years and years.
Officials at the London Rabbinate found this determination
highly doubtful and did not bother to investigate the matter.
Instead the Rabbinate absolved itself by simply demanding
that any skeletons removed from the ground be reburied
immediately.
The archaeologist speaking with Rav Yisroel had already
written an entire study based on thorough research and
indications found at the site. In his opinion, the cemetery
was Jewish beyond any doubt. Therefore, it was very important
to him for an "authentic Jewish researcher" to concord with
his thesis, particularly since the officials at the London
Rabbinate had not backed his theory.
For him the discovery was of utmost importance because this
was the only Jewish cemetery discovered from that period and
human skeletons had been found there. There are rumors that a
similar cemetery lies underneath Oxford University's
botanical gardens, but this has never been confirmed by
researchers.
In London, an ancient Jewish cemetery from before the famous
expulsion over 700 years ago was found recently. Strangely,
no bones were found--all the graves were totally empty.
According to the accepted hypothesis of HaRav Eliyohu Falk of
Gateshead, at the time of the expulsion the Jews disinterred
their relatives' bodies from the graves and took the remains
with them into exile because they were afraid to leave them
in a land totally devoid of Jews.
This was not the case in York. Here the researchers found a
surprisingly orderly cemetery with hundreds of human
skeletons. Many of them were completely intact.
In general the period of Jewish settlement in York has been
of keen interest to researchers. However, twenty years ago
events were arranged from Above such that a professor of
archaeology who was guilty -- albeit unwittingly and without
malicious intent -- of removing hundreds of Jewish skeletons
from their graves, sat and shared the whole account with a
chareidi Jew who was deeply distraught at the very thought of
the suffering the dead underwent when their bodies were
desecrated. The professor even went into great detail in
presenting his proofs and evidence that the bodies found
undoubtedly belonged to Jews.
His proofs were indeed convincing. R' Yisroel agreed with the
archaeologist's conclusion and upon his return to Gateshead
he immediately began to work feverishly on the matter, just
as Moshe Rabbenu dedicated himself to the task of
safeguarding Yosef's remains (Shemos 13:19). According
to a verse in Mishlei (10:8), "The wise of heart will
take mitzvos." Says the Medrash, "All of Am Yisroel
was busy with the gold and silver while Moshe was busy with
Yosef's bones" (Shemos Rabboh 20:19).
He called HaRav Chanoch Ehrentreu, today ravad of
London's official beis din, who began to work on the
matter within the British Chief Rabbinate. He also contacted
well-known morei horo'oh and rabbonim, asking them to
give their opinion on the identity of the cemetery. Several
pieces of evidence were evaluated one by one and, following
consultations and discussions, it was decided to accept the
professor's claim and act accordingly.
The Grave of the Maharam of Rotenberg as
Proof
In a conversation with HaRav Eliyohu Falk, one of Europe's
leading morei horo'oh, he described to us the findings
and various means at their disposal in determining whether
the cemetery in York was indeed Jewish. HaRav Falk, who was
involved in all stages of the clarification process and later
took part in the reburial of the skeletons himself, pointed
to a series of signs, some clear and others not particularly
conclusive.
First, HaRav Falk asked us to mention a matter that could
have practical implications for anyone Jewish traveling to
Eastern Europe or anywhere else where ancient Jewish
cemeteries are found.
One of the indications is that generally, in those periods,
the goyim, who adhered closely to their religion,
would place their cemeteries adjacent to a church or
cathedral to allow the dead to lie close to the place of
worship. Even in places where the church had been destroyed,
its foundations are to be found in the ground alongside the
cemetery. In York, no such remains were found.
Also, the non-Jews always buried their dead lying from east
to west, with the engraved side of the gravestone facing
towards the rising sun. Their places of worship also face
east to catch the morning light. In the cemetery in York,
however, the graves were positioned from north to south.
Some were skeptical of this piece of evidence, claiming it
proved the cemetery was not Jewish at all since today in most
of the world Jews are buried facing east, i.e. toward
Jerusalem, to hint at techiyas hameisim and gilgul
hamechilos--the awakening of the dead and their
subsequent tunneling toward Eretz Yisroel. They argued that
these were not necessarily Jewish graves, although they were
clearly not Christian graves.
In this matter askonim saw siyata deShmaya when
Dr. Shlomo Rotenberg, a physician from Gateshead, provided a
picture of the grave of the Maharam of Rotenberg in Worms,
Germany. He, too, was buried from north to south.
Dr. Rotenberg is a direct descendent of the Maharam, tracing
himself all the way back from son to father. Examining a
photo taken during a previous visit to the Maharam's grave in
Worms, he recalled the time of day it was taken and, based on
the shadows clearly visible in the picture, the direction of
the grave could be determined without a doubt--further proof
that the Jewish practice during that period was to bury the
dead from north to south. Perhaps this custom was intended to
distinguish Jewish graves from those of the non- Jews, by
burying Jewish dead in a different direction.
The way the graves were arranged provided additional
evidence. In non-Jewish cemeteries the graves are laid
haphazardly, sometimes one on top of another or at an angle,
retaining only a general direction. Jewish graves, on the
other hand, were always laid with great care, one next to
another. At the cemetery in York, the graves were placed at a
distance of six tefochim with straight rows lined up
evenly in both directions.
The way bodies are laid in the grave is also telling. Upon
laying the body in the grave, Christians fold the person's
arms to form a cross on his chest. In some cases hands were
pressed between the legs. At the cemetery in York the arms
were laid straight at the person's side.
"Archaeologists are Bound to Disturb the Jews'
Eternal Rest"
The work done by Professor Dobson, a historian from York
University, was also very helpful. A few years before the
excavations he had concluded there must be a Jewish cemetery
at the site, based on an ancient writ of sale, in Latin that
he found in the York Library.
From this document, Dobson determined that a field adjacent
to the land in question had been sold by several Jews to the
Jewish community of York. The bottom of the shtar
bears clearly visible signatures written in loshon
hakodesh. Dobson's writings on the subject include a
sentence of particular interest: "One day the archaeologists
are bound to disturb the eternal rest of the Jews, who were
rarely at rest in the course of their lives."
In England, for many years, Jews were not permitted to bury
their dead near their place of residence, which meant having
to travel to London for a Jewish burial. Only around the year
1170 did the king permit Jews to purchase land for burial
places outside city walls. Dobson's document is from 1230 and
apparently the field was purchased in order to expand the
cemetery. However, the land was not put to use, since the
Jews were expelled from the British Isles in 1290 and when
they eventually returned they did not settle in York.
That cemetery discovered in York is the only one of its kind
in the whole area even since then. Thus York is the most
likely place to find the graves of the chachomim who
passed away after 1170, including the authors of the
Tosafos who lived in the city.
Another interesting side-note: one of the conclusions the
university researchers came to was that an epidemic broke out
among Jewish children during this period, as evidenced by
dozens of children's graves laid with remarkable order along
the edges of the cemetery. However, according to HaRav Falk
this conclusion is incorrect-- assuming it is indeed a Jewish
cemetery--since the ancient Jewish custom was to generally
bury children alongside the cemetery wall.
Eventually the late Chief Rabbi of England, Lord Immanuel
Jakobovits, brought the matter to the attention of officials
at the British Ministry of the Interior, which immediately
issued orders to stop the digging and to return all of the
bones to Jewish graves.
As soon as it was decided to bury the skeletal remains near
the large parking structure, the construction company
allotted a sum of ten thousand pounds to cover all of the
burial expenses. The rabbonim and askonim attended to
the matter themselves, burying the hundreds of skeletons in
several dozen coffins arranged in three layers.
On the 5th of Tammuz 5744 the holy remains were returned to
their eternal rest in an impressive, integrated operation.
Later a memorial stone was installed in the wall of the
parking lot, as well. An illuminated sign explains that the
site was once a Jewish cemetery and warns kohanim not
to enter the parking structure itself. Throughout the course
of events, the construction company fully cooperated in
efforts to find an amenable solution and apologized
effusively for the distress the project unintentionally
caused the Jewish community.
Recently, however, some visitors have complained that the
sign is no longer visible both because of the soot and dirt
covering it, and because plant growth has concealed it from
view.
Lightning on a Clear Summer Night
The discovery of the graves by an avreich who happened
to be delayed in York also concluded with an amazing episode
that demonstrated yad Hashem and His ways.
The night after the skeletons were buried, the weather was
clear with not a cloud in the sky. Suddenly out of nowhere a
cloud appeared and a bolt of lightning burst down upon the
ancient cathedral of York. The southern wing of the building,
which had stood for 800 years, suffered major fire damage to
its roof, estimated at one million pounds, while the newer
wings remained unscathed.
The ancient cathedral, one of the biggest Gothic cathedrals
in all of Europe, is considered one of the world's most
beautiful buildings and of great importance to every British
subject. The fire shocked all of England at the time and an
image of the burning cathedral, taken by a quick photographer
was widely distributed on postcards.
The score has now been settled with the medieval cathedral,
which sent forth many churchgoers in those days--the unsavory
fruit of the priests' vicious exhortations--in pursuit of the
Jews of York. Hashem's hand came down on it right after the
disruption of their bones came to an end.
In all likelihood among those buried there are geonim
and tzaddikim, perhaps even the authors of the
Tosafos. Rav Yom Tov of Yoani, who studied under
Rabbenu Tam, is thought to have died al kiddush Hashem
in Clifford Tower and may have been buried with the rest of
the kedoshim.
This cemetery was the only remnant from that period of glory
and suffering mixed together. Not even a single beis
knesses or beis medrash remains to serve as a
reminder--only the Torah learning of the kedoshim,
which lights botei medrash everywhere on the globe
with its brilliant light.
John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister and policy supreme for
environmental issues, recently rejected plans for a shopping
and leisure center 25 meters from Clifford's Tower, the site
of a massacre of Jews in 1190.
The decision followed a public inquiry into the proposed 60-
million British pounds scheme by property-developers Land
Securities. Land Securities was reluctant to accept the
decision as final. The Jewish communities' Board of Deputies
said it was "pleased" at the outcome.
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