Dei'ah veDibur - Information & Insight
  

A Window into the Chareidi World

15 Sivan 5765 - June 22, 2005 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
NEWS

OPINION
& COMMENT

OBSERVATIONS

HOME
& FAMILY

IN-DEPTH
FEATURES

VAAD HORABBONIM HAOLAMI LEINYONEI GIYUR

TOPICS IN THE NEWS

POPULAR EDITORIALS

HOMEPAGE

 

Produced and housed by
Shema Yisrael Torah Network
Shema Yisrael Torah Network

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEWS
Crematorium Comes to Israel

By Betzalel Kahn

For the first time in Israel a crematorium, which is strictly prohibited by halochoh, has been installed.

The crematorium, set up by a company called Alei Shalechet (Leaves of Fall), was used to burn the body of a non-Jew last week, but many fear secular Jews as well will ask to have their bodies burned.

This serious breach is liable to undermine the belief in the eternity of the soul and the concept of kovod hameis, which have been firmly entrenched in the Jewish people since time immemorial and manifested in instances of great mesirus nefesh to recover and transport Jewish corpses under extreme conditions in order to provide a proper burial. One reporter wrote, "Despite the explanations I could not avoid the unpleasant associations [from the Holocaust period] at the sight of the flame blazing inside the furnace. It was not easy to watch the process."

Numerous efforts have been made by various public representatives and organizations to appeal to figures in a position to intervene and put an immediate halt to the development.

According to ZAKA, Alei Shalechet is hiding the location of the crematorium, apparently because it does not have government permission or a business license.

 

All material on this site is copyrighted and its use is restricted.
Click here for conditions of use.