Further to the publication of reports of the renovation of
the kever of the Maharshal zy"o in Lublin, the
Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe
wishes to clarify a number of points:
The Lublin cemetery is one of the oldest and largest in
Poland and contains many thousands of kevorim
including those of the geonim and kedoshim HaRav Yaakov
Polak, HaRav Sholom Shachna, the Maharam, the `Eizene Kopf',
the Chozeh of Lublin and many others zy"o. The
cemetery, which contains more than one layer of graves in
some places, is located on a steep slope and weather
conditions result in the movement of earth which often
results in human bones, or entire graves, becoming uncovered.
A major project is required to recover and support the
cemetery in places, thus protecting the graves from the
elements.
Over the last two years, representatives of the Committee for
the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe have visited
Lublin together with an expert engineer from Eretz Yisroel,
in order to determine how to protect the graves. The
investigations have revealed that there is a serious risk of
the upper section of the cemetery collapsing and that
unexploded WWII shells remain embedded in the ground within
the cemetery and must be dealt with urgently.
The work involved in the protection of the thousands of
graves at risk in the cemetery, the support of the land at
risk of collapse, the verification of the cemetery boundaries
and the support of the walls, as well as bringing additional
earth to cover large sections of the cemetery, have been
estimated by experts to cost several hundred thousand
dollars. The extreme practical difficulties involved in this
project have resulted in delays, but all aspects of the
entire project are under the rabbinical guidance of the
Rabbinical Board of the Committee. Therefore, reports
suggesting that the state of the cemetery is satisfactory
after the renovation of the kever of the Maharshal are
premature.
We have previously publicized the psak of the
Committee's Rabbinical Board, endorsed by leading
poskim that when renovating matzeivos or
oholim over the graves of individual tzadikim,
extreme care is required to ensure that the entire
cemetery is also granted adequate protection. Although the
intentions of those who renovate individual kevorim
are praiseworthy, their actions can sometimes have
adverse consequences, in that they inadvertently result in
the abandonment of the remaining parts of the cemeteries.
This principal is one that is applied to all cases of
cemetery renovation in which our Committee is involved and is
strongly supported by our colleagues Asra Kadisha in Eretz
Yisroel and Avoseinu in America.
Therefore, despite the good work done so far, the state of
the old cemetery in Lublin remains of great concern and there
is an urgent need for our planned renovation project for the
cemetery as a whole.
The Rabbinical Board of the Committee said that it wishes to
express its deep appreciation to all those involved in
financing the Lublin Cemetery Renovation Project, and
particularly to the Halpern Family of Manchester, who have
already made a considerable contribution towards this cause.
We appeal to members of the community to come forward and
join in this important duty. The graves in the cemetery of
Lublin are meisei mitzva whose burial is the duty of
each one of us!
May the great zchus of the Gedolei Yisroel and
all those buried in the Lublin cemetery bring Divine
protection and blessing to all those involved in their
protection and to all of Klal Yisroel.
