The expert committee set up by the Lithuanian government to
address disputes surrounding the ancient Jewish cemetery in
Vilna decided that all work on the cemetery ground must halt
immediately pending inquiries into the boundaries of the
cemetery by experts under the supervision of the Conference
of European Rabbis (CER) and the Conference for the
Preservation of Cemeteries in Europe.
Meanwhile the rabbis and experts from the Lithuanian
government are demanding a site be found to dump the dirt
already unearthed at the cemetery grounds to allow it to be
checked. This week HaRav Yonoson Nachum Guttentag, the rov of
Kehillas Wheatfield in Manchester who serves on the Standing
Committee and as the CER's representative on the committee of
experts, presented a report at the bi-annual conference the
Standing Committee is holding in Odessa.
When international protest erupted following the desecration
of the cemetery some weeks ago, the Lithuanian government set
up a working committee which recommended the formation of a
committee of experts to determine which course to take. The
committee was indeed set up and includes HaRav Eliakim
Schlesinger and HaRav Aharon Dovid Dunner, members of the
Conference for the Preservation of Cemeteries in Europe,
HaRav Guttentag representing the CER, Jewish historians from
Israel and the US and engineers and archaeologists from
Israel and Lithuania. Last week the committee submitted its
findings to the Lithuanian government.
HaRav Guttentag said an expert investigation is needed
because during the course of the committee meetings and the
onsite inspections disputes erupted over the boundaries of
the cemetery, which were determined according to maps since
the entire area is covered with dirt, grass, flooring and
structures, and various maps were presented to the
committee.
Odessa was chosen as the site for this week's meeting of the
CER Standing Committee as a show of esteem for the Jewish
community of the Ukraine and the Tikva Institutions headed by
HaRav Shlomo Baksht, the chief rabbi of Odessa. Various
topics pertinent to European Jewry are being discussed and
the rabbonim are conducting tours of various local
institutions as well as chizuk gatherings for the
local Jewish community. (See more detailed story elsewhere in
this issue.)
