Leading poskim including Maran HaRav Eliashiv
shlita issued a firm ruling against plans to carry out
construction work at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon after
Jewish graves were found at the building site.
In the ruling maranan verabonon shlita write that
halacha clearly forbids "disinterring a cluster of graves
where the dead lie in a conventional position, even if the
disinterment is done properly by G-d-fearing individuals
performing the task according to halacha.
"There is no basis to permit [disinterment] in order to save
lives in a case where the life-saving benefit will come only
after a substantial amount of time to those who need it then,
and there is no life-saving for people currently in need.
Mentioning the dispensation of pikuach nefesh in
connection with future matters like these is a distortion
that is in effect an act of uprooting the Torah.
"And based on what we were told — that there is a
possibility to add onto the hospital on another side where
there would be no harm to graves — the entire
discussion is superfluous."
The letter is signed by HaRav Shmuel Halevi Wosner and HaRav
Nissim Karelitz shlita.
Maran HaRav Eliashiv included the following addendum above
his signature: "Based on the inquiries and the information
presented to me there is no room to permit disinterring the
dead [found] at the hospital grounds in Ashkelon, and the new
wing should be built in such a way that it does not harm the
cemetery."
The Association for the Prevention of Grave Desecration
warned in the past that building the fortified section on a
site adjacent to the existing portion of the hospital would
involve severe desecration of Jewish gravesites, noting that
the issue has been clarified beyond any doubt.
Inquiries at the site substantiated concerns that the site
contains Jewish graves. In response to claims that an
agreement was already signed with a building contractor, the
Association for the Prevention of Grave Desecration points
out that the agreement was signed after the problem came to
light.
Going forward with the project would also set a dangerous
precedent with repercussions for all grave-preservation
campaigns waged by Torah-true Jewry in both Eretz Yisroel and
the Diaspora.
