Burial Problems
In Israel

CARL ALPERT

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Wishing
A Happy New Year
To The
Jewish Community
From

eritech

THE DETRO IT JEWIS H NEWS

MAY THE NEW YEAR
BRING HEALTH AND HAPPINESS
TO ALL OCR FRIENDS

122

Lauren Bruss

Connie Kramer

Billie Bussineau

Dennis Dickstein

Phyllis Tunis

Barbara Stolberg

Sheila Rose

Rosalie Fox

Marcia Miller

Iris Goldstein

Norma Zelch

Esther Liwazer

Lillian Hoard

Ruth Karmel

Chester Flam

Elaine Okun

Betty Weiner

Linda Franklin

Sheila Moganroth

Kate Browner

Marcia Trimas

Susan Weinstock

Irene Eagle

RALPH
MANUEL

ASSOCIATES • REALTORS

Ruth Cabot

Gisele Safran

During the past year or so, Israel
has been struck by the several
scandals involving burial of the
dead. In one case, when it was
discovered that the deceased was
a non-Jew, the body was ex-
humed and interred elsewhere.
In another instance, protest was
voiced when a Jewish soldier was
buried in a military cemetery
alongside a Bedouin war hero of
the Israel Defense Forces. In
these and other instances, Or-
thodox Jews, basing themselves
on Jewish law, insisted that the
line of distention be drawn.
The monopoly over burials by
the Orthodox Chevra Kadisha
was challenged several years ago,
and the Supreme Court ruled that
the Ministry of Religious Affairs
had no reason to refuse a license
to a burial society, no matter what
its religious coloration. Other
faiths do have their own burial
rites and their own cemeteries,
but heretofore, Jews, whether re-
ligious or not, had no choice but
to accept the Chevra Kadisha
rites.
Actually, this monolithic rule
was not observed in most of the
non-religious kibbutzim, where
they maintain their own ceme-
teries and conduct their own ser-
vices.
A new burial society Menucha
Nechona (Society for Eternal
Rest), which had been a party to
appeal to the courts, has now ob-
tained rights to more than 10
acres of land in a new cemetery
being built on the outskirts of
Haifa, and local citizenry can elect
whether they wish the tradition-
al service, or the non-Orthodox
one now offered. It should be not-
ed that the government pays the
cost of the plot and the funeral
service. The memorial stone is
the obligation of the family.
Among the elements which will
distinguish the new burial soci-
ety will be the possibility of bury-
ing husband and wife side by side,
even if one was not Jewish. This
• has not been possible hitherto.
Furthermore, plans are being
made for use of coffins, instead of
the usual method in Israel of de-
positing bodies in the graves
wrapped in shrouds, a procedure
which shocks those from the
Western world who observe it for
the first time. Coffins are used
only in military cemeteries.
Tombstones, while bearing in-
scriptions in Hebrew, may also
bear the names of the deceased in
Latin characters, and the civil
dates inscribed as well. The Or-
thodox cemetery in Haifa has al-
ways been lenient in this respect,
in contrast to Jerusalem, where
it took a court order to obtain that
privilege.

How popular will the new
cemetery be? An opinion poll con-
ducted in Haifa indicated that 44
percent of those queried would
choose the new an presumably
more aesthetic service, although
70.3 percent of Haifa's residents
registered approval in principle
of the alternative burial.
Queried about the use of mu-
sic during a funeral, 81 percent
went on record as objecting, and
only 15 percent approved of ap-.
propriate music.
There appears to have been lit-
tle demand for cremation, which
is taboo under Orthodox law.
Public opinion does not seem to
be in favor, especially among
those whose families had any as-
sociation with the Holocaust.
Due to the growing lack of bur-
ial space in Haifa's crowded ceme-
teries, an experiment was
launched a few years ago with the
construction of two-tiered graves,
crypts in a stone wall. The ap-
pearance is aesthetic, but there
does no seem to have been much
demand for these graves, and only
a few are occupied.
No matter how far Israeli Jews
have strayed from Orthodox ob-
servance in other matters, tra-
dition has remained strong when
it comes t burial. It now remains
to be seen to what extent the kind
of graveside services offered by
Menucha Nechona, not necessar-
ily according to the Orthodox
rites, will indeed be utilized by the
public.

Scholars
In Uniform

CARL ALPERT

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

The typical Israeli 18-year-olds,
fresh out of high school, enter al-
most immediately upon their
compulsory military service,
three years for the men, and 22
months for the women. When
their military duty is completed,
many go on adventurous trips to
exotic places in the world, and
upon their return begin to think
about careers, employment and
university.
There are exceptions to this for-
mula. They are the ones who join
the academic reserve. It works
like this, and we cite a typical case.
All the prospective soldiers are
given various aptitude tests. Our
candidate, either by application,
or by invitation of the Israel
Defense Forces, is afforded an op-
portunity to reverse the chronol-
ogy of events. If he agrees, his
three years of compulsory service
are deferred; and he is enable at
once to begin his higher eduction.
This continues until he graduates
and then, with his degree in some
specialized field, he is called upon
to do his compulsory service, like
everyone else.
What are the advantages? For
the young person: He can get into

