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PHOTO BY MATI STEIN

cemetery since the mother was tacle that doesn't dignify the
not Jewish, nor, according to Jew- State of Israel," said Edelstein, a
ish law, was the son. Innocently kippah-wearing Russian immi-
believing that Israel honored its grant whose own parents con-
martyrs of Arab terror, Olga of- verted to Christianity. "I was
fered to have him buried in a sec- ashamed. When I met Grisha's
ular ceremony. The trouble is parents, I didn't know what to tell
that there is no secular graveyard them. It was a desecration which
in Jerusalem.
profaned the dignity of the de-
A sympathetic official recom- ceased."
mended quiet, nondenomina-
From his car in the City Hall
tional burial in a Christian parking lot, Edelstein telephoned
cemetery lie knew on the Mount various religious officials in the
of Olives. The family agreed, and hope of finding a civilized solu-
a small, sad congregation of Russ- tion. This was not the first such
ian Israelis followed the casket case with which he had dealt.
to the grave.
The religious authorities had pre-
To their horror, a black-robed viously agreed to bury people
Greek Orthodox priest asked per- whose Jewish identity was in
mission to start the ceremony.
doubt in separate areas of Jew-
Olga burst into tears. "No, no ish cemeteries, divided not by the
priest," she wailed. "My son Gr- traditional wall, but by a simple
isha lived as a Jew in the Land path. In fact, it transpires that
of Israel. He was not a Christian. nothing has been implemented.
I am not ready to let him be
Eventually Edelstein reached
buried as a Christian."
the Sephardi chief rabbi, Eliahu
The priest replied that if the Bakshi-Doron, who promised to
Pesachovitches wouldn't accept arrange for Grisha to be buried
the funeral rites of the church, on Sunday in an area set aside
Grisha could not be buried in the for "questionable" Jews in the
Greek cemetery. As reported by city's main cemetery at Givat
Ma'ariv, a distraught Yevgeny Shaul.
demanded a spade and offered to
Decency, it seemed, was pre-
dig a grave with his own hands. vailing. But the Pesachovitches'
But the priest would not yield, humiliation was not yet over. The
and the casket had to be reloaded chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Yitzhak
on the hearse.
Koolitz, barred them from even
At city hall, officials tried des- a "questionable" Jews' grave. Gr-
perately to find a kibbutz or a sec- isha was not Jewish at all, and
ular cemetery where Grisha there could be no concession.
could at last be laid to rest. Ei-
In the end, the youngest vic-
ther they had no one to prepare tim of the bombers was laid to
the ground on a Friday afternoon, rest in a vacant lot, belonging to
or they were too far from the Bahai faith, adjacent to the
Jerusalem. Olga, a high-school Jewish cemetery.
science teacher, wanted to be able
Olga declined this week to talk
to mourn at her only son's grave. to reporters. She had applied for
The minister of im-
Orthodox conversion be-
migrant absorption, Police and soldiers fore Grisha's death, and
Yuli Edelstein, heard inspect the grounds she didn't want to jeop-
about the saga of mis-
ardize her chances. The
of the o utdoor
ery on Israel Radio and
market a fter the
rest, as a more liberal-
rushed to help. "It was
double s uicide-
minded Jewish sage once
bomb a ttack.
an absurd, tragic spec-
said, is commentary. ❑

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