Unfortunately, too often there are reports of damage to matzeivos in Har HaZeisim, damage caused by area Arab residents. In this case the damage to the matzeivah in the Har HaZeisim Cemetery was ordered by the Prushim Chevra Kadisha.
Mrs. Leah Fisch died 20 years ago and thousands took part in the levaya to pay their last respects to the special woman who was known as one of the righteous women of Yerushalayim.
A few short years after she was buried the family noticed the matzeivah did not cover the kever as it should. Her son Dovid built a special addition including a place to light candles, thereby solving the problem of an area being exposed.
Dovid spoke with Kikar Shabbos News, explaining “My mother died 20 years ago and 5 years later the then-head of the chevra kadisha told me my mother was very tall, more so than the average person, and therefore her she extended past the standard matzeivah area and he asked me to construct something as an addition to entirely cover the area to avoid any disgrace to my mother and this is just what I did”.
Dovid adds “Years passed and they did not speak to us about this. A year ago the son of the then-head of the chevra kadisha ran into me, and he told me ‘if not for my father I would destroy the matzeivah’ and a short time letter is was destroyed. I rebuilt it. A few months ago the story became complicated. They began destroying the kever and removed the chairs placed nearby. We first believed it was the work of Arabs but we eventually learned the chevra kadisha was responsible”.
He continues to explain that despite the intervention of Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, who tried negotiating between Dovid and the chevra kadisha, the chevra kadisha during the night destroyed the entire matzeivah. He explains this time the damage was beyond repair and not only the matzeivah, but the actual kever too.
The son arrived the following day armed with a camera to document what had occurred. When an Arab worker was questioned regarding the materials that were removed, he told them “I sold the stuff” and then immediately changed his statement to “I placed it all in genizah”.
The worker explained that he was instructed to be gentle breaking the matzeivah. The pieces are in a storage room to enable reusing them for the rebuild. The Arab worker explained to Dovid he was given a generator by his supervisor and they worked during the night. When asked who this person is the worker responded it was one of the directors of the chevra kadisha.
Dovid headed to the chevra’s office and broke down in tears over what was done to his mother’s kever. They asked to see his plan for the rebuild, which he submitted but one of the officials rejected it. “They won’t even permit me to build a regular matzeivah and this is a disgrace but they will not budge” Dovid explains.
Dovid adds they then had the nerve to suggest exhuming his mother’s remains to bury her elsewhere. They even offered to arrange this with a rav who would permit moving the remains.
Dovid was pained to the core, explaining his mother was a holy person and thousands attended the levaya yet they come like thieves in the night and destroy her kever.
Responding to the report, Zaka CEO Yehuda Meshi-Zahav explains that just this week the Knesset Interior Committee held a session to address the damage to kevarim from local Arabs and here the damage is from the chevra kadisha. He added in this case the chevra actually paid an Arab employee to destroy a kever without regard for kovod hameis. Meshi-Zahav concludes “Even if there are problems with the size of the matzeivah why destroy the actual kever. Who permits such action? How did your hands commit such an act?”
Chevra kadisha official Yitzchak Glaubstein told Kikar Shabbos “We have a psak halacha from Rav Moshe Brandsdorfer to destroy the matzeivah for it is gezel from the rabim”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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19 Responses
Many details missing here….. Sounds fishy…. Also, when seeing what’s written about her ; more than what’s written about any of the Imahos almost….. And none of us ever heard of her. You need a posel to control a Bais hachaim like this….
Interesting that we have to read to the very end of the article to get one sentence of the chevra kadisha’s side of the story.
Sounds like they a got a few poslim controlling it.
I think this article was written without knowing the details, The chevra had one line of response. They should have been asked why they didn’t contact the family and bring him to Rav Bransdorfer to discuss. It doesn’t sound like gzeilas harabim since according to the previous head of the chevra, the niftered had been a tall woman and they would not have been able to use the space anyway, unless they cut away a piece, an that would be Midas Sedom. So obviously if Rav Bransdorfer gave a hater, there must be missing details and b he should be asked if really gave a heter and if yes what were the details given to him.
CHEVRA KADISHA in Yerushalayim is run like the MAFIA!
This story has quite a plot!! 🙂
You would probably need to see the bigger picture – literally – to see if and how much larger this stone structure, with the headstone and footer, was than the surrounding plots. You also might have to see it from a side view. It could be that it encroached significantly on additional space that did not belong to this plot.
As for her being taller than usual, I guess it makes sense, since after reading the legend on the footstone one could describe her as being a ‘giant’… But I find it hard to believe that she was so much taller than everyone else in the cemetary, so much so that her feet stick out past the standard plot!
FOR YOUR INFO
the name is Gelbstein
as tragic as this is, this report is incomplete and doesn’t tell the reader anything. it’s just repetitive. why was it destroyed? a complete article or no article please.
Clearly half the story is missing here.
Yeshiva World, could you please re-edit this story so it makes sense. No real idea why the chevra kadisha took such an action
A close reading of this would indicate that the family put up a matzeiva that took up more space than they were allocated or permitted.
I think some investigative journalism would be in order before printing half stories.
I’m sorry but there seems to be something missing from this story. Lately YWN seems to have it out for the chevra kadisha there. Not sure why, what when but that’s what seems to be the case.
Don’t care this has gone on for twenty years. A young snot nose does this like a thief in the night he and his rav should be tarred and feathered. Then force to repay for damages
What happened to the halacha of resolving disputes in a beis din? something is askew! did either party suggest this?
to Geula: Just bec. you never heard of her – it doesn’t mean she isn’t famous or special. There actually was a HUGE article in the Yiddishe Licht (for those of us who still speak Yiddish) about her & as evidence by the fact that they need chairs there- many many people have visited her kever & had yeshuos for various things.
And how many dozens of kevarim were destroyed over the years that were allegedly done by “Arabs”?
You know how mida keneged mida works?
Whew. I thought it would be women’s kever, as in more than one woman. (Spell check would not catch that.)
I have no doubts if the story is true that the person who ordered the destruction of the metzyveh that his hands will fall off. Anyone who tampers with such a holy person I pity his future