After more than a dozen years of planning, the construction of a magnificent Visitor Education Center began on Har Hazeisim on Monday February 17th. The first sounds of tractors were heard in the presence of representatives of the International Committee for Har Hazeisim (ICHH), led by Menachem Lubinsky who travelled to Israel for the momentous occasion. Also in attendance at the groundbreaking moment were Moshe Bruce, Israel representative of the ICHH, Aron Mor, Project Manager, as well as officials from Moriah, the developers and the Jerusalem Development Authority.

Lubinsky, who together with his brother Avraham were the impetus behind the international efforts to secure and develop Har Hazeisim, made the traditional shehechiyanu as he bent down to dig out the first soil of the new project after 12 years of toil. “My emotions were beyond description as we finally achieved this milestone to secure the holiest and oldest Jewish cemetery for nearly 150,000 neshamos, victims for decades of abuse and neglect with a steady stream of violence, destruction and lawlessness,” said Menachem Lubinsky, the co-chair of ICHH as he stood on the site of the soon to be built Center.

When completed in 2027, the Center will be a complete hub of information and services including a computer search platform to help visitors find the gravesites of some of the leading Gedolei Hatorah, Admorim and other Jewish leaders from previous generations. The center will also include a shul for mourners and visitors as well as a security center to complement the 276 surveillance cameras that ring the holy mountain. As part of Lubinsky’s whirlwind tour, he also met with leading police officials in the Russian compound, the headquarters of the Israel police in the holy city, to discuss the replacement of some of the older cameras with contemporary advanced hi-tech versions. The cameras are being replaced thanks to a grant of NIS 6 million (approximately $1.7 million) by the Ministry of Housing and Construction, headed by Minister Rabbi Yitzchak Goldknopf.

In meetings with the police the ICHH officials discussed various security concerns and used the opportunity to thank the police for the changed safe environment on Har Hazeisim. “It has been nearly a decade since vandalism halted on Har Hazeisim thanks to the police,” said Lubinsky. “We used to routinely witness the destruction of 50-100 graves a month,” the ICHH officials reminded the police.” In fact, Lubinsky paid a shiva call with Doron Turgeman (loss of his father Yitzchak Turgeman o”h) who was the long time Chief of Police in the Yerushalayim district and who the ICHH credits with introducing a culture of safety on Har Hazeisim.”

Since its founding in 2010, the ICHH has dramatically reversed the dismal state of the historic nearly 3000-year-old holy mountain, the international cemetery of the Jewish people. Amongst its accomplishments are an upgraded infrastructure, gating of the cemetery, the installation of 276 cameras as well as an underground command center, the positioning of a police sub-station, and most importantly a renewed high profile amongst Jews worldwide of the importance of Har Hazeisim.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)