In what has become a regular occurrence, chassidei Lelov arriving at the kever of the Rebbe zt”l on Har HaZeisim on Wednesday immediately noticed the top side portion of the Tzion was damaged. A senior police official was summoned to the site and he was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Education R’ Meir Porush, who continues working to compel police and other agencies to take any and all actions to bring an end to the chilul Hashem and to ensure the safety of mispalalim visiting kevarim on Har HaZeisim.
Chassidim report that they waited for over two hours until police responded.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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6 Responses
Since the government and police obviously don’t care about this horrible problem, how about this…
The frum communtiy should organize a Mishmar Ezrachi (an armed Civilian Patrol) branch for the Har HaZeitim area, just as exists in many communities and neighborhoods in Israel.
I think this would be an effective solution to the problem and should be very do-able.
You’re talking about quite a large area to patrol 24/7. It also happens to be a very unfriendly neighborhood. (I was just there on Monday and if it wasn’t for the fact that my son was me I wouldn’t have risked it.) The government and police DO care about the problem but it’s less of a priority. You can’t be protecting the property at Intel and gravestones at the same time. Your solution would be effective but I doubt you’d get many volunteers.
#2 NeveAliza,-
Yes it is large, but not any larger than many other areas patrolled by Mishmar Ezrachi units. And yes, it is unfriendly, but the M-1’s Mishmar Ezrachi people carry should be sufficent to keep the yishmaelim from manifesting their unfriendliness.
I hope this idea gets looked into. I do think that from the many neighborhoods of Yerushalayim it should not be that difficult to get enough manpower to volunteer for this important job.
It seems as though two hours is thought to be too a long a time to wait. I don’t think that two hours is that long for the police to arrive to assess a property damage only scene, especially when the visit was by a senior officer and a Deputy Minsiter in the Government. Actually I think that is pretty good service. Preventing damage to kevorim on Har Hazeisim and protecting those who visit there are important priorities but inspecting the minor damamge to one gravestone is not. Whoever provided the picture to YWN could just as well have sent it to the police with an official complaint from Mosdos Lelov with a note of the exact location of the kever. Rav Meir Porush is known to help all and any who ask for his assistance but doesn’t he also have higher priority tasks to deal with?
4 avreimi-
Its not that 2 hours was too long. Its that this has been an ON-GOING problem for quite a long time. The problem is two-fold. The destruction of matzayvos, AND attacks on visitors to kevarim. There have been many complaints made, and the problem has not been addressed, at least not in any meaningful way.
That is why I made my suggestion (above) to handle the problem (by the frum community) with creation of a Mishmar Ezrachi branch.
I like AinOhdMilvado’s idea. Sounds like the right way to handle this.
It’s a horrible shame, the way Har HaZeisim is being neglected. One can barely go there during the day, not to mention at night.
Perhaps a (high) fence should be all around the kevorim with guarded entrances – but that still doesn’t solve the issue of how to get there. Walking there from the Kosel (not to mention Meah Shearim / Geulah) is VERY scary.