According to the Talmud, when the Moshiach arrives, all dead people whose bodies are not buried in Israel will roll through underground tunnels to the holy land. Avoiding this process, which is considered to be spiritual torture,is one reason a growing number of Jews worldwide are choosing to be buried in Israel.

“That is where he [the messiah] is going to show up, that’s the starting point,” Jewish Miami resident Tony Goldglanz told the Sun Sentenial. “It’s going to be first-come, first-serve.”

Goldglanz, buried his 90-year-old father, Beno, in Jerusalem following his death in 2012.

His father, a Romanian Holocaust survivor, was so passionate about observing the tradition that he made arrangements twelve years earlier, buying a plot for $4,500.

Today, plots in that cemetery cost roughly $30,000. That’s because “there’s not that much land left. Plus [costs include] arrangements to get there and funeral expenses. It runs into the tens of thousands,” Goldglanz explains.

The tradition of being interred in Israel comes from the Bible. The most in-demand burial site is the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, precisely where the “Redemption of the Dead” will start.

But for Jews worldwide who don’t have that kind of money yet still want to be buried in Israel, the journey can be daunting. 

High costs and faceless bureaucracy can make the process of being buried in the Holy Land a nightmare. Many families give up on the idea altogether after realizing how complicated the local authorities make it for them.

That’s why ZAKA, an international humanitarian aid association, has stepped up and launched a new program called ‘Bring them Home.’

In this program, ZAKA helps transfer the body into Israel, cut through all the red tape necessary, and ensure that the burial process is done properly from start to finish. The best part is – they do it all for free.

However, the time and cost involved with navigating Israel’s crippling bureaucracy is starting to take a toll on this holy organization. That’s why they are currently reaching out to donors to help them continue their battle to ensure that every Jew who wants to be buried in Israel, no matter where they are in the world, gets their wish free of charge, without any headache. 

That’s because ZAKA realizes that losing a loved one is difficult enough. Adding more layers of stress to the mourning by cutting through walls of red tape can be too overwhelming a process causing families to give up on the dying wish of their loved ones. 

To support ZAKA’s amazing work on this initiative click here