Plans to build Israel’s first-ever entirely underground cemetery are underway in Chadeira in an effort to solve the space shortage for burial grounds in the country.
The cemetery is a pilot project that will be repeated in other cities if deemed successful. It will reach a depth of 8.2 feet underground, using a “Sanhedrin burial style,” with two levels of burial niches. On top of the complex, there will be a section for traditional burials.
Tzachi Yitzchak Levinsky—head of the Levinsky architecture firm, which is responsible for the project—said, “The goal is to maximize our use of the land, to ensure adequate access and to follow the guidelines of Jewish law….Currently, there are 900 graves dug in a dunam (1,076 square feet); now, we will be able to have 1,470 graves in a dunam.”
“Above ground, there will be a floating roof, a fair distance from the graves, to allow for natural light, ventilation, and room for two levels of graves underground,” he added.
JNS.ORG
{Matzav.com Israel}
