The Calcalist magazine reports that a man who leased land to a Petach Tikvah chevrah kaddisha was shocked to discover that it had been used for the internment of two hundred bodies. He is suing to have his land returned “in the condition it [the chevrah kaddisha] received it for its use.”
The man’s attorney, Tal Gerstein, wrote to the court, “The honored arbitrator is hereby requested to obligate the defendant to remove its jurisdiction from the claimant’s land and to leave the claimant’s land empty and free of any object or person.”
There is little chance this will happen, for in Eretz Yisroel, even the evacuation of centuries old kevorim leads to huge public outcries.
David Steger – Matzav.com Israel
Not sure if your analysis is correct. Gedolei Yisroel may determine that in the case of unscrupulous/illegal use there is more koved hameis to move the kevarim. It may be halachically required. Time will tell…
Wonderful. As the meforshim point out at the beginning of Chaye Sarah, it is a disgrace for a person to be buried in land that belongs to someone else. But what can you do; it’s all l’shem Shamayim.
I sincerely hope that this turns out to be a misunderstanding, and not a deliberate action by the chevra kadisha.
IT IS NEVER LESHEM SHAMYAM TO STEAL.
Hm. Let me see if I understand correctly this story.
A gentleman owns land and the Chevra Kadisha approaches him, they want to rent a certain plot of his. So they tell him, it is not for burial, rather it is for such-and-such purpose (curious to know the excuse, what did they say they needed the land for?) This gentleman accept the excuse, they draft a contract and sign it. Then, day after day, the burial plots are sold to unsuspecting families, and people pass away and are buried. This remains unnoticed until today, when they say there are about two hundred bodies.
Am I the only one who finds this a little bit wierd?