Rabbi Sternbuch on the liquidity in burying floors: It is unbelievable that they continue to bury

September 1, 2020   

After the desecration of the dead taking place in the 'burial floors' on Mount Hamunehot was exposed, where substances - fatty secretions and blood from the dead - flowed - representatives of the 'Association for the Prevention of Grave Desecration' went to the association's president, Rabbi Sternbuch, and heard from him about the activities that were required in light of the desecration of 'the honor of the dead'. Want a prestigious degree that is very suitable for the Haredi path? – This is how you do it! As reported in Haredim 10, ZAKA personnel were called to deal with the leakage of biological materials, including fats and blood, flowing from the multi-story burial structure on Har Hamenuchot South, towards the nearby road. The leakage leaked from the gutters of the multi-story burial structure, which includes a ground floor of parking, and three more floors of graves above them, when originally the excreta and decaying materials of the dead were supposed to pass through gutters from the upper floors to the lower floors and from there reach the depths of the ground and be absorbed there. Following a malfunction in the building's gutter system, the excreta and decaying materials leaked - so that they came out of the gutter towards the nearby road, in a way that caused the deceased to be disgraced, until the nearby road was completely flooded for several days with large amounts of liquid. The 'Association' activists who went to the scene raised a number of difficult questions that raise serious suspicion that these leaks had already occurred in the past and were hidden by vested interests there. As They also demanded that burials be stopped at the site, after it became clear that the building does not have a Form 4 at all and is not approved for burials - a matter that raises another question mark over all burials at the site. In his words, Rabbi Sternbuch said: "It has been clarified that, in addition to the halachic questions themselves and the humiliation of the deceased being buried in 'burial facilities on floors', in a way that all the rot and fats pass through gutters to the ground, there is also a risk of leakage of materials, in a way that shamefully humiliates the dead and nullifies the Torah commandment of burial, and this requires even more forcefully to publish the instruction of all the great men of Israel not to bury in those burial facilities on floors. "With our many sins, the biblical name written in Psalms (19:2-3) will be fulfilled, 'We have given the dead bodies of your servants as food for the birds of the air, the flesh of your saints for the life of the earth, their blood has been poured out like water around Jerusalem, and there is no burial', and it is unbelievable that it will be said that even though it has been proven to the eye what the possible consequences are From burial in the fields - the directors of the Hevra Kadisha still continue to bury in the fields. "The relatives of the deceased have the obligation not to humiliate their relatives and bury them in the burial facilities in the fields, and even if it costs them a lot of money to buy a burial plot in the ground (field burial), they must take care for the benefit of the deceased that he does not suffer in the fields - where he will lack the atonement of the burial, and it is also possible that the mitzvah of burial is not fulfilled at all. "Likewise, it is the duty of every community rabbi to inform the members of his community that everyone who arrives at 'this is a burial time' must keep a close eye and ensure that everything is done according to the Jewish tradition of burial in the ground (field burial) and not in the fields, God forbid, and if he is unable to supervise this, it is his duty to appoint someone in his place to thoroughly investigate the matter himself, and not to blindly trust the members of the Hevra Kadisha, who unfortunately, among the Hevra Kadisha directors, are those who lead the public astray in these matters." In his remarks, he addressed the authorities' claims that there is no place for field burials and that it is necessary to build tall buildings for burials on the floors: "What they claim is that there is no place for burial in the Holy Land and that it is necessary to build burials on the floors is nonsense, because there is a lot of free space, and there is room in the Land of Israel to bury millions of dead in field burials according to the custom of our ancestors, and all the claims that there is no place for burial do not stem from a lack of space for burials, but rather from disrespect for the dignity of the dead." In light of the receipt of the guidelines, the 'Association for the Prevention of Grave Desecration' issued a statement to the public in which it was written: A. As is known, the great men of Israel in Israel and abroad have forbidden all types of burials on the floors, and defined it as a disgrace to the dead, and Maran HaGresh Elyashiv ztzu"l and Bavelhat"a from Maran HaGrem Sternbuch shlit"a ordered burial in a distant place, only not on the floors, and added that there is no atonement for those buried on the floors, but only for those buried in the ground! And what's more, this constitutes a change in burial customs in Israel! B. Despite this, certain cemeteries are trying to entice the public to bury their loved ones in the floors, and to hide from them that this is prohibited. C. In recent years, huge sums have begun to be charged for field burials, which were previously free, even though according to the law, no payment should be charged for burial sites for the deceased, and every citizen is entitled to a free burial, and on this condition, the CHAPA received the areas and the burial license. The argument that free burials are only on the floors is a fraud. D. In recent days, it has been learned that in a burial structure on Har Hamenuchot there was a large leak of blood and fats from the buried, which spilled onto the nearby road like a puddle on the surface of the field, causing a shameful and shocking humiliation for the deceased, and proving with a committee that the dead should not be buried in a concrete structure, but in the ground. E. The truth is that for a long time, representatives of the association have reported signs of leakage of blood from the deceased in a number of burial structures, which they tried to hide by various means, including black tarpaulins, as well as smells of rotting bodies, which are a common phenomenon in burials in concrete pits, especially on hot days, when they try to hide them. With sealants, and by spreading perfumes that will dispel the stench. V. Experts claim that the leakage of blood and biological materials is only the tip of the iceberg, and that beneath the structures themselves there is probably a large amount of liquid, which puts the entire structure in danger, which could collapse and endanger all the tombs. According to engineers, these structures are unlikely to last more than a century. Rumor has it that some of the structures do not even have a Form 4, which would indicate the strength and stability of the structure. V. These phenomena in themselves clearly prove and reinforce the words of the Marnan and Rabbinan that one should not bury in burial structures at all, of any kind, because burial is a giniza for the world, and this is only in the ground. V. In the past year, they added sin to sin, and in order not to burden the structure, they began to use Styrofoam coffins. V. According to the instructions of the great men of Israel, we call upon the holy public to publish and announce publicly that no burials are allowed in the burial structures, and that those responsible for the terrible desecration of the dead, may you be saved from the Day of Judgment, and do not thus desecrate the dead of Israel.