Israel is attempting to counter land shortages at its cemeteries by embarking on a new experimental project that will involve burying people in in vast underground tunnels, Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday.
The scheme provides an answer to a shortage of space for burials in and around Jerusalem - where most cemeteries are at near-full capacity - and is a practice that was widely used in biblical times.
According to Haaretz, approximately 35,000 Jews are buried each year in Israel, with some 3,500 of those being buried in Jerusalem. Around 1,500 Jews from around the world also choose to be buried in Israel. Many cemeteries feature tightly packed gravestones, leaving little room for mourners.
The idea, first proposed by Israel's burial society Chevra Kadisha in October, is similar to the catacombs of Paris or Rome and was presented in detail at the Jewish National Burial Society Conference held on Sunday.
Around 600 people attended the conference, including chief rabbis, ministers and Jewish officials from around the world.
Now approved, two 59-metre-long, six-and-a-half-metre-high tunnels able to accommodate 300 graves each, will be fully built within three months.
The idea of a multi-story burial ground has been met with opposition in the past by Orthodox Jews, but the head of the Jerusalem burial society insisted on Sunday that doing so represents a logical solution to the current burial crisis.
He said that additional underground graves will also be planned in the long-term that could bury up to 22,000 additional bodies.
Chevra Kadisha says it is planning to construct the tunnels under the existing Givat Shaul Cemetery in Jerusalem as well as under Mount Carmel in the north of the country.
One rabbi from the central Israeli town of Kiryat Ono, Ratzon Arusi, who attended the conference said that to carry on burying people side by side as is currently the norm, would "eat up the whole of the land of Israel".
"Why not return to caves?" the rabbi asked. "If Hamas knows how to create tunnels, why can't we make caves in the mountains?"
Speaking to Israeli National News in October about the conference, Abraham Manela, the chairman of Chevra Kadisha said: "Contrary to what people think, burial is a subject which does renew itself, and we wanted to create and order to the core issues of burial in Israel."
"Each year approximately 36,000 Jews are buried in Israel. This is relevant to almost every one of us," he added.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
