Pagan Altar Unearthed At Ashkelon "Holy" Bones Site

As if the "Atra Kadisha" organization needed to look even dumber, today Israeli archeologists unearthed a pagan altar "mizbeach" at the pagan graveyard -- located where the new emergency room will be built for the Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

Dr. Yigal Israel of the Israeli antiquities authority inspects an ancient pagan altar that was uncovered while clearing ground for construction of a hotly disputed hospital emergency room in Ashkelon, Israel, Thursday, May 20, 2010. Israeli archaeologists say the 2,000-year old incense altar proves an ancient cemetery at the site that has been at the center of protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews does not contain the graves of Jews. (AP Photo / Tsafrir Abayov)

Of course, the Atra Kadisha is continuing their funeral for the holy bones, and the location of where they will be buried is still secret -- since G-d fearing Jews do not want pagans buried in a Jewish cemetery.


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Bones, Graves, Riots, Ooops

With our bodies, we will protect the graves of our fathers
AND FILL UP
THE JAILS
for their honor and to save them

The pagan bones found at the site of the Ashkelon Barzilai Hospital have caused quite a brouhaha over the past few weeks.

Ultra Radical Chareidim (not to be confused with the non-radical Chareidim) have rioted over these pagan bones, and have stated the bones should not be moved to allow the building of life-saving emergency room, despite the halacha which allows Jewish graves to be moved.

The Jerusalem Post reported that the damage costs came out to over a million NIS.

Riots that shook the capital’s haredi enclave of Mea Shearim on Sunday night are estimated to have cost some NIS 1 million in property damage, as garbage bins, traffic lights and vehicles – among other things – were vandalized in connection with the relocation of ancient graves in Ashkelon, a Jerusalem municipal spokeswoman said Monday.

YNET now reports that the funeral procession of the pagan bones has started.

Hundreds of members of the Eda Haharedit are holding a funeral procession in Jerusalem's Shabbat Square for the bones that were evacuated from Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon. During the ceremony, they are asking forgiveness from those whose graves were disinterred.

Before the gathering, the Religious Affairs Ministry gave authorization to the Eda Haharedit leaders to take the bones in a coffin to the ceremony and bury them in a modest ceremony.

There's only one small "oops"

Officials on the case refused to report whether the burial will take place in the Jewish section of the cemetery.

Kikar Shabbat reports that not one burial society has agreed to bury the pagan bones...in a Jewish cemetery.

While the rioteers scream from the rooftops about the sanctity of their fathers' bones, not one of them is actually prepared when push comes to shove, to actually bury them in a Jewish cemetery.

Ooops.

I wonder where they will actually be buried...

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The Grateful Dead

An IDF crane moves the tombstone from a Jewish grave in Gush Katif, prior to the Disengagement, when we didn't hear a single solitary word from the UTJ or MK Litzman.

Here are some differences between the moving of graves from Gush Katif before the Disengagement and the Ashkelon Barzilai Hospital's ER fiasco.

Gush Katif: The graves were definitely those of Jews.
Ashkelon ER: Its overwhelmingly likely that the graves are those of Roman pagans.

Gush Katif: The reason for moving the graves was because of antisemitism (the Arabs would have destroyed the cemetary, the same way they destroyed the shuls)
Ashkelon ER: The reason for moving the graves is to save lives (expanding the ER)

Gush Katif: The UTJ and MK Litzman were utterly silent.
Ashkelon ER: The UTJ and MK Litzman scream from every rooftop.

The photos below are all from the Disengagement era when Jewish graves were moved and the UTJ was silent. There was no issue of pikuach nefesh, no issue of 135 Million NIS at stake, and the UTJ didn't say a word.










Photo Credits: SOS Israel.


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And you shall choose life (and not move hospitals)

The Israeli Government caved in to pressure from the UTJ and has decided to move the emergency room from Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon to its parking lot -- because renovation revealed there are human remains at the current ER's site, where they wanted to expand and renovate the ER and bomb proof it.

The cost of moving the ER: A staggering 135 Million Shekels (about 36 Million US Dollars)

"To protest Sunday’s decision, which will boost costs of the project by some NIS 135 million, cause years of delays due to new planning needs and lead to the much-needed structure being relatively far from the main hospital building, Health Ministry Director-General Dr. Eitan Hai-Am resigned on the spot.

Hai-Am, a respected medical administrator who was appointed by Litzman about half a year ago, previously served as a key Clalit Health Services administrator and director-general of Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba. " (JPost)

What could 36 Million dollars do instead of being used to move a hospital's ER? Don't forget that the bones are:

1. probably those of Roman pagans
2. they could be relocated, respectfully, regardless of whom they belonged to.

As commenter (and personal friend) Avrohom Shimon noted:

The Jewish sources (e.g. Mishna, Tosefta, Talmud) state very clearly that when a city must expanded, the graves (Jewish graves of course) are moved away for the need of the living.

For example תוספתא בבא בתרא א' יא' "כל הקברים מתפנים חוץ מקבר המלך וקבר הנביא"; Tosefta Bava Batra A, 11. "All graves can be moved except for those of a king and a prophet."

In the time of the Second Temple, this is what happened and archeology shows that when Jerusalem expanded to the north, the burial caves that were in the area were emptied and transferred to new burial caves outside the city.

Its unfortunate that political askanim (busybodies) distort reality in the way they present their questions to leading rabbis, so that the answer they receive is what they wish to hear.

Our society does not have unlimited resources.

135 Million NIS could be used to saving hundreds, if not thousands of lives, through upgrading medical equipment, providing life-saving drugs, hiring more doctors and staff, upgrading the hospital, etc.

135 Million NIS could go a long way to helping impoverished families.

If I were buried there, and could be told, "your descendants have a choice -- move your grave or you can save their lives through building a modern ER" -- I don't think its even a question what I would choose.

Obviously we opt to save lives.

I'm embarrassed that Israel's government caved into this pressure and is wasting our money instead of transferring the graves.

PS: I heard this morning that in the parking lot where the ER is supposed to be transferred to, there are newly found graves as well.

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