It was just before Yom Tov that word came that the Regional Planning Council had approved the construction of a beautiful Visitor Center at the foot of the 3000-year old makom kadosh, Har Hazeisim. Several days earlier, the same project had passed the Local Planning Council, under the leadership of Deputy Mayor Rabbi Yosi Deutsch. For the International Committee on Har Hazeisim (ICHH), the Visitor Center was to be the signature project of restoring the security and sovereignty of Har Hazeisim.
Almost from the day of its founding in May 2010, the ICHH has been lobbying for the Visitor Center to be built on an area just outside the cemetery and adjacent to the Ras al Amud Mosque (in the Ras al Amud Square). The Mosque itself was problematic in that it illegally expanded beyond its original allocated land and despite several Municipal “Stop Orders.” According to documents obtained by the ICHH, the area designated for the Visitor Center was never part of the cemetery and thus did not pose a problem. In fact, says Prof. Aharon Kimelman, the octogenarian historian of Har Hazeisim, the area designated for the Center was used as a road by the Turks during their occupation.
Outgoing Mayor Nir Barkat saw the construction of a Visitor Center as an important symbol of sovereignty that would once and for all serve as a marker of Jewish sovereignty, as if the 150,000 Jews buried there under Hebrew markings were not enough. Barkat and the national government nearly 6 years ago asked the ICHH to be a full partner in the construction of the multi-million dollar Visitor Center. This was to emphasize the fact that Har Hazeisim was indeed the “Arlington Cemetery of the Jewish people.” We agreed.
Despite its broad support in the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and the administration of Mayor Nir Barkat, the project constantly faced bureaucratic delays and at one point enough time had elapsed to require the permit application process to be reset. All of this was happening while the ICHH exerted enormous pressure on the government to end the violence on the historic holy cemetery. Up until late 2014, many cars ascending to Har Hazeisim were routinely stoned, with several resulting injuries. Tombstones were upended and desecrated almost daily with few arrests made. Fear had become the operative term for the oldest Jewish burial place and holy site overlooking the Makom Hamikdash. Most Israelis stayed away from the cemetery that includes so many kedoshim.
Responding to the worldwide pressure, led by the ICHH, enormous strides were made to secure Har Hazeisim. A network of 173 surveillance cameras and a 24/7 monitoring station were installed, a new police station was launched with a force of 24 police officers, a platoon of Border Police was stationed on the mountain, sanitation and grounds keeping services were restored, the infrastructure repaired and upgraded, and finally gating and fencing helped secure the cemetery. By 2015, security was restored to the bais hachaim. Hundreds of thousands came to the yahrzeits of the Or Hachaim Hakadosh, the admorim of Zhvill and Ger and to the saintly Bartenura, whose grave was previously a sight of blight and desecration. On one visit, I found Arab youths smoking pot.
The Prime Minister voiced support for the project in a meeting with the ICHH leadership earlier this year. His government had allocated NIS 10 million for the project nearly 7 years ago and despite the delays and attempts to reallocate the money, it remained in the budget until recently when Minister Moshe Kahlon’s Finance Ministry threatened to reallocate the money to other projects. The ICHH which has committed to at least match the funds has vowed to fight any attempt to remove the funds from this important project. Zev Elkin, the Minister for Jerusalem Affairs and his team, guarded the money up until recently. MK Rabbi Yoav ben Zur (Shas), who heads the unprecedented 67-member Knesset Caucus on Har Hazeisim, has also vowed to restore the funds.
The Visitor Center is slated to be a magnificent building with an amphitheater overlooking the historic cemetery where one can literally walk through 3000 years of history from the Neviim – Zecharia, Malachi and Chagai, to some of the greatest Gedolei Yisrael of the past generations. It is unfathomable that on the other side of Har Hazeisim, tens of thousands of tourists visit some of the 13 churches there, with dozens of busses lined up and on the Jewish side despite increased traffic in recent months, there is still somewhat of a feeling of fear.
The Visitor Center will include a gallery of some of the most prominent leaders buried there, including Roshei Yeshiva, Admorim and even Israel’s national leaders, including former Prime Minister Menachem Begin and his wife Aliza. It will be a place to educate young and old on the amazing history of the mountain, it serving the makom hamikdash, the place of the proclamation of the new chodesh, the burning of the ashes of the Parah Ha’adumah, and, of course, the future arrival of Moshiach. The Center will include a computer bank to help people locate an approximate documented 79,000 Jews who are buried there. There will be a room for lectures, seminars and special occasions. It will also include a comfort station with rest rooms and water. Plans call for a huge picture window with a splendid view of the Har Habayis, just across the road.
Of great importance will be a permanent police station that will be housed within the Visitor Center. It will include a modern communications hub which will connect it to the network of surveillance cameras and to the police sub-station on the upper part of the mountain.
The Visitor Center is extremely important in safeguarding the enormous security gains over the years and for preserving the Jewish character and sovereignty of the mountain. It will no doubt attract tens of thousands of visitors which will reinforce the importance of the concept of “there is safety in numbers.” The Center will assure that there is no further encroachment by the Arabs in the area. It will offer the police a modern permanent headquarters safeguarding Har Hazeisim. It will send a strong message to the local Arab populace that Har Hazeisim will no longer be their dumping grounds of waste, construction materials and garbage, soccer fields, and drug-infested headquarters, all of which it was in the past. It will enable families of loved ones or leaders buried on Har Hazeisim to freely and securely visit the holiest Jewish cemetery.
The hope is that the government at all levels will fully comprehend what people like Prime Minster Netanyahu, Mayor Barkat, Deputy Mayor Deutsch, and MK Yoav ben Zur fully grasp. A Visitor Center on Har Hazeisim will guarantee their investment of hundreds of millions of shekels to secure the mountain.
When my brother Avrohom and I launched the ICHH back in 2010, we could only dream that we would succeed in restoring the safety and glory to Har Hazeisim. It was as if our parents who are buried there pleaded with us to finally help them rest in peace. Now, Boruch Hashem, we are well on the way to achieving our goal. Let us hope that the Visitor Center will soon be the signature to a historic initiative.
Menachem Lubinsky is president and CEO of Lubicom Marketing Consulting. He, together with his brother Avrohom, are the co-founders and co-chairman of the International Committee on Har Hazeisim.
