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The reburial site

The Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe (CPJCE), the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain and the Madrid Jewish community, finally reached a solution with Spanish authorities over the fate of the Jewish bones excavated in the ancient Toledo Jewish cemetery.

Half a year ago, during rescue diggings carried out by Spanish Antiquities Authority archaeologists in preparation for expanding a school in the city of Toledo, medieval Jewish graves were dug up. Skeletons in burial coffins were removed from their graves, prompting an international outcry. The authorities were aware that the ancient Jewish cemetery was located there, and in the past had refrained from tampering with the site.

Jewish tradition relates that many holy martyrs were buried in Toledo, including the Rosh and his son Yona.

At the invitation of the Spanish Foreign Ministry's envoy of Jewish affairs, Ms. Anna Solomon, CPJCE director Rabbi Avraham Chaim Ginzburg and CER director of international relations Philip Carmel, were invited to Madrid to meet with government and Antiquity Authority officials, Castel la Mancha regional council representatives, and local Jewish representatives. The council gave orders to stop digging until a satisfying halachic and engineering solution could be found for the remains.

Meetings were held over the past 6 months involving numerous representatives of all relevant organizations.

"We resolutely and consistently demanded that the Kedoshim be laid to rest in exactly the same graves they had been taken from," said Mr. Carmel. "We stood like a rock against the immense pressures of various organizations who wanted to put the skeletons in an alternative burial place including bringing them to Israel."

Rav Elyakim Schlesinger highlights the burial map

Last Thursday, the CPJCE president and chairman of its Rabbinical Committee, Rav Elyakim Schlesinger, arrived in Toledo from London. Together with Mr. Carmel, the chief rabbi of Madrid, Rabbi Moshe Ben Dehan, and Chevra Kadisha representatives from Madrid, he signed on an agreement to rebury the Jewish bones.

The authorities gave the 103 coffins containing the remains to the rabbonim, who prepared for the reburial.

The coffins were placed on the yard in front of the school next to the ancient Jewish cemetery from which they were removed. The mournful levaya began and the coffins were returned to the place from where they were taken. Before the coffins were covered, Rav Elyakim Schlesinger and Rav Ben Dehan emotionally addressed the niftarim and begged their forgiveness.

The general director of the CER, Rabbi Abba Dunner, praised the Spanish authorities and particularly the Spanish Foreign Ministry envoy for Jewish affairs, Ms. Anna Solomon, for their cooperation in returning the Jewish remains to their rightful place where they had laid for centuries. He expressed his hope that in the future, cooperation would be solicited from planning stages to prevent grave desecrations.

The CPJCE was founded in 1995 as a volunteer organization to preserve Jewish cemeteries and Jewish graves throughout Europe. The organization has experts familiar with European laws and leading Jewish legal experts on the subject of Jewish cemeteries. The CER is an international body uniting rabbonim and dayanim from 40 countries in Europe including Israel's chief rabbis, which provides consultancy services on Jewish affairs in the European Council and European Union.

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