Meron – Only three and a half months after demolishing a pathway for kohanim (priests) at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on Mount Meron, the government is rebuilding it at a high cost, despite the fact that the local rabbi believes it to be completely unnecessary.
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The Tourism Ministry has apparently succumbed to pressure by an extremist Hassidic group, Toldot Avraham Yitzhak, and has allocated NIS 600,000 to quickly build the pathway before the annual Lag Ba’omer festivities at the site, expected to draw half a million participants.
The pathway was built last year without a permit – but with government funding – and was recently demolished after a legal battle. Now, hurried construction to rebuild it is being carried out without fulfilling conditions laid out by the local planning committee. Furthermore, many religious leaders, including Rabbi Meir Stern, the Meron Rabbi for the past 50 years, say there is absolutely no need for the pathway, and that there is no basis whatsoever to the Hassidic group’s claim that there are sepulchres on the main road leading to the tomb. If that was true, kohanim would be unable to use the main road, according to Jewish law, because they cannot be in close proximity to the dead.
Even if it were some bodies buried nearby, why would they waste so much money just so that a few kohanim could get to the kever, since it would be equally assur for kohanim to go the kever. What kind of insanity is this chelm-type boondoggle.
They should put up a toll.
If they can’t go to the Kever anyways- why do they need a pathway to get there? Unless they found an exception for Meron on Lag B’Omer. You never know with these newfangled ideas of yiddishkeit.
2 different opinion.
a kohain can go to the cave of ztadeekeem according to one opinion
All the medine bashers, where are you? You keep telling us how “isreal” is the worst place for yidden and how they are destroying the Torah. What will it take for you to admit that you are wrong?