Non-Orthodox Burial In Israel: Is It A Joke?

Imagine this. You are a Reform Jew living in America. You have met the love of your life while traveling abroad in Israel and decide to settle down. You and your partner are married in the United States, because you want your family to attend your wedding, and then you move to Israel. The land is beautiful, and your new house in Tel Aviv is perfect for you and your new husband. You attend synagogue regularly, keep kosher and celebrate all Jewish holidays. While going about your morning routine, you kiss your children goodbye and head to work. You read the newspaper as the bus makes its way through the city. The bus slows down at a bus stop and a suicide bomber steps inside. 3…2…1. His bomb goes off and your mangled body lies on the street, sirens wailing around you. Your husband attempts to bury you in the local Orthodox cemetery, knowing you wanted a Jewish burial. He is told that you are not Jewish enough because you are a Reform Jew and that he should try a Catholic cemetery nearby.



Situations happen like this in Israel all the time. In The Israelis, there is a woman named Tamar who attends her grandfather’s funeral. She complains that if you want a Jewish funeral in Israel, there is only the Orthodox cemetery option. There are a few secular cemeteries and kibbutzim as well, but space is limited and it is just not the same. The Orthodox cemetery would not allow her Rabbi to do the funeral service for her grandfather. He, like the story in the beginning, was not Jewish enough to conduct the service. Even though her family was not super religious, the service had to be. In the Jewish religion, there are a few things we do when someone we know dies. The Mourners Kaddish is a prayer that we say and taking a shovel and placing dirt on the casket is another ritual. In Orthodox Judaism, the shoveling is only for males and men and women cannot pray together. When Tamar recited the prayer in from of men and shoveled the dirt, she received dirty looks and was told to stop. She does not feel that she did something wrong. She states that, “I also wanted people to realize that they shouldn’t have a monopoly on Judaism. Who says our way of death has to be Orthodox? We should have the right to decide how we can bury our relatives.”



There is a problem in Israel. There is a lack of cemeteries that are not Orthodox based for those that want or need another kind of funeral. In Orthodox cemetaries, sometimes there is a section that is set aside for “people whose Jewishness is in question.” Although they might be Jewish, have a Jewish mother and abide by Jewish law, something is wrong and it is not permitted for them to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. When Yitzhak Rabin was Prime Minister, there was a controversy over a soldier being buried in an Orthodox cemetery because he was not Jewish according to Jewish law. Rabin made the decision to allow him to be buried in the cemetery, but there are many Jewish families who have encountered the same problem.



In 1996, the Knesset passed a law that asked for the making of cemeteries that were not Orthodox based. Getting this to happen is still a battle. An association called Menucha Nechona, which means Rest In Peace, was established in 1986 and has tried to create alternate cemeteries for the Jews who do not/cannot be buried in Orthodox cemeteries. They have created one cemetery in Beer Sheva in March of 1999, but their other cemeteries have been put on hold. Since created, the cemetery in Beer Sheva has held over 300 funerals, including those in suicide bombings. The process of starting cemeteries in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem has been an ongoing battle and they are still facing issues. Some Orthodox Jews believe that these alternative cemeteries are a good idea, while others like Knesset member Avraham Ravitz believe that the way it is set up for the doubtfully Jewish people as “a generous solution.”

The article from JWeekly sounds like it is a progressive writer. They make the Reform and Conservative Jews look good and the Orthodox Jews look bad. Although there are facts, the author uses the death of suicide bombers to bring emotion to the table. This causes the reader to favor the Non-Orthodox Jews when it comes to the issue of Jewish burial. It was a good article, but it seemed biased.

Idan Raichel and the Ethiopian Jews

Quick! Think of Jewish people! What do you see? Black hats? Black coats? Curly cues on the side of their heads? Wrong. There are many different kinds of Jews found all over the world. In Israel, there over 120,000 Jews that emigrated from Ethiopia. The Jews in Ethiopia had practiced Judaism and practiced the laws of the religion, thinking they were the only ones in the world to do this. They had no idea that others in the world practiced Judaism. At the same time, no one knew that there were these Jews in Ethiopia. Scottish explorer James Bruce mentioned these Ethiopian Jews in a book that he wrote in 1790. Even this knowledge of the Jews in Ethiopia did not convince people to bring them to Israel. After seventy seven years, Christian missionaries were attempting to convert the Ethiopian Jews, and the Alliance Israelite Universelle decided to make their move. Since they suspected that these Jews were from the tribe of Dan, and there was the Law of Return, these Ethiopian Jews needed to be brought to Israel. At first, the Ethiopians were hesitant. They had grown up around Christians who were always trying to convert them, but after they realized the Semitic scholar and linguist Joseph Halevy was from Jerusalem, they agreed to go to Israel.



Solomon Ezra, an Ethiopian Jew was given a scholarship in 1975 and went to Israel. After moving to Israel and being in the Israeli army, he wanted to help the rest of the Ethiopian Jews to Israel. On May 23, 1991, unmarked planes came to Ethiopia to transport Jews to Israel. The Ethiopians fled into these planes and after crowded planes travelled about 1,600 miles, 14,324 Ethiopians were brought to Israel over the course of thirty six hours. This operation was called Operation Solomon after King Solomon and Solomon Ezra. These Ethiopians were given resources to start their lives in Israel. They were taught about Mishnah and the newer ways of Judaism like lighting Shabbat candles and wearing t’fillin.



Eleven years down the road, The Idan Raichel Project came into Israel’s music scene. It was to bring a message of hope and love to an area that was surrounded in conflict. The creator of this project, Idan Raichel was quoted saying, “I think the fact that I didn’t have strong family musical roots is what made me be very open to music from all over the world.” After completing his time in the army as an Israeli, he worked as a counselor for troubled youth and become familiar with Ethiopian children. This is when he began to learn about the Ethiopian culture and music. Idan took this culture and music and combined it with his Israeli music to produce a CD, which was an automatic pop hit. The album sold over 150,000 copies and was a huge success. The Idan Raichel Project traveled to Ethiopia in 2006 and performed at the Fifth Ethiopian Music Festival in Addis Abada and tried to give back to those who originally influenced the success of the group. The Idan Raichel project combines the culture and music of Ethiopia and brings it to Israel, where there are already emigrated Ethiopian Jews.



The Web information I discovered was the Idan Raichel website. I gives music videos and backround information on the project and gives information of how some Israelis are not happy about his music, even if his first CD went triple platinum. The viewpoint of this page is to inspire people to listen to his music and emphasize love, peace, and hope in a time of fighting and war. It wants people to care for each other and to create peace not only in Israel, but everywhere.


This is a music video of Idan Raichel performing Mima'amakim, one of their well known songs.