By, Daniel Sugarman
1 min read
ByDaniel Sugarman, Daniel Sugarman
UK communal leaders have agreed to promote youth awareness of one of Judaism’s most important sites.
At an event in the House of Commons on Thursday night, Stephen Pack, president of the United Synagogue, and Rabbi Abraham Pinter, the principal of Stamford Hill’s Yesodei Hatorah Senior Girls School, both spoke about the importance of the Mount of Olives, known in Hebrew as Har Hazeitim, to Jewish identity. The event, inaugurating the British branch of the International Committee for the Preservation of Har Hazeitim (ICPHH), was hosted by Matthew Offord, the MP for Hendon.
The 3,000-year-old Jewish cemetery on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives is mentioned in the books of the Prophets; Orthodox Jews believe that the resurrection of the dead in the time of the Messiah will begin in that location, which is opposite the Temple Mount. More than 150,000 Jews are buried on the mountain, from forty five different countries.
Rabbi Jonathan Sigal, executive director of European Affairs for the ICPHH, said: “The Mount of Olives is not just another cemetery; it is a map of the history of the Jewish people”.
Until a few years ago, the cemetery was in an advanced state of disrepair and mourners were frequently disturbed by stone-throwing attacks. However, thanks to the committee, which has been working with the Israeli government, efforts to protect and renovate the site are under way.
Rabbi Pinter said: “If we can put it on the tourist map, that part of the itinerary of every young group that goes to Israel will go and visit Har Hazeitim, that will be the solution – it will become a place of safety.”
Mr Pack responded by saying that “if we can secure the safety of the people on our tour groups there, then I’m sure we would love to add this on to the Tribe tour, and if we add it on to the Tribe one it will be added onto the others as well.”
In turn, a representative from the ICPHH promised to “assure the safety of any group or individual who visits the Mount of Olives.”
The Mount of Olives is also the resting place of many non-Jews, perhaps most famously Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who sheltered Jews during World War Two and was later honoured as one of the “righteous amongst the nations.”
Her great-granddaughter, Princess Katarina of Yugoslavia, was present at Thursday’s event, and spoke of Princess Alice’s “love for the people she had saved”, which had led to her request to be buried on the mountain.