The Israeli government has sparked fury in the Orthodox community after deciding to take possession of the burial place of sainted second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
Israeli law permits the state to expropriate privately owned land for national interests. This provision was controversially used in the early days of the state to take possession of stretches of Arab-owned land, but its application against Jewish charities like those running the tomb is exceedingly rare.
Bar Yochai, purported author of the Zohar, the central text of Kabbalah, is widely seen as a genius capable of working miracles from beyond the grave. His tomb on Mount Meron in the Galilee is the most visited Jewish religious site after the Western Wall.
Nevertheless, the decision to essentially confiscate the tomb and place it under state ownership using controversial laws seems puzzling - especially at a time when the government is pushing an ethos of private ownership.
