Cremation: Israel's Latest Religious War*

By ARON HELLER
The Associated Press
Saturday, September 22, 2007; 1:21 PM

MOSHAV HIBAT ZION, Israel -- The charred hut and blackened chimney are
all that remain of what was one of Israel's best-kept secrets.

It was the Jewish state's first and only crematorium. But more than
that, it was a symbol. To secular Jews it meant the right to choose
one's own exit from this world. To religious Jews it was a violation of
Jewish law, which requires that the dead be buried intact. And it struck
a raw nerve on both sides, conjuring up images of the Holocaust ovens.

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The crematorium burned down on Aug. 22, a day after ultra-Orthodox
activists discovered and publicized its location. Police suspect arson,
and although no arrests have been made, the affair has become the latest
episode in the religious wars that have dogged Israel since its creation.

"This is a battle over the identity of the state of Israel," said Alon
Nativ, director of the Aley Shalechet funeral home. "It is unacceptable
that I am a citizen who serves in the army, who pays his taxes, but who
can't make his own personal decisions about what matters most."

Aley Shalechet, or Autumn Leaves, opened the crematorium in 2005 and
advertised in newspapers, radio stations and on TV, but kept its
location secret for fear of retribution.

Jewish law requires a body to be ritually cleansed and swiftly buried,
wrapped in shrouds and without a coffin. Burials are handled by Hevra
Kadisha, a religious, government-sanctioned charity, and the costs are
covered by the state. Non-Jews are buried by their own clergy and in
their own cemeteries. Alternatives exist, but Nativ's company was the
first to offer cremation.

His funeral home caters primarily to secular Israelis who prefer to
bypass the religious authorities, even though it's expensive. A full
burial with coffin and tombstone costs about $4,000. Nativ charges about
half that sum for a cremation.

He said he has served hundreds of clients _ he would not give specific
figures _ whose identity is kept secret and who come from a broad range
of Israeli society.

Nativ said his cremation facility in Hibat Zion, a quiet farming village
in central Israel, offers clients a dignified exit, saves precious land
space in a crowded country, and is more ecologically sound than burial.
He said his company also can provide a traditional Jewish funeral as
well as burial at sea, and can turn ashes into a diamond or even have
them launched into outer space.

Hevra Kadisha's Morris Azoulai confirms Israel is so short of burial
space that in some cemeteries graves are now stacked in layers. But he
says the solution is not to cremate but to build more cemeteries.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews sued Nativ's funeral home, tried to have it shut on
health grounds and initiated legislation against it in parliament. Now
the fire has turned the argument into a national affair.

Among the suspects questioned is Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, head of Zaka, an
ultra-Orthodox rescue service best known for gathering body parts of
victims of suicide bombings to assure them a proper burial. He was
spotted on the scene a day before the fire. The following day, the
location of the crematorium was published in an ultra-Orthodox
newspaper, and the fire quickly followed.

In an interview, he confirmed he was there the day before the fire, and
did nothing to dispel suspicions. "This structure was designed for
burning," he said. "Now it has fulfilled its purpose."

Yitzhak Cohen, the minister for religious affairs from the
ultra-Orthodox Shas party, refused to condemn the fire. Instead, he
pledged to outlaw the funeral home that "continued the legacy of the
destroyers of the Jewish people."

An Israeli man examines the damage caused to a crematorium in the
village of Moshav Hibat Zion, central Israel, Aug. 22, 2007. The charred
skeleton and blackened chimney of a small abandoned square building are
all that remain from what was once one of Israel's best kept secrets _
its first and only crematorium. (AP Photo/Itzik Ben-Malki)
An Israeli man examines the damage caused to a crematorium in the
village of Moshav Hibat Zion, central Israel, Aug. 22, 2007. The charred
skeleton and blackened chimney of a small abandoned square building are
all that remain from what was once one of Israel's best kept secrets _
its first and only crematorium. (AP Photo/Itzik Ben-Malki) (Itzik Ben
Malki - AP)

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inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site.
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Meshi-Zahav said operating a crematorium in Israel was in bad taste,
especially given the memories of the Holocaust.

"There are some things you just don't do. Even in a democracy you are
not allowed to hurt the feelings of so many people," he said.

Nativ rejected the Holocaust comparisons.

"The Nazis buried far more Jews than they burned, so are we also not
going to bury people?" he said. He noted that several Jewish luminaries,
including Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein and Milton Friedman had chosen
cremation.

The incident has drawn fresh attention to the Orthodox rabbinical
establishment's monopoly not just over burials but over marriage,
divorce and conversions to Judaism. Zealots tend to riot when
construction projects or archaeological digs near ancient Jewish graves,
or when motorists drive through religious neighborhoods on the Jewish
sabbath.

"Now they want to interfere with our death, too?" said Yossi Beilin,
secular head of the left-wing Meretz party. "Their extremism has no limits."

After the fire, Beilin outraged many religious Israelis by announcing he
wanted to be cremated after his death, the first public Israeli figure
to do so. More recently, an Israeli reserve soldier drew the army into
the mix, stating that if killed in action he wished to be cremated.

Among Hibat Zion's 150 families, both secular and religious, people were
surprised to learn the crematorium was operating in the community's
small industrial area, hidden between a chicken coop and a lumberyard.
Letters of protest circulated, and community leaders vowed not to let
the crematorium reopen.

"We were outraged," said Raanan Gashuri, head of the local council. "We
all live here in harmony. This is not the place for something like that."

Nativ has pledged to repair the crematorium within weeks and move it to
a new secret location.

The International Cremation Federation, a veteran England-based advocacy
group, has asked Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to make cremation "legally
and practically available" in Israel. It also expressed its concern for
Nativ's safety. Olmert's office declined comment.