News

A few months ago one of the runways at the Ben Gurion airport was torn up and as a result only one runway is in service. During nighttime hours all incoming and outgoing traffic on the runway is eastward and flies over the Holon cemetery. Daylight traffic from 20 minutes before sunrise until 20 minutes before sunset is generally westard and does not fly over the cemetery, as well as the outgoing flights scheduled between 00:30 and 2:00 AM which also take off westward and are OK. All the major halachic authorities have ruled that kohanim should not fly on these eastward flights. A new runway is being built and is scheduled to be finished by 2013.

In 2009 a group of rabbonim did a tour of the area around the building and pooled their knowledge of the many burial caves around the building, almost of them no longer visible. There is no side of the building that does not have burial caves. Several dozen caves were marked on a map with details known about each one. The question was raised whether the area should be defined as a cemetery where every inch is assumed to be tamei until proven otherwise. The question was submitted to Rav Elyashiv and Rav Vohzner shlit"a and they refrained from ruling on it. Rav Nissim Karelitz ruled that the environs are prohibited and asked Taharas Hakohanim to make a bridge that blocks tuma to allow kohanim to approach this holy place. The bridge was built before Lag Ba'omer but still requires long-term corrections which are being held up for lack of funds. Contributions are needed urgently.