Mountain of the Lost

The blogger rostismi writes: “At the entrance to Jerusalem, on a mountain 750 meters high, you can see many graves, this is a functioning Jewish cemetery, which is called the “Mountain of Rest.” The Mount of Rest is the official functioning municipal cemetery in Jerusalem, founded in 1951. Everyone who rises to the Israeli capital sees it - it is located on the slopes of the mountain of the same name, on the territory of the Jerusalem district of Givat Shaul.

This is not the first cemetery in Jerusalem that I have visited. Earlier I talked about the British military and Catholic cemeteries in Jerusalem.”

(Total 40 photos)

Source: Journal/rostismi

1. The first thing that strikes on the Hill of the Dead is the number of graves and the size of the cemetery. This is a real city of the dead, you don’t really walk there, numerous ascents and descents make it difficult to advance.

2. The cemetery has several entrances and exits. There are entrances to remote parts of the cemetery. In total, there are about 150 tons of graves in the cemetery at the moment. But it seemed to me much more. This and the previous photo is a panorama of 7 vertical shots.

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5. Burials in Israel are partly free, if you want to be buried in the ground you will have to pay $3600.

6. Places in the walls and niches will be free.

7. Sometimes the names of people who died in the Second World War and the Holocaust, who do not have their own graves, are also added to the gravestones.

8. Jewish graves are standard, the burial itself is underground, concrete slabs in the form of a rectangle are placed on top and a slab is placed on top, where the name of the person, the date of life and a few words of praise about the person are written.

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10. I was very surprised by the multi-level part of the cemetery. Just like in a car park.

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12. All in concrete.

13. Unusual, right?

14. The cemetery grows up, new levels appear.

15. Putting stones on the grave is a Jewish custom. Before leaving the grave, it is customary to put on it a stone (or a lump of earth) taken not far from the grave. At the same time, they say: “זָכוֹר כִּי עָפָר אֲנָחְנו” (“Remember that we are dust”). A stone is placed on the grave not only at funerals, but also at every visit to the cemetery. If there are stones, then the grave is visited.

16. I'll tell you a little about Jewish funerals. A deceased Jew is buried in the first 24 hours after death, in Jerusalem they are buried on the same day. Exceptions when you need to wait for the arrival of the next of kin. In the photo, religious Jews came to commemorate the deceased.

17. As soon as the doctor has certified the death, the workers of the Chevra Kadisha (funeral society) will prepare the body for burial. The body of a man is washed by men, the body of a woman by women. The body is then wrapped in a simple linen shroud.

18. The custom of dressing the dead in simple white clothes was introduced in ancient times to emphasize the equality of rich and poor before death.

19. It is not customary to put any foreign objects in the coffin. According to Jewish traditions, it is considered offensive to expose the body to the public in an open coffin, so it is closed. Update: Coffins are used for the burial of soldiers and if there is no integrity of the remains.

20. The funeral ceremony consists of reading a few psalms and a short prayer praising God, who gives life and takes life.

21. On Saturdays and holidays they do not bury. Before the funeral, it is not customary to express condolences to the family of the deceased.

22. Words of consolation addressed to those in mourning are spoken. When leaving the cemetery, everyone should wash their hands.

23. After the funeral, seven days of deep mourning (shiva) begin for close relatives. According to Jewish customs, commemoration and feasts are prohibited.

24. For seven days, mourners do not leave the house, do not have fun and do not work, do not shave, do not wash and do not cut their hair, sit only on low stools or pillows, do not greet those who enter and do not say goodbye, read Kaddish and are not distracted from grief.

25. All seven days a candle burns in the house in memory of the deceased for the exaltation of his soul, and all the mirrors are curtained.

26. With the end of the first 7 days (shiva), the period of deep mourning ends. Now the mourners no longer sit on the low floor, they are allowed to cut their nails, but the hair begins to be cut a little later.

27. A tombstone can be erected at any time after shiv.

28. Mourning for parents continues among the Jews for a year. At this time, they do not perform music and do not listen to it. The exception is professional musicians, for whom playing is a source of livelihood.

29. Approaching the grave, the Jews always put their left hand on the gravestone.

30. For one visit to the cemetery, the grave is also visited once.

31. Usually there are no photos of the dead on the graves, although recently gravestones with the image of the dead have appeared. I don’t know why, but a lot of these graves are the graves of Bukharian Jews.

32. A lot of people buy places for themselves during their lifetime. The sign reads: "The place is occupied, the person is alive."

33. Donation box.

34. These are the graves of some famous rabbis. Do you see how many stones are laid?

35. Distances, I repeat, are not small at all.

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37. Impressive views of the surroundings open up from the mountain.

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40. That's all, I hope it was interesting. PR is welcome!