The Battleground over Burials: How Must the Dead Be Treated?

Atra Qadisha (Aramaic for Holy Ground, or Site) is a group of fanatically orthodox Jews who in recent years have undertaken to “protect” ancient Jewish tombs. As ancient tombs and burials are encountered in Israel almost every other day, this group can cause real damage not only to archaeology but to development as well, as they attempt to block construction of buildings and roads.

Atra Qadisha does not recognize the Israel Antiquities Authority. It does not even recognize the Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Atra Qadisha tends to choose sites for confrontation where major development projects are under way, as in the confrontations at Mamilla, French Hill (a main highway interchange) and Modi’in (a new city established halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv).

It should be emphasized that even as early as the Second Temple period the attitude of the Jewish sages toward tombs was entirely different from the views of the Atra Qadisha today. Cemeteries were of course located outside the city. The sages gave priority to the living people of the city over the dead. When a city expanded, however, tombs were opened and bones were collected and moved to a new location for reburial.⁴