State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss has issued a report on the sorry state of the holy gravesite of the Tannaitic sage Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai (Rashbi). His verdict: Too many people are in charge, and control should be handed over to one single body.
The grave is located in the Galilee town of Meron, some ten kilometers west of Tzfat, and hundreds of thousands of people visit it yearly – mainly on Rabbi Shimon's traditional date of death, Lag BaOmer, which usually falls in the month of May.
“In light of the importance of the site,” the report states, “the option of giving over the control and maintenance of the site and the surrounding areas to one central body must be carefully and speedily considered.”
The main problem with the site is that four different private bodies claim ownership over various parts of the compound. This, Comptroller Lindenstrauss writes, together with various lawsuits and claims regarding the site, “has prevented efficient operation of the compound for many years, and impedes its development.”
Maintenance and safety standards at the holy site are well below standard, and warnings of an impending tragedy there were expressed prior to this past Lag BaOmer.
The Comptroller's report was compiled after consultations with many bodies, including the National Center for the Development of Holy Sites, owners of “hekdesh” funds in the area, the Tourism Ministry, the Egged bus cooperative, the police, the Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, and the Merom HaGalil Regional Council. The last-named body was cited for its declared policy of non-intervention at the holy site, which “leads to neglect, lack of supervision or enforcement over illegal construction, and lack of safety.”
Transportation and fire-safety problems were also cited, particularly when many tens of thousands arrive on Lag BaOmer.
“The current situation,” according to the Comptroller, “in which a site of such national and religious importance is forsaken in this manner, cannot continue. It must be immediately changed, and the problems there must be solved once and for all.”
The Knesset Committee for Comptroller Affairs, which requested the report, will convene at a date to be determined to discuss the recommendation to transfer the site's control to one body.