Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh wrote a letter this week to leading Rabbis and Orthodox politicians promising that El Al airlines would no longer route jets over a Holon cemetery en route to New York. According to halakhah (Jewish law), Kohanim (Jews of priestly decent) are not permitted to come in contact with or fly over dead bodies. Upon discovering that El Al’s flight pattern from Israel to New York involved traveling over a cemetery, some Kohanim stopped purchasing tickets on El Al flights and began taking indirect routes to New York with other air carriers. In the letter, Sneh confirms that El Al pilots would adhere to strict procedure and avoid flying over the cemetery.