Medieval Jewish bones reinterred in Toledo

105 bodies discovered 6 months ago during construction of a secondary school.

By MATTHEW WAGNER
toledo spain 248.88 (photo credit: DAVID ILIFF)
toledo spain 248.88
(photo credit: DAVID ILIFF)
Jewish bones belonging to 105 bodies that were removed from a medieval Jewish cemetery in Toledo, Spain were reinterred Sunday in their original graves. Because of the way they were buried, the bones, discovered six months ago during construction of a non-Jewish secondary school, are believed to be the remnants of Jews who lived between the 13th and 14th centuries in Toledo, once a major Jewish center. Today there is no Jewish community in Toledo. Major rabbis such as Asher Ben-Yehiel (1250 or 1259 - 1328) known by his acronym the "Rosh," and Yonah Ben-Abraham Gerundi (died 1263), know as Rabbeinu Yonah, were both buried somewhere in Toledo. Local authorities in Toledo originally offered to reinter the bones at another site. But for halachic reasons, the local Jewish federation, strongly supported by the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) and the Committee for the Preservation of Jewish Cemeteries in Europe (CPJCE), demanded that the bones be returned to their original resting place. According to Jewish law, a buried Jew has a special connection to its original burial site. The reburial took place on Sunday and was attended by local and national government representatives, leaders of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain and the president of the CPJCE, Rabbi Elyokim Schlesinger. Schlesinger, 87, braved the 40º summer weather to supervise the burial preparations, said CER International Relations Director Philip Carmel. "He wanted to be personally involved in the mitzva," said Carmel. Carmel praised the cooperation of the Spanish government as well as the uncompromising stance of the local Jewish federation which had enabled the reburial to take place. He said that pressure from the Jewish federation in Madrid eventually persuaded the Spanish authorities, after six months, that the bones had to be reinterred at the same spot. "Toledo has a unique place in the history of the Golden Age of the Jews of Spain and the Spanish government understood this and constantly sought to persuade the local government to respect the sanctity of this site," Carmel said. "Throughout our negotiations with the Toledo authorities, we insisted that these Toledo Jews be buried in exactly the same graves from which they were removed. They intended this site as their eternal resting place and it was our duty to ensure they were reburied according to their wishes," he added.