Action demanded on neglect at Elijah's Cave

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Haifa city councilor Rabbi Aryeh Blitental is demanding that the city act immediately to fix the obvious neglect at Elijah's Cave, the sacred site at the base of Mount Carmel believed to have been the hiding place of the Biblical prophet Elijah, reports www.mynet.co.il. Blitental wrote to Mayor Yona Yahav saying it was sacrilegious that such a holy site, visited by many people every day, should suffer from such "terrible neglect" and should be treated so disrespectfully. According to the report, the stone stairs leading up to the cave are broken and slippery, and some of them are too high, endangering visitors. The paths leading to the cave are potholed and uneven, and the garden outside the mouth of the cave is clearly neglected, with broken benches and piles of garbage and litter everywhere. Broken liquor bottles scattered around testify to late-night parties being held in the garden. "It is not possible that a holy place should appear to be so disrespected," Blitental wrote. "We are speaking about a site of pilgrimage for many people, and its appearance testifies to terrible neglect." No response was reported from the mayor.